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Thank you for responding! My bowel movements are daily so that isn't the issue. I've read stalls are common, but I wasn't expecting one only 3 weeks post op! May I ask, you said you checked with your doctor when you had a stall? Then you had a revision? I had a RNY, what more could they revise at that point? I'm sticking with the program..don't really have a choice even if I didn't want too...major surgery done..no going back. 😋 I know its fairly common to experience these stalls, but, it doesn't make it easier its still frustrating!

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

Welcome everyone!! We're getting closer! I'm in my third week of my pre-op diet, 5th day of all shakes. It's not so bad as long as you stay hydrated and use water flavoring packets! My surgery is still Nov. 1st, I'm a little scared they will cancel now that I've been on this diet for so long. 😂 I've started using the antibacterial soap they require we shower with for days before surgery. We even have to sleep on fresh sheets the night before! These surgery requirements make sense but also make me laugh sometimes... LOL

@Charlie21467 - sorry to hear you ended up with Covid, that's no fun even without recently having surgery! Hoping its a mild case and you recover quickly! I just had my sleeve last week, so I haven't moved to solid foods yet, but my surgeon and their team advised me to start small when it comes time to stepping back up to normal foods. Basically after protein water, shakes, and broth, move to lower calorie cream based soups, then greek yogurt, then pudding, then cottage cheese. Once I have those, they told me to start with finer or ground meats, like canned/pouch tuna or chicken, and try mashing it up as fine as possible first. Then work up to straight out of the can. It is more processed, but the texture is more forgiving on our healing stomach tissue. They suggested I try beef last, as it tends to have more issues with intolerance after a surgery. Try a small amount of ground beef or even puree, and if you get sick off it, wait 2 days before trying again. Once tolerated, then stair step it up to more solid textures. After all of that, then work in more fibrous vegetables. They did tell me to avoid potatoes and carrots, primarily due to the large amount of starch (carbs) that will offset the fat burning, but also because my pre-op was very low carb (not quite keto level though) and reintroducing something really heavy in starch/sugar too soon could lead to vomiting. Hope this helps, and let me know if it works for you!

It took me 5 days from surgery to go. Mostly regular once or twice a day, at most only skip one day. I was good not really experiencing constipation for the first 6 months. Then the literal 6 month mark and it happened twice in about 3 weeks and I nearly died, lol. Not literally, but that's what it felt like. Both times, I wasn't exactly 100% on track (off my eating/drinking routine) and most likely not enough water intake. I am hoping to not repeat that again. I was already taking stool softeners since day 1, but have now added in a green juice, a little extra fiber and some ACV pills.

Do not go by the fitbit, I used to have one and it counts your resting metabolic rate, meaning the 3k calories its showing you burned include your breathing and your bodily functions not your calories burned by exercise. It also will randomly record an exercise or activity if you move your hand too much etc. I was advised by my dietician to increase my carb and protein since I was doing HIIT or strength training 4-5 times a week, so now I try to do 80g of protein with a shake. I do for carbs sweet potato, quinoa, protein bread or wrap, oatmeal (fiber) and cream of wheat. I tend to weight more or less the same when I train hard since there is water retention for muscle repair, so make sure you are drinking above the recommended 64oz to avoid this. It also helps to look at your weight total per month, not by week or weigh in when you are training, and to start taking your measurements to help see how your body is changing.

strictures happen to about 5% of bypass patients. I had one, too (actually, two - one at four weeks out and one at eight weeks out. I was told they are super rare after the third month). As you said, easy fix. I felt better immediately!

Hi all! Newbie here... I've been lurking for months though. LOL I got notice today that my policy covers the surgery but that I cannot gain any weight the entire time I'm in a bariatric program. I'm curious, how many other people have had this as a clause in their policy? And if so, how did you deal with it? Did you gain weight and get kicked out? I find this to be such an absurd requirement. If I could control what the scale does I wouldn't be pursuing weight loss surgery in the first place! I just gained 10 lbs in the last 3 weeks on a new medication (Lyrica) that I have to stop now because its not worth the gain. Doctors are always playing with my meds, what if something else causes me to gain before surgery?? This is such an annoying detail to have to worry about.

Hello again everyone! I'll start by saying I'm sorry it takes me so long to post my responses. This is because while I do skim posts from my phone, especially when I see an email that has me tagged I find it so much easier to type and properly respond from my desktop computer. So - If I 'Like' a post' just know I'll likely later mention something in one of my long summarized posts, like this one! Yesterday was exhausting for me; I slept poorly Tuesday night due to heartburn and tenderness on the left hand side. I did get a few things done yesterday, though, including making it to Walmart finally to get my returns processed. I'm not sure why I thought I'd need extra bandages and such after my surgery, but I didn't. That said, after reviewing the cost of canned soups and canned chicken, I decided just to buy a rotisserie chicken! Honestly, that's proven to be easier and more economical because after deboning it there is plenty of flavorful chicken to either puree into chicken salad or puree with chicken broth and some canned peas/carrots as a kind of 'no noodle' soup! I also had a ridiculous epiphany this morning - cooking and straining our fruits BEFORE mixing them with yogurt or ricotta works WAY BETTER! This should have been obvious but in my addled mind I've been either 'peeling' the strawberries, or like this morning I thought I'd put the whole blueberry yogurt smoothie through the metal screen to strain and hey - that worked POORLY! Lol - silly the illogical things we do at times, eh? Or maybe it's just me, idk! Oh - I ALSO realized yesterday evening, when I had basically zero energy nor desire to mess with dinner but still was far short of my protein goal that I hadn't started taking the Collagen yet that I bought to help my hair, skin, and nails. Lo and behold when I scoped it out (I ordered Nature Target Multi-Collagen Peptides from Amazon) that one scoop DOES have 9g of Protein! I truly felt like I was cheating the system when I poured a scoop in about 4oz of Gatorade Zero, Orange and called that my dinner. I'm not sure what caused me to sleep better last night - the fact that I held/hugged a pillow ( Thank you again @draikaina8503 for mentioning the pillow your nursing staff gave you!) against my left side during most movements throughout the day, the fact that I was extremely tired, the relief from hearing from my doctor's office, or just time and healing in general) but I DID sleep well and today has gone more smoothly for me. As of today I'm 17 days post op, about a 1/4 of the way into my two weeks of puree diet. @ShoppGirl - I haven't noticed about white spots on the tongue after different types of protein drinks because I've been really aware of any 'filmy texture' so rinse my mouth after each meal, but I do feel like the Ensure is thicker and takes more effort for me to rinse after drinking. Thanks for mentioning the Protein Water! I'm going to look into that to see if it will help me meet my protein goal of 60g/day. @draikaina8503 - I haven't noticed much as far as skin sensitivity goes although my bruises from where they stuck me have taken an AGE to heal! I've been worried about you and hope that the incident with your doggo didn't leave you with any lasting damage (I may see a post about that later as I read). Are you taking Collagen Peptides by chance? I noticed one of the Youtubers who documented their own surgery journey dealt with breakouts afterward while taking Collagen and wondered if maybe it was impurities being purged from their skin as a result of the Collagen itself. If not I'd definitely mention it to your surgeon and double check (not that I think you'd miss anything since you seem VERY thorough) that some ingredient you're intolerant to hasn't snuck its way into your routine. Update: Oh good, I'm glad you got some reassurance from your physician's office. Wow - congratulations on the return to school! The start date is rolling right up, isn't it?! Yeah, timing - eesh - I feel ya! Best of luck in finding a comfortable position in which to do your course work, and the energy to tackle everything at once! So far though it looks like you're nailing it and no reason to think that success won't keep right on coming! Oh - and yeah, I guess I AM blessed to have been given this little bottle of Hibiclens! I had noticed that there was one of those tubs in my hospital room when I got ready to check out and there was another bottle of it in there as well as a couple of 'No rinse' shampoo caps. I snagged everything out of it - figured if my insurance was paying for it, I was gonna grab it for possible later use! I wish I could hand you this extra bottle, honestly! @Pepper_No_Salt - Wow; goodness! Yeah; honestly it sounds like you're doing way too much! I'm only just now starting to feel up to helping load the dishwasher, and today I managed to slowly sort through the clothing in my chest of drawers for size/quality of condition. Even then, I had to have my fella open the drawers for me because it's older and they stick a bit, plus pulling anything makes me tender, much less bending and pulling at the same time! I can't IMAGINE trying to tackle everything you just listed at this stage. I know we all heal at different rates but my surgeon's office told me yesterday that the pain *I* have been mainly experiencing, a pulling/tugging on my left side, can take up to a month or two to recover from. She said to remember that despite how the surface appears to have healed that there is a LOT of repair and healing happening internally. She also said that as frustrating as it is to just try to be patient with myself because the body is adjusting in a lot of ways between not getting hardly any carbs, learning to get its energy from different sources, i.e. stored fat, processing our intake of protein/water differently, and literally healing multiple organs (for me, SADI, intestines and stomach from the sleeve portion) and that takes a lot out of a person. @Justarwaxx - Oh my goodness, that sounds VERY anxiety inducing! This is your body and your journey, I absolutely suggest contacting your surgeon's office to see if they can send you some kind of guideline on what to be doing at your different stages. Also, I will be honest - that sounds like a lot of calories to be intaking during your liquid diet and I can't help but wonder if you're drinking maybe the wrong particular protein shake? I don't say that because I think you SHOULD worry about calories specifically but you DO need to worry about sugar intake. I got tripped up because my surgeon's team gave me a booklet guide for the whole process and I'm not supposed to drink any protein shakes that have less than 15g of Protein and more than 5g of sugar. The protein shakes are deceptive as heck, though! Example: The off brand Equate ones I got are Max Protein with 30g of Protein and less than 1g of sugar, and one time I accidentally bought their Protein Plus which had 20g of sugar in each one! They tasted great - but at the cost of all that sugar it was a hard pass! Also if you are drinking regular Gatorade or Powerade I could see that being a factor; I'm on Zero Sugar for my non-protein beverages. I can totally see how you'd feel at a loss - I spent 10 months working up to my surgery (because I had to quit smoking, etc) and I still feel like I'm winging it. If your surgeon's team didn't mention it, I will - there is an app called Baritastic that is free on the Google Play Store. You can scan the items you intake or search them on the 'Food Log' and it usually pulls up the correct information and lets you put what percent of the listed serving size you consumed. I do suggest checking at least one time to make sure it's pulling up the correct information that matches the Nutrition Facts listed on the item. After that it will be recorded in your 'Recent' list and you can just choose it easily that way. Baritastic also has a built in Timer for 30 minutes you can use to track when you stop drinking and can start drinking after a meal - once you're past the liquid stage and move on to meals that's pretty important across the board as far as I know. The 'No drinking 30 minutes before, during, or after a meal' is important because due to the adjusted size of your stomach it can only fit a certain amount, and you could get overly full of water before or after a meal otherwise, leading to you being sick to your stomach or feeling miserable overall. Honestly, I've been setting a timer when I sit down at my computer as well so I don't get absorbed in what I'm doing and sit for too long. That's been helpful! Best of healing and well wishes to you all - Oh, finally updated my ticker but bummed I can't put 'SADI' as my surgery type. Oh well! Adding: The Finch App continues to help me navigate these waters, big time. I open my free Finch app (Also on the Google Play App store) more often then I open Facebook or any social media. Taking care of that silly cute cartoon bird and getting rewarded for taking care of MY personal business is such a benefit to someone like me who is almost certainly ADHD/Autistic at some level. I even use it to remind me to log my food/liquid intake in Baritastic. OH and I did make solid contact with the testing center I've been on a wait list with - looks like I'll at least be able to get in to a counselor soon, though I'm still on the wait list for actual Autism testing. Ok - that's all for now!

My surgery date was October 4th. I had gastric bypass surgery. My liquid diet started on September 20th. My weight loss journey started August 3rd at 266lbs. Surgery day I was 236lbs. Today, 2 weeks post op, I weighed in a 224lbs.

I pooped at the hospital, day after surgery. Right now it is 2-3 days between, I am 9 weeks post op. If I hit 3 days I start taking colace or dulcolax.

I'm one week post op and have been having the oddest stomach spasms when I try to consume anything other than water (and it happens with water sometimes too). It feels like my stomach bunches up into a fist and tries to somersault within my belly. It provokes a wave of sharp pain and nausea and is very unpleasant. I mentioned this to the doc when I was in the hospital and he gave me a med that worked some for the smaller ones, but it has stopped working (he warned it might). I can usually drink water but anything heavier like a protein drink, a strained soup, a protein broth, or even jello provokes this odd cramping sensation. Sometimes it even happens when I'm not eating or drinking at all (in the middle of the night). Has anyone else had this happen early post op? I'm still on liquids and my surgeon said it is okay for me to focus on hydration right now instead of protein so I've been hitting my hydration goals everyday, but getting very little protein beyond what is in lactose free milk. I'm starting to wonder if my stomach will ever let me progress my diet beyond water. LOL

I signed up on here awhile back and waited to post anything until now and hope I can give some of my experience. March 1st of this year I had my gastric sleeve. I went in with a weight of 363 pounds and am 6’1. As of today posting this I am 225 pounds. Definitely was one of the smartest decisions I ever made for myself. Everyone’s journey is different. I was met with immediate energy following my procedure, like waking up everyday and ready to take on the world. And it’s still like that. For whatever reason for me, my eating habits and likes and dislikes immediately changed. I hated fish my whole life and now find myself craving it. Once loved ranch dressing, not it makes my stomach feel yuck. You hit these plateaus where your weight doesn’t change, sometimes for a couple weeks at a time, it’s easy to get discouraged but trust me, stay the course, don’t go back to bad habits and then bam! Next thing you know, you’re dropping a pound or two a day, followed by another plateau. This will happen repeatedly. For me I’ve noticed that walking 4 or 5 miles a day and being as active as possible REALLY makes it come off even quicker and maintaining a diet with no sugar for me has seriously helped. I treat myself to a little bit of carbs daily but mainly all proteins and it has worked great for me. Again, these are just the things that have worked in my journey and no two are the same. I’m fortunate that my job is pretty active so I keep track of my steps climbed and steps to get my exercise minutes in while I work. I also find a reason to be active when I’m not working. I wish everyone luck that is or has had this procedure done. And like I said, it’s the best thing I ever did for ME.

I am 100% NOT putting chicken feet in mine! Also, you might check Amazon if you end up liking the Kettle and Fire brand. It turned out to be about $1.50 cheaper per carton than my local grocery store if I bought the 6 pack there. I have a monthly subscribe and save order to get the best price, and since my surgery isn't until the end of December, I'm buying one 6-pack per month and tucking them away so I have plenty for those first couple weeks when I know I'll want convenience more than anything else.

How exciting! Scary! Exciting! Lol Congratulations and the very best wishes. I’m joining the Losers Bench Monday!! New week, new beginning!

Hi everyone! I'm brand new here, and just found the forum. I am scheduled for my VSG on October 19th, so next week. I'm already on my two-week pre-op diet. Excited and scared and also ready to go! I'm 5'2 and weigh 200lbs. I have Type 2 diabetes and High Blood Pressure and I'm ready to change my health for the better.

The following is a list of abbreviations commonly used on this board. ACL = Anterior cruciate ligament AGB = Adjustable gastric banding AMRAP = As Many Rounds As Possible (crossfit) AT = Aspiration Therapy BB = belly button bc = because BCBS = Blue Cross/Blue Shield BDD = Body Dysmorphic Disorder BED = Binge Eating Disorder bf = best friend BM = bowel movement BMI = Body Mass Index bp = blood pressure BPD = Borderline Personality Disorder or Biliary Pancreatic Diversion bs = blood sugar btw = by the way C25K = Couch Potato to Running 5K CBT = cognitive-behavioral therapy CC = common channel c diff = clostridium difficile cos or cuz = because CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure CRNP = certified registered nurse practitioners CT = Computed Tomography (commonly called CAT Scan) cw = current weight CXR = Chest X-Ray DDD = degenerative disc disease Dr. = doctor DS = Dumping Syndrome or Duodenal Switch EBT = Endoscopic Bariatric Therapies EGD = Esophagogastroduodenoscopy EKG = Electrocardiography ER = emergency room ESG = Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty ff = fat free f/u = follow up GB = gastric bypass GERD = gastroesophageal reflux disease GI = gastrointestinal GIF = Gastric Intrinsic Factor GNC = General Nutrition Corporation store GP = general practitioner or family doctor HBP = high blood pressure hr = heart rate hw = highest weight ICU = Intensive Care Unit Idk = I don’t know IGB = intragastric balloons IF = Intrinsic Factor IMHO = in my humble (honest) opinion IMO = in my opinion IUI = Intrauterine insemination LAP Band = Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band LES = lower esophageal sphincter lol = laughing out loud LSG = Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy med = medicine MFP = my fitness pal MGB = Mini Gastric Bypass msg = message NAFLD = nonalcoholic fatty liver disease NASH = Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis nf = non fat NG = Nasogastric NP = nurse practitioner NSAIDS = Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug NSV = non-Scale victory (“scale” means “weight scale”) NUT = nutritionist OA = Overeaters Anonymous omw = on my way Onederland = a magical place or destination for those trying to lose weight. It might correspond to attaining a weight in the hundreds or losing a hundred pounds. op = operation OSA = Obstructive Sleep Apnea OTC = Over the counter Oz = Australia PB = Productive Burps PCOS = Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCP = Primary Care Physician PICC= Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter PM = private message (email) PMS = premenstrual syndrome POSE = Primary Obesity Surgery Endolumenal postop or post–op = post-operation or post-surgery PPI = Proton Pump Inhibitors ppl = people preop or pre-op = pre-operation or pre-surgery PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PVC = Premature ventricular contractions RA = Rheumatoid arthritis RH = reactive hypoglycemia RN = registered nurse RNY = Roux-en-Y RTD = ready to drink Rx = Prescription medicine RYGB = Roux-en-Y gastric bypass SADI-S = single anastomosis duodeno–ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy s/f or sf = sugar free SG = Sleeve gastrectomy SIPS = stomach intestinal pylorus-sparing surgery smh = shaking my head, scratching my head SO = significant other SOB = shortness of breath st = stones (a unit of weight measurement) sw = weight at surgery tmi = too much information TPN = total parenteral nutrition TT = tummy tuck TTC = trying to conceive Ty = Thank you. [but according to the urban dictionary “Ty” is also an abbreviation for “a total stud with a massive carrot”.] u = You UGI = Upper Gastrointestinal VSG = Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Vit = vitamin wks = weeks WLS = Weight Loss Surgery WOD = Workout of the Day w/o = without wt = weight

Congratulations @shooterinthesix! I was down 33 at my post op last week, just since the surgery date and it does feel kinda crazy!

With my now being six weeks post-op, I'm curious what others' calorie intake has been in the early stages of typically rapid weight loss after surgery and am well aware that intake increases and body weight decreases. I realize everyone is different, and clearly stated in my original post that I have already spoken about this with my dietitian for my own case. I'm not seeking medical advice from an internet forum on what my target should be; I'm opening a conversation about the topic to see where other bariatric patients have found their own successes with respect to their caloric intake as one metric.

Congratulations @shooterinthesix! I was down 33 at my post op last week, just since the surgery date and it does feel kinda crazy!

Hi All, I’m almost 2 weeks post op and struggling with hitting my protein goals! Mainly because I don’t like sweets and most shakes have sweeteners. I have tried pea protein with “natural” taste but tastes like raw flour added to the food! Is there no protein powder that is just tasteless and can be added to any food / drink without compromising the original taste? Thanks 😊

December 27th here! I started back in July when a visit to my doctor on the non-surgical side of the weight loss center yielded the suggestion that I consider surgery. I was all too happy to do so after 6 years of nutrition and then meds never yielded more than fleeting results. I did an immersion day in August where I learned all the rules, and then I needed appointments with psychologist and nutritionist before meeting with surgeon in early October. I was hoping for mid-November, but the earliest they had was end of December so I'm making the best of it. My doctor only requires 2 days of liquid diet, which means I can celebrate Christmas Eve but will be on protein shakes for Christmas, but not longer, which is nice. I'm grateful that the kids will be off school and won't need "Mom's Taxi Service" to get them to all their after school activities that week. In the meantime, I've been working on my nutrition, slowly eliminating processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, breads, snack foods, etc. I've made a lot of progress ridding the house of unhealthy foods and adding more vegetables into my daily diet. I've also bought several bariatric cookbooks and have been choosing some recipes to try in the next 8 weeks so I have practice with them. I'm hoping a few will be winners with the kids, too. We're all working on getting better with nutrition and I'm glad to have them excited about trying new, healthier options.

After a sip of my protein drink - enough to just swallow my stomach meds it felt like something was stuck after a few dreadful minutes it had to come up. This had happened for a few days even sipping fluids . Doc put me on a new nausea Med Thursday and took me off protein drinks. Yesterday (Friday) I was able to hold down sipping 20 oz flav enhanced water. Tried to eat purée last night a little and it sat until it had to come out . Going to stick with trying to focus on fluids as doc stated if I can’t get enough fluids I’ll have to go to ER for an IV. I was fine until into week 3 1/2 - 4. Anyone have this issue or things you were ok with first 2-3 weeks then your body rejected? Also after sleeve surgery in 2017 I was never able to drink plain water again.