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This is good advice. Not everyone knows this, but calorie estimates in food, even prepackaged ones are not super accurate for a couple of reasons: The USDA allows manufactured foods a 10% variance. In other words, if a packaged food states the calorie content is 500 kcal, it can be anywhere between 450 and 550 and still be within the allowed variance. The USDA simply does not have the staff to check that every pre-packaged food even meets that 10% standard, so manufacturers are given wide latitude here. They can be a lot further off and it's extremely unlikely anyone would know. It's even less likely anything would be done about it. Setting aside processed foods for now (those with nutrition labels), it's not all roses for unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Even these calorie counts can be way off due to the simplistic way we estimate calories. I'm simplifying a bit here, but to get calorie counts, we traditionally use something called a bomb calorimeter. Basically we burn the food in an enclosed space and measure how much heat is given off. Obviously, this is not how our bodies process food, so saying a particular amount of a food has "200 calories" as measured by a bomb calorimeter does not equal how many calories our bodies actually get from that food. Obviously I'm being a little US specific here, but I'd guess most of the above applies to other countries as well. In short, don't get in the habit of thinking calorie counts are as accurate as they might seem. They just aren't. Use the calories as a tool if you need to, but don't get overly dependent on them.

Not very scientific but I usually over estimate then use the highest calorie version when logging. It was easier to do this by dry volume vs weight. https://www.cacfp.org/2023/11/14/fundamentals-of-measuring-weight-and-volume/#:~:text=Knowing the difference between weight,or mass of an item. For accuracy you could use containers , tare the scale and do that for each item. Also I always weighed the food cooked (or raw for things eaten raw like veg and fruit).

Apparently they leave your ovaries unless your menopausal so that’s likely why you still had yours from 28 years ago and they took everything of mine. Oh yes hospital food is awful. Plus at my hospital they have an app through which to order your meals & your water. OMG the worst app ever. Ordered a jug of water (to take my meds) and a cup of tea early one morning but then couldn’t order breakfast 90 minutes later because the app said I’d already ordered breakfast! Rang to order instead and the wrong meal was delivered. Oh we don’t have natural muesli anymore I was told when I complained so they bought me an high sugar, high fat, high calorie alternative! Grrrrr! Everything was all spicy and pasta & pizza & burgers for people in hospital!! I lived on clear soup (salty or flavourless) and jatz crackers and cheese (threw up the cheese) & hummus. No weight drop for me though just constipation & peeing out the fluids for days. Hope you’re recovering well.

This might be beneficial: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ This is the official USDA nutritional data for foods. Compare the Baritastic numbers to the USDA numbers. This should help you to know if it's raw or cooked.

Using these logs is a struggle in the beginning especially if its home cooked food. Bought food already comes with its own nutrition label so its standard. The log you use will get used to the foods you regularly eat and show them first. The one I use stores recipes too. It does get easy.

Snap, almost ! I have had my ovaries and a huge cyst removed this week. For some reason they left them 28 years ago when I had my hysterectomy. I now have a new belly scar and have lost my belly button. I have gotten to my own target weight at last. I wonder if its the missing belly button, the cyst or the deplorable hospital food that accounts for the big weight drop. Hope you are feeling more like yourself today, I am, even though I am walking around hugging my tummy like I am about to loose my insides.

Soup is usually fine to have. I was drinking soup from liquids. Broths & cream soups in liquids, thicker or puréed soups in purée, & slow cooked soups with well cooked meat & vegetables in the soft food stage. The issue is not the soup but the noodles. The noodles in your chicken noodle soup like pasta, rice and bread swell in your tummy. So you fill up with what is a food that is low in nutrient content and protein and not with protein rich and nutrient dense foods you really need to be focussed upon eating. Strain the soup & drink the broth and you‘ll be fine & still get the flavour you enjoy (just not the texture). It’s not forever though I still don’t eat those starchy, simple carbs as I find them too filling and too heavy in my tummy.

Very common for you to experience temporary changes to your sense of taste and sometimes smell after surgery. Everything became super salty or super sweet and certain textures (like the grainy texture of the shakes) became off putting for me. And yes, sometimes foods you didn’t enjoy before become enjoyable though that can change back. For me it was smoked salmon which I strangely began eating regularly once on real food but a few weeks later it was back to nope it’s too strong & rich. I actually embraced the aversion to sweet and lost my desire for a lot of it.

Generally most things are raw like meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, oats, barley, etc. If I ate rice or pasta I’d do it cooked like soup. But yes as @SpartanMaker said apps tend to specific raw or cooked when you log your food.

When you guys log your food into the tracking apps when do you weigh or measure food. For instance meat weighs the most out of freezer and the least after it’s cooked. I assume I’m not supposed to input the frozen weight but do I use the thawed weight or the cooked weight. Also with like rice, do I enter the dry measurement or the cooked one which is twice as much. Further for like veggies would I measure in cups before or after it’s cooked?? Just trying to be the most accurate I can but these seem to make pretty big differences.

Everyone’s post op plan is different. At five weeks I was on soft foods post SADI revision but it’s important to follow the plan your surgeon set for you. It goes by pretty fast. You will be able to eat again soon. For soups, if you get a good soup and strain it (like from a restaurant) that can be a little treat because the broth is more flavorful even if you can’t have the noodles. If you are on soft but just can’t have the noodles, try having just the broth with the veggies (celery can cause some people issues, though so be mindful of that). Honestly the longer you can go without having processed carbs the better. Carbs make you crave more carbs (or that’s how it works for many people anyways).

I am 5 weeks and was just curious to what other type of foods we can eat besides what’s on the booklet…. I been craving chicken soup so bad but was told I can’t have the noodles yet just the broth…. I’ve seen other blend it but don’t want to do something that will harm me… any suggestions

*raises hand* warning: this may get long.... now, for me, replace 'whiskey' and 'cognac' with Vodka Sodas or Red Wine or Espresso Martinis. i looked it up and according to North American AND European "standards" i would be considered an alcoholic in North America, as well as partaking in "harmful and hazardous" drinking if I were in Europe, based on my average daily alcohol consumption. I started drinking regularly during Covid, and basically never stopped. I too, consider myself a high-functioning alcoholic...i don't get black out drunk, i dont drink and drive, operate heavy machinery while under the influence, make bad decisions that would harm or embarass myself or others, etc. etc. since surgery i get affected much quicker, and on a lot less than pre-surgery. i'm pretty tipsy just after a single drink...legitimately drunk after 2. BUT.....i sober up really quickly too. the alcoholic buzz lasts me maybe 30-45 mins tops. then it's like i didn't drink a drop....which probably contributes to why i drink the amounts that i do. i am a boredom and social drinker (i.e,. i don't need it to sleep...i am a lifelong insomniac and need very little sleep all my life anyway *shrug*). so if i am busy doing stuff during waking hours that doesn't involve food, friends and sitting around, then i wont drink. i also have a chip on my shoulder, so often when somebody (i.e., Mr. or the Kid) challenges me that i couldn't stop drinking, I totally would just to prove him wrong. I've probably gone cold turkey 9-10 times for about a month each time in the past 5 years just to be right. Mind you, i never actually STOPPED for good, so maybe HE's right, ha. As for my current state of health, I am probably in the best shape in my adult life. I have maintained below goal weight since reaching it at 7 months post op. I am 5'2", 52 yr old woman, and this morning weighed 115.8 lbs. My body fat percentage hovers between 18-20% All my labs since surgery have been satisfactory, the last one being last fall. I don't take any medication any more (i used to take blood pressure and cholesterol and adhd meds). but I do have to take pesky PPIs i continue to need to keep my reflux under control. I have endless amounts of energy, bad moods and bitchiness are a rarity now, i am patient, calm, less stressed since losing the weight. I exercise (yoga, pilates, running, rock climbing) 20+ hours a week. I also dabble with swimming, hiking, volleyball, and dance for funsies. I consume over 2300+ calories a day so i'm definitely not starving myself (mind you, 400-500 cals are from alcohol...) soooo....sometimes i feel like i SHOULD worry about the amount of alcohol i drink, but really, if i'm honest, i don't, really. but if/when i do i feel like its becoming a problem, I can re-evaluate then (though this probably sounds like the alcoholic's battle-cry, no? ha!) p.s. may be worth noting here (not sure why) that i am also an ex-smoker at the moment. i smoked for 20 years, then quit cold-turkey for 10 yrs, then took it up again for 4 years, then quit cold turkey again last summer (am currently 14 months smoke free this time around, yay, me!). p.p.s. DISCLAIMER: i am in no way advocating nor opposing my M.O. to drinking to anyone who reads this. I am merely describing my own experiences. take or leave from it what you will ❤️ ...and scene. lol.

Even at my age, I still have hungry days like a period day. I just allow myself more good healthy foods. There is always a day where I eat very little. At the end of the month my food tracker is always in range of 60 -80 grams of protein and 1500 calories a day.

I'm killing it, body fat down below 10 percent, I'm working out at least 4 times a week, am lean and strong. But I've found solace in whiskey. I drink it neat, no mixers. I don't drink during the day, but need to quiet my mind. Good quality whiskey does that, after 35 + years of total sobriety. I'm in Texas, so pot is largely illegal- and the illicit vapes make me paranoid. Crazy thing is I don't wake up with a hang over- I take Pharma sleep meds but am careful about the combo. I did talk to one guy who lost a crazy amount of weight through surgery and told me that heavy alcohol consumption is not uncommon. I was not fixated on food before surgery, but gained a lot during Covid sitting on my ass without serious exercise. I'm now working hard at the gym with a good trainer, and the results have been impressive. But the alcohol is an issue. I don't drive or go out when I drink, I'm home. I'm a high functioning boozer, but still. I hate being dependent on any substance, but I need to turn down the noise in my head. There are some legal CBD outlets in Texas which I can explore. I know the volume of whiskey I'm consuming is not necessary good for long life, but it definitely chills me out. Would love input from others who have had the same experience. Physically I'm in amazing shape, and generally, my mental attitude is quite positive. TIA!

I haven’t had any experience with this but personally if I had anything weird with my stomach I would see my surgeon to see what they have to say. Some people do develop allergies post surgery. And we can all develop allergies at anytime. Can you pinpoint certain foods or drink. Maybe keep a food log in the mean time but I would see your surgeon and see if they think it’s surgery related.

If you guys aren’t planning children now consider the IUD. I got the Mirena and I have no clue why I waited this long. No more periods for me. I spotted once in a while for a couple of months and nothing since. No more emotional rollercoasters or food cravings either. I used to have such heavy bad periods with all of the symptoms and now once In a while when I go pee I see a tiny bit of blood on the tissue but that’s it. No cramps, cravings, fatigue, moodiness, none of it. It’s amazing. I’m not sure if there are risks with getting it if you are planning children in the future because I’m past that so I would definitely ask some questions about that but it’s something to think about.

Tastes certainly change post surgery. Prior to my sleeve I was a salty snack girl. Had the sleeve and I started craving sweets all of a sudden. Possibly part of why it didn’t work for me. Woke up from my revision craving healthy Food-food though. Even for snacks I want nourishment not junk. I wanted fish tacos so bad during my entire liquid phase and I like things like spinach now. It’s weird. You may not like stuff you loved before but you may also like some things you didn’t before so be open to trying things. Hopefully you will find some healthy things you love to replace them things you don’t like now. Ooh and if you like peanut butter and have some vanilla shakes left over try mixing PB2 into your shake. It takes a lot of mixing and you won’t want to do it until your cleared for like purées because it makes it a little thicker but it’s really good and it increases the protein. Ooh another thing you can do with the shakes to cut the sweetness is to mix them with coffee. I actually buy the caramel ones that are really sweet intentionally to make my iced coffee. It’s delicious.

Finally cleared for soft foods, increased physical/sexual activity and massage. Oh it's a good day! Was able go handle half a scrambled egg and 2oz of mashed pinto beans. Was so nervous they'd taste bad or make me nauseous. So far, only my Vanilla protein shake that I've loved for a few years; now tastes like syrup. Has anyone "lost" the ability to enjoy their favorites since having surgery? And if so, has it changed ?

Saturday was crazyyyyyy for me. I went off my rocker, I snacked and grazed all day. I started my period Friday even and Saturday I was bitchy and wanted all the food. Sunday I felt like crap almost like a hang over. I didn't track my food, I didn't worry about my protein, I did work out that morning though, but still No bueno, but I am back on track and just let that day be. However these last two or three periods have been me fighting back eating the whole house but this last one I lost the battle LOL

Hi, thank you all so much for your answers (I'm just seeing them, sorry for the late reply)! I feel a bit better about it. It's just hecka frustrating to not know what you might be doing wrong. That said, the sleeve is still sleeving; my restriction was ridiculous yesterday. My husband and I took our youngest out for Sarku Japan and I swear I didn't even make a dent in my food. I was really shocked. Some days are like that where I feel like I'm back in my 3-4 ounce days. I said to my husband, "Looks like this is gonna be another one of those things that takes me three days to finish!" I'm not exaggerating. We went for ramen last year, and it literally took me three days. I'm going to continue to adjust accordingly, take inventory of any bad habits. I guess I need to fight harder. I'll look into the GLP-1 thing definitely; but that stuff is caro.💀🐾

So glad to hear your checkup went well and everyone’s plans a little different depending on their surgery their age, their activity levels, their medical conditions so you’re probably gonna get a lot of answers. My team doesn’t give a calorie goal either but once I showed her my Fitness app which logs my level of activity as well as my food blog she told me I needed to increase my carbohydrates and protein, which has been really scary and hard to do especially because I went three days without losing and then actually gained a pound after I increased it but I’m trusting the nurse practitioner that she knows what she’s doing and hoping it will work out. I haven’t had my three week stall yet so maybe that’s what’s going on. I mean, I’m eating probably a third of what I did before surgery and I’m exercising 10 times more so there’s just no way that I would be gaining. Oh, I should add that. I weighed myself this morning and. I lost that pound plus another one so I really lost 1 pound in the three days well in four days I guess. I do remember from my sleeve, but it does slow down quite a bit at a certain point. I just don’t remember when and how much. I am also trying to focus on the fact that I feel healthier and have more energy and I’m in a better mood than I have been in years.

I’m pretty sure dry skin can also be from l not enough protein I’m using my phone so I’m not sure which surgery you had but if it’s bypass and increasing, your fluids, doesn’t work consider whether you just need more protein than the average bypass or if your activity is high, talk to your team, but they told me I needed to increase my protein because of my level of activity. Also, if your activity is really high, you may actually need to increase your carbohydrates. I would definitely talk to your team about your activity and your food intake. I know that increasing carbs sounds scary and counterproductive, but I’ve been on here for about four years now and a lot of people found that when they exercise level was high their body thought it was starving and was hanging onto everything until they increased their calories and then it started dropping so I would definitely ask if that could be an issue. Daughter it’s just the three weeks stop which isn’t exactly at three weeks, but it does happen to pretty much everyone.

1 month post op gastric bypass .. before and after and I ate an extra bite and the foamies kicked in and unfortunately I lost all the food! Reminder: listen to your full ques teehee. I'm still trying to get rid of old habits

Hello ladies x Had my one month post op appointment today with the surgical team and he told me that all is well and should keep doing what I am doing wnd I am ready to start REAL FOOD and exercise! He did transfer me to a dietician immediately tho because he expected a higher loss than 10 kg for the first month but he did say 10 kg is still good and wanted me to speak to the dietician to understand more. And it turns out I am under eating and avoiding all sort of carbs which is effecting me and could possibly mean I am not retaining nutrients. I have been to scared of eating that I know for sure I was under eating. So she went over my plan and told ne to eat 8 well cooked meals! And to check back in 2 weeks with how I am feeling. She told me not to be too worried about calories now and we will talk more when I reach 80 kgs. I am wondering what your dietician have been telling u guys about carbs? R they part of ur meal plans?