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@ChunkCat after my post op appointment my Bariatric doctor told me to only take my Ozempic if I stop losing weight.

Hi just now seeing this. I went pack to basics and intermittent fasting. The two Protein Shakes and one meal is what you have to do to get weight moving. Also you can never eat regular again to maintain the weight loss. That’s what I found works for me. I keep my calories around 1000 or less per day and I’m fine. If I splurge one day I only eat a little of the bad item. Also no leftovers of not good food choice items

Hiya. I had my survey on March 10th. I started at 259 and now I'm 189. I'm stalling with a while i don't ever have a steady loss, it seems to go on batches! Half stone here and a half stone there but i used to put it up the same way! I too have loads of energy but don't work out much. I should but i don't. People really notice my weight loss but i think looking at ourselves in the mirror for years being heavy is hard to shift from the mind. All my clothes are gone for smaller sizes. We should be clapping ourselves on the back for achieving a new person so hang on there you'll start moving again its probably the bodys way of adjusting for the next loss. Well done you and keep going

I had sleeve & am just over 4 years out. my weight has been pretty much stable aside from a small gain of a good 2kgs after a medication absorption issue (& lost about half of it when the meds were adjusted). I never was required to measure & track my food intake. I only did it & still do randomly out of my own interest. While portion size is important equally important is calories & you can’t judge or make decisions about one in isolation of the other. The importance of nutritional value goes without saying of course. Generally I say I eat about a recommended portion of most foods & tend to eat predominately low processed food with the exception of some things. As an example I eat about 3-4ozs of protein with a good cup or so of vegetables for dinner. I have a half serve of rolled oats made with milk & blueberries for breakfast. Lunch may be 4 steamed prawn gyoza, a tub of yoghurt, 12 mid sized prawns, 1.5 egg omelette with vegetables, etc. I snack about 4 times a day (to get in additional protein, nutrients & calories). It’s usually some multigrain crackers with labneh or liverwurst if I haven’t made labneh, macadamia nuts, protein bar, string cheese, peanut paste, fruit, beef jerky. I don’t eat dessert, cakes or biscuits (except on very rare occasions), rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, chips, popcorn or other traditional ‘snack’ foods & don’t drink soda. Nor do I eat fast food & very rarely have takeaway (maybe 5 times since my surgery & not through my choice). Don’t really miss them either. Also I still take 30 - 45 minutes to eat a meal. If I eat more quickly, how much I can eat is reduced & I can end up with the foamies. I still aim to eat 60-70g of protein & to get my fluids in every day. I eat about 1500 calories to maintain my weight. I’m 5’3”, have a finer build, am 58 & aren’t really active. If I was taller, weighed more, was more active &/or younger I’d need more calories. Anyway that’s what I do & found works for me. It may not work for you. There is no right or wrong way to eat only what is right for you & allows you to maintain your weight & health, is sustainable & doesn’t limit or restrict the life you want to live. PS - Earlier this year I checked a BMR calculator out of curiosity. Interestingly, it suggested I’d need to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight which confirmed I was on the right path.

I had gastric bypass. The following has been repeated here enough to be... well... repeated enough here. But since no one researches old posts, here I am... My plan is 3-4 oz protein, 1oz veggies (or other) 3 times per day... Or as much as I can manage before I become full. I never counted calories or much that isn't described in the first sentence of this paragraph. This was my plan Day 1 through current (20+ years post op.) Currently, I'd say I reach 3-4 oz protein 1oz veggies for perhaps 50-60% of meals. The rest are meals where I can't come near my meal goal, I just stop when I max out for the meal. Perhaps 1% of the time, when the meal is exceptionally good and hits all that is good of an exceptional meal, that I might (very much might, because is is uncomfortable) push the envelope. The fact that I don't challenge my limits is why I believe my restriction is in the same place as it was about 3 months post-op. I can't eat much more per meal than I have since I have been 3 months post-op because I have rarely ever pushed the limit. My belief is the more one pushes the limits the larger those limits become. I simply do not push the limits, so I believe they remain narrow. Whether the limits actually exist as I said are perhaps a matter of belief doesn't really matter. My belief has kept me near my goal weight. So what I eat now is not a whole lot different than during the post-op period when I was learning how to eat again. I don't push my limits.

I had RNY but it's probably similar. I don't go by ounces anymore - I just know that it takes about 1600 calories to maintain my current body weight, so I try to stay around there (or under if I want to lose a few pounds). And the above person is right - the number of oz depends on the food. I can easily eat 8 oz of yogurt. But a piece of meat? No way. Maybe 2 or 3 oz. btw - no one would be able to tell now that I've had weight loss surgery. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", just like lots of my female friends are who've never had a weight problem. I'll go to a restaurant and order a salad or an appetizer. Or I'll get an entree and eat half of it (and box up the rest to take home).

First post ever here and really struggling... My surgery date is 8/15 and I'm starting to have second thoughts. Not so much about having weight loss surgery, but about whether I am in good hands with my current provider. Long story short NOTHING with this bariatric surgeon's group has ever gone to plan. I did the steps to book my initial consult (educational videos, referral from my primary care provider etc.) and scheduled for January on MLK day. I booked this a couple months in advance so that I could take a friend with me to my consult who had MLK day off work (I live in small town MT so there are no local bariatric surgeons to me). I had requested the day off work as it's a 6 hour round trip to the office. The Thursday before my Monday appointment they called to inform me they were closed for the MLK holiday and had just realized this. So I waited another month and had my consult in February. I knew my insurance required me to complete 6 months nutrition visits, so goal was surgery this summer and I was moving forward with this. My pre op was scheduled for 6/28, and they told me when I scheduled my pre op that surgery would then be within 30 days (in the month of July). I was very excited and looking forward to surgery. I had been clear with them in early June that I was not avail for August surgery and they confirmed with my pre op being on 6/28 surgery would be within 30 days of the pre op. A week prior to my pre op they called to tell me their surgery/clinic days were changing and they had to move me to 6/29, again this is not me taking an hour off work but a full day to drive 6 hours to this office. I was frustrated by this, but was able to change my work schedule. At the appointment I was given a 7/18 surgery date, all the paper work listing my surgery date and dates for the phases of my pre op diet and I signed the consent. and I was so thrilled! Then the surgeon comes back in and when I mentioned surgery on 7/18 his reply was "well that's not going to happen" and I was super confused. I guess he normally does 2 cases per surgery date, but the 1st case on 7/18 was a super complex patient and so he refused to do 2 cases that day. This was not communicated to his staff and I left in tears. They told me as I was leaving the appointment that I could have surgery in August, as there were no more July surgery dates available, but they then dropped the bomb on me that the surgeon is no longer doing bariatric surgery after July (which had never once been mentioned to me at all), so my surgery in August would be with the new surgeon moving to Montana from California! This would also mean spending my birthday in the hospital as my birthday is 8/16. I wanted surgery so badly I even was willing to put up with this change in surgery months, a new surgeon I'd never even met and spending my own birthday in the hospital, but when I had asked a month ago through the MyChart patient portal (thus have it in writing) I was told I was 2nd case on 8/15 with an 8:30 arrival. I clarified that I lived 3 hours away and needed to know if it would possible end up being an early arrival so I could make appropriate plans to travel on Monday 8/14. I was told I was all set for an 8:30 arrival so I planned to leave home at 5:30 on surgery morning as I sleep better in my own bed and didn't want to pay for an extra night in a hotel. Now 2 days ago they told me because of my prior diaphragm surgery I need to be 1st case! I don't have a ride/plans for a 6am arrival and am panicking! This has me questioning majorly whether I am in good hands with this team... will my care post op be any better? If this is how I'm being treated pre op what I can I expect going forward? Am I being petty or does all this seem like a HUGE red flag?

September Buddies - 2022 This past year has been great. I am pleased with my weight loss, even though I have been at a stall for quite a while. Need to kick-start this again to get that last 15 pounds gone! My daughter has begun the journey, too. Her sleeve surgery is scheduled for Oct 11, 2023. I hope y'all are doing well! Best wishes and thanks to all for the support we have shared and will continue to do so.

It will do both. From my first surgery I lost 150lbs. I was happy with the weight I had lost. Still had a lot more to go but the heartburn was such a hinderance. Nothing like walking in the treadmill and eating tums at the same time just to get through :). I am feeling so blessed to have found a surgeon that specialized in revisions and took me seriously. 5 days post op and no reflux!

The surgery may be science, but the art of eating, post-surgery, isn't one size fits all as I have learned. I had the bypass and a hiatal hernia repair on June 6 and have been expanding my permissible diet within the general guidelines. I find that the hardest thing is the the line between full and over-doing it, particularly with new post surgery foods. I had one instance of "foamies" that caused me great discomfort- I wish I could have puked and gotten it over with; instead, I suffered gastric distress for hours, and eventually fell asleep sitting on the living room couch. You should talk to your nutritionist - sometimes, it seems, it is the food itself; sometimes, perhaps eating too much, too quickly. I'm finding the line between full and overfull to the point of distress to be a pretty fine one and easy to cross. The "frothing/foamies" gave me religion in the sense that I'm more careful about what I put into my gullet, how much and how quickly. This is a significant operation that changes a lot of your physiology- the volume and nature of the food you can accept and the degree to which you can explore new food options (within the guardrails) that don't make you sick. My take, also as a new post op patient, is that you have to take it slowly, be deliberate and work with the surgeons' staff and nutrionist to help you on your way. Nobody said it would be easy, but the rewards start to come pretty quickly. For me, just a little more than a couple months out, I have far more mobility, I'm not focused on the scale but more on my physical capabilities. I go see the surgeon for a follow up next week. My blood work looks pretty good, it has improved already. One other thing: I can still enjoy the sensation of eating good food, but that's subordinate to my main mission to remedy the problems that necessitated the surgery--not just weight loss, but Barrett's. The bypass pretty much eliminated GERD, which was huge. The weight loss is coming a long nicely and I'm deferring to the surgeon's team for advice.

Congratulations on your weight loss & maintenance. To lose more, go back to the basics of what you were eating & doing when you first stabilised. Your old protein & fluids goals, watch portion size, keep your carbs, fats & sugars low & track your food. You’ll then need to reduce your calorie intake to lose weight. (Remember, exercise only accounts for about 10% of your weight loss so upping your activity to help your weight loss will only help with the loss of about 2 lbs in your case.) Given that you’ve been stable all this time, the weight you’re at may be your body’s set point - the weight it is happiest at & functions best at. It’s easer to maintain this weight & much harder to lose more & then maintain a lower weight simply because your body doesn’t want to be at a lower weight. To maintain weight lower than your set point will require you to always work at it & to eat fewer calories than you do now to maintain. Will this be sustainable & manageable? Will a lower weight & reduced calorie intake limit or restrict your lifestyle? Just something to consider.

Hey all my name is April I am 4 years out of GS 2019. I am having a lot of trouble and needing some support to maintain my weight. I lost 70 pounds before the pandemic but I need to lose these last 20 pounds please help.

How have you felt within these last few months in your weight loss? Like do you feel more energetic? More enthusiastic? You’re doing great! My doctor says you will introduce food a little at a time as If you were like a child eating new things for the first time!

Hi everyone! I had gastric bypass on May 10th. I have lost 60 pounds. I struggle because even this far out ( almost 3 months) I puke a lot which is really discouraging. I’m existing on high protein Greek yogurt, protein shakes, baked and mashed potatoes. I can eat some ground beef. No bread, chicken, eggs and several other things. My surgeon says it’s normal and to just reintroduce foods again later. I do not want to be regretful but sometimes I am. Anyway just being transparent and looking for encouragement. I am happy with the weight loss though. I just don’t want to exist on yogurt the rest of my life. 😌

Hi everyone. I was given a referral to the Options Program, but wasn't given any information on surgical options, just the shakes and meals. When I asked the Staff, they said my Dr needs to give me a specific referral before I can talk to anyone in the program. I asked my Dr, he said the referral he gave me should have covered it. What do I need to tell him to do? It took me 4 Dr switches to get one that would even have a discussion on weight loss, most of the Dr's in the past have just said stop eating cookes and drinking soda. When I would tell them I don't eat or drink either, they would then tell me I need to calorie count. We all know where that leads. I am a bit nervous, I have tried just about everything under the sun, done nothing but yoyo, so I am looking to explore the surgical options. I am open advice, the thought of surgery is a bit unnerving. Thank you.

Hiya! I hope you're recovering well. How has your weight loss been since your original surgery and are you hoping for more now, or are you maintaining and just getting your reflux sorted?

I didn't notice any skin tightening (I wish, though!), but I do know fat seems to re-distribute during or after weight loss. I looked pretty gaunt (and frankly, kind of awful) when I hit my lowest weight, but I looked a lot better a few months later, even though I hadn't gained any weight (yet...I unfortunately did during year 3, which is common). My face didn't look so drawn anymore and I just looked better - healthier. I think things just kind of moved around. So that might be what's going on with you, too.

At the stage you're at, especially since your loss has slowed, you are possibly losing inches due to your skin tightening up a little; I was SUPER saggy when I reached my goal weight, and I have been more or less maintaining and while I haven't lost much, I have gone down two pants sizes because my skin is shrinking back.

Hi! I had my surgery in September last year and have lost 69 pounds, but my weight hasn't budged since February! Its frustrating. The last 3 months, I have been struggling with fatigue and have been sick off and on due to my autoimmune disease, so I haven't had the energy to workout. But somehow, I have been losing inches because I'm fitting into smaller sized clothes. How is this possible? Has anyone had this experience of losing inches, but not weight without working out? And any advice on how to break this plateau is greatly appreciated!

I don't think anyone here can really tell you if you should or shouldn't as it's a forever decision and some people might not be suitable for it. You just need to be 100% honest with yourself and what you want in life and what you're happy to sacrifice to have it. But I will be brutally honest with you and tell you my experience. Are you happy to spend the rest of your life unable to eat normal size meals? Are you happy spending the rest of your life prioritizing nutrition and protein and avoiding high calories/high sugar foods? You'll even have to monitor when you eat and drink as you can't do both at the same time. These are some things people don't realize you will have to do. I think there's a big misconception out there that you get the surgery, and the weight just falls off and you don't have to do anything but it's so far from that, people do fail with this surgery, people do stay obese and some even gain the weight back once they've lost a little, it happens. You will struggle, you will have to see a nutritionist, you will have to learn to eat right, you have to learn to focus on getting as much protein as possible and if you eat sugar and chocolate and cakes, the weight will just come right back only this time you'll also have deficiencies. Even so, it's not a bad thing. I think all of that is a lot easier than being obese and I'm happy to have this as a life, if it means I can run without knee pain. Also there's more deaths caused by obesity than the surgery, having the surgery adds years to your life, just make sure you go to a legit surgeon. I wanted the surgery 12 years ago, when i was only 215lbs, had 0 stretch marks and was still pretty young, but many people talked me out of it and I decided to go hard core instead and crash dieted my way to 150lbs, within a year I was at 200lbs again and then after another year 250lbs, then crash dieted again to 175lbs, then I went all the way up to 265lbs and yoyo'd like that for 7years. My weight gain had started when I met my now ex, before I met him I was tiny and fit, it took me many months of therapy after I left him, to find out I was dating a narcissist that was feeding me to keep me fat and then using my weight as justification to hurt me and call me names... and prevent me from leaving him thinking i wasn't good enough for anyone. Every time I had lost the weight in the past, he would freak out and make me feel bad, accuse me of trying to get fit to leave him and that was part of the reason I think I yoyo'd so bad. I was doing it for the wrong reasons, and i lived with someone that enjoyed watching me in pain. So the dieting would have never worked. I got the surgery thinking that it would be the end of arguments and part of me thought it would make him happy in the long run and things would change but no, our relationship ended and now I'm actually glad, because if I had stayed with him, even with the surgery, I'd still be obese. Am I happy I had it done? Yes, but there's times when I'm sad I can't just eat a normal meal at a restaurant, thankfully you can take left overs home and eat the rest as another meal later . There's people that will never understand and will say you cheated, talk behind your back and just be rude. It's gotten to the point I don't tell anyone I had the surgery because I'm tired of justifying it. Overall for me it was the right thing to do, even if i wasn't in the right mindset at the time, because it helped end a toxic relationship, it fixed my binge eating disorder, I got therapy and have been working on myself physically and mentally with the aim to maintain my health for life. I've still got a long way to go but i'm already feeling better about myself. I actually bought a corset for the first time in 10 years having loved them when i was younger... And it fit and looked good!!! My insurance wouldn't pay for the surgery, so i used all my life savings and I'm still happy I did. Take the time to really think about this, look at all the pros and cons. Decide if your reasons for wanting it are worth it. It is an amazing tool to help you lose weight and I think with the right guidance many people will benefit from having this done but you need to decided it you're one of them. Either way, if you decided to do the surgery or calorie count, we're always here to chat and support you. All the best on your journey to a healthier life.

Okay, I’m going to go down the straight talking path first so be warned. Cheating is cheating. A slip is different. A slip happens once & then you work to ensure you don’t repeat it. It’s understandable & relatable - everyone slips along the way in some way or other. Cheating implies you are doing it repeatedly. Only you know which category you fall into. This is just the beginning. After surgery you have at least 6 more weeks of restricted eating then months of following a eating plan to support your weight loss & your adopting better eating habits. Not everyone loses their appetite & has no interest in eating in the months after surgery. Our battles with eating do continue in some form or frequency even for those who lose their hunger in the beginning. The surgery isn’t a magic cure. It’s just a tool which works best if you put in the work. It isn’t easy but so worth it. When you reach for that chicken, etc., remind yourself why you’re doing this. Also reflect on why you’re reaching for it: a craving, an emotional need so for comfort, are you bored, angry, sad, annoyed, stressed, is it a habit, etc.? Try looking for a distraction. Go for a walk, read, ring a friend, craft, play a game, garden, check social media, etc. Try having a hot drink instead too. These can be useful habits to adopt long term. Now the softer path: Some plans do allow one meal of lean protein & vegetables & two protein shake meals on the pre surgical diet. (Some surgeons have a preferred plan they put all their patients on while others put different patients on different plans based on individual needs & circumstances.) Speak with your team to see if they would be willing for you to follow a modified plan instead of the all shake diet. It doesn’t hurt to ask & they may say yes. You can do this. All the best.

I just started the Puree stage of my diet. I made a batch of Pureed Chicken thighs made from skinless boneless chicken breasts with every iota of fat removed. I thinned it with low sodium chicken broth until it came together into a paste. I combine this with pureed hard boiled eggs and a little light mayo and greek yogurt to make a simple egg/chicken salad. I also mixed the pureed chicken with broths and strained cream soups to add a little protein and flavor. My body seems to be tolerating the chicken in pureed form just fine. I was a little concerned about introducing chicken back into my diet after talking to a friend who had Gastric Bypass about 8 years ago. She said Milk and Chicken were nightmare foods for her. I understand how you feel about chicken wings, and that crunchy fried texture. (I love my air fryer too). I have a few pounds of chicken wings, 2 wing-ettes per zip-lock bag, in the freezer waiting for the 'regular food' phase of my diet to start, after soft foods. My plan is to slow cook them in a sauce of some form until they are tender. It wont be crunchy, but they still will be wings. I have them in pairs of 2 for portion control. I'm going to treat them as, well, a Treat, and consume in moderation. Good luck on Soft foods, and your weight loss journey!

Im unscientifically guessing that is the days my body is working on actually dropping some weight… this is the only correlation I can find to when it’s happening to me. Also drinking flavored water helps me… (and this phenomenon has been noticed because i do weigh myself daily) and I wouldn’t say im super hungry, just more snack-y feeling, if that makes sense!

Most insurance will require you to have 2 comorbidities as listed above. https://www.barixclinics.com/comorbidities-of-bariatric-surgery Joint/back/knee issues related to your weight may also help you qualify.

50 pounds !!! My dog weighs 50 pounds. Just visualizing that amount of weight is astounding ! You deserve a standing ovation for that !!!