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I have been cleared for most exercises but walking outside is so enjoyable to me, I'm sticking with that for now. I started on a treadmill straight out from the hospital for 5 minutes working up to fifteen over a couple weeks. Then took it outside. I walked a mile for a couple months. Now I walk 2. I don't push myself timewise or speed wise. I average a 2–3-pound weight loss a week so I'm satisfied with that. I get up and walk early before it gets too hot. Usually in the 70's. If weather is bad, I stay in and ride my recumbent bike while watching My 600 Pound Life. Never watched that show until after surgery. And never was a morning person till now. Odd. Nausea will usually happen from pushing yourself too hard too soon. Ease into it. Stay hydrated and don't get overheated. Just move. GL

I was able to start walking right away and got cleared for weight training at week 4. I’ve been swimming and doing a lot of Walk At Home with Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube because it has been 105+ degrees here and my electrolytes will tank if I’m out in it for too long. I alternate leg and arm day for my weight training. I’m still a little too heavy for HIIT training, but I can’t wait for that. I’m also going to try some sessions at Hotworx.

before surgery, I mostly did water aerobics and "rode" the stationary bikes at my gym. Two hundred pounds later, I still do those, but i also bike a lot, too, now - in fact, I bike four or five days a week except in the winter. I also do Zumba occasionally. exercise isn't going to have much effect on your loose skin. You may get some more muscle definition if you do some strength training, but if you've got a lot of loose skin, it's not going to look A LOT better, even with that.

I was only allowed to walk for the first four weeks. After that, I was cleared to do everything but weights (I had to wait until I was eight weeks out for that). I mostly did water aerobics and used the stationary bikes at my gym.

Hi everyone I hope you all had successful surgeries in the month of July. So I ended up spending 4.5 weeks in hospital and was only allowed home on Thursday. 3.5 weeks was due to severe pancreatis and then the last week I had a blood infection from the central line in my arm. Over the course of time there I had 5 central line fitted as they had to keep changing arm. I'm finding it very difficult as the pancreatis has me exhausted where doing the smallest thing, like brushing my teeth, leaves me clamy and feeling like I could pass out. Even this message was really tiring to do. I can't eat or drink a lot, no appetite and feel nauseous a lot of the time. I'm not sure if this is Sleeve or pancreas related. Today I was retching for a while after a few sips of a protein shake. I've no interest in thinking of what to eat or preparing anything. So far I've lost 12kg /26lb but not sure that's good quality considering I'm eating so little. I have a check up in the hospital next week so hopefully may get so me answers.

I haven’t had surgery but my bariatric dietician recommended “The Complete Bariatric Cookbook and Meal Plan” and I’ve found it very informative. Some ideas they suggest in week 3 include soft scrambled eggs, refried beans, high protein milk, low fat yogurt and then point to some recipes I’d think you want to puree like chicken and tuna salad, split pea soup, Turkey meatloaf, etc.

Thank you all for confirming that this isn't just me being petty or unwilling to be flexible. I'm going to go to church today and pray and reflect over things and hope to find peace either in backing out or moving forward. I did start my liquid diet yesterday, and also have had to come off my anti inflammatory medications (have arthritis in my spine from a spinal fusion surgery in 2007) so feel like I need to make a decision quickly here. I did "meet" the new surgeon. In mid July they set up a tele health visit, but even that didn't go as planned as they couldn't get the zoom link to work so it ended up just being a phone call. I had my primary care doctor look into his background, and while he's new to Montana (told he was out of the office last week making the move from California), he was program director of a bariatric program in California. His name is Deron Ludwig. I just wish they would have given me the heads up over the past 6 months that Dr. Pickhardt (who I sought out specifically as I know 3 people who have surgery with him) would be leaving the program after July. This couldn't have been that last minute, as he's not leaving medicine, but just no longer doing bariatric surgery, only trauma surgery going forward. I will say though that at least over the phone I found Dr. Ludwig more personable and felt like we had a better discussion than I'd previously had with Dr. Pickhardt. Thanks for listening and hopefully I'll find some peace soon very soon here in deciding if I should move forward with surgery or not. Cannot believe it's 9 days away and I don't know whether I'm going through with it or not!

I had this. Turns out, after my sleeve, I developed polyps all through my entire stomach. The GERD (which I had never had pre sleeve) became so bad it turned into gastritis and esophagitis. I had to take 80mg of Nexium daily and Pepcid for breakthrough GERD (and sometimes that didn't even help). The pain and burning were excruciating. Sent me to the ER more than once. 4 endoscopies and 1 revision to bypass later, and I'm doing great. Stay on top of this. Cut out anything tomato based, avoid any kind of fruit juice, spices (even the ones that aren't hot). Hummus helped a lot, keto bread also helped, and drinking protein shakes literally saved me on days when I couldn't keep anything down at all. The bariatric diet went out the window until this was under control. I had to stop working out because it would set things off. In the ER the first time, I had a barium swallow to confirm there were no leaks. Then I was referred to a GI specialist, who did an endoscopy and found I had A TON of polyps in various sizes. Once they were all removed, I had my revision to bypass and have had to stay on Nexium. But it was lowered to 40mg for 5 weeks, then 20mg for weeks 6-8, then I'll go off them completely. Definitely stay on top of this. It won't resolve on it's own, and if left untreated, it will absolutely get worse.

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

That is awesome. You look great. I am about 8 weeks out. Seeing your pics gives me hope!

Hi all, Per my last post, I have been having really bad nausea and vomiting 6 weeks out (dr says I'm part of the "lucky" 10-15% who experience this). I attempted to take my stomach acid pill along with Zoloft prescribed by my psychiatrist. About 30 minutes later, I threw this up. I am now having SEVERE burning pain in my stomach and I don't know what to do. I used to have GERD before the surgery and this doesn't feel like that.. The burning is *mainly* in my stomach, not my chest or esophagus like how it was for GERD (in my experience). I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to combat this? I am afraid to take TUMS or any other anti acids as I usually throw those up as well and I am afraid more vomiting will make it even worse. SOS, I am in so much pain.

Good luck, 3 days isn’t so bad. I start the liquid diet on Thursday for a week. I quit coffee this week in preparation. That has been easier than I thought. Im nervous about the surgery, but know it’s a game-changer in the long run.

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.

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.

I have not done well on the preop diet while traveling to move my daughter to college this week. I will let my surgeon know and see if she still wants to keep my surgery date. I’m a revision and she almost didn’t put me in the preop diet. I am back home on Subday and will have 5 full days to follow it without any hiccups. I am worried.

Every person who does the pre op diet in any of its forms will struggle. Its brutal. You are over the worst and you just need to white knuckle the rest of your time to surgery. After surgery, for the first two weeks drinking is a full time job and only a few people manage 'food' So don't worry about the afters. Hang in there, we did it, so you can too

hey everyone! i love reading about everyone’s journey and i hope youre all feeling well today 🩵 it’s been a month since my surgery (july 3) already! i can’t believe it’s gone by so fast. no complaints thankfully everything has been going as smoothly as possible. noticing a little stall now but i’m not mad about it it’s all part of the process. one huge victory for me is i’m finally done with the blood thinner shots !! lol

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.

Some people do struggle with eggs. Not sure why just our sensitive tummies I think. They can be quite rich. They also may not have been runny enough for the purée stage. Sometimes we’re (our tummy) just not ready for certain foods even though our plan says they’re okay to eat. Leave them a week or so & then try again. It may take a few attempts for your tummy to be able to tolerate them. You may have similar experiences with their foods too.

Wondering if this ever resolved for you? I’m 4 weeks out and I’m dealing with the same issue. Zofran 8mg is not doing it for me. X-rays shows acid reflux even though I don’t feel or taste it… I was eating normally and advancing in my diet, following orders and all of sudden half way third week I couldn’t eat or tolerate anything anymore. I can’t also have any protein at all cause I will throw up. Imaging showed everything was good. Now I’m worried I will de compensate.

Hi!!!! I’m on day 4 of liquids and it gets a little better everyday. That being said I’m still struggling. I’ve been having some strained soups per my surgeons list, and have been picking at a few pieces of chicken/veg. How bad is it that I’m technically cheating? Any other tips to make this better lol? And does it get better post op? I have two more weeks of liquids after surgery (RNY on 8/7)

Hey everyone, I am 2 weeks post op for the SADI-S and had an egg for my first food after clear liquids. I am now back to liquids. After the egg for 2 hours I felt like I was trying to burp and swallow at the same time and it was fighting to go down. Felt horrible. I don't want to eat after that experience and am glad to be back to clear liquids. It felt like when you eat too fast. Anyone else have this and when will it go away?

I practice eating a couple prunes every day, I think it helps keep everything moving. But yes the couple weeks after surgery are tough, and really tough stool and constipation, to be expected by all. But once you start eating solid foods again, it becomes normal once again. Still you have to think you are eating so much less than you used to. So if you want to stay on a regular schedule. I recommend prunes if you like eating them, and benefiber or something similar if you wanna add another supplement.

Just a lil rave... As of this morning, I am officially down my first 50 lbs! I had a 3-week stall 2 weeks after my surgery. I had issues with my skin, with constipation, and this horrible stall. Because it's a revision, my weight loss is incredibly s-l-o-w (compared to virgin surgeries). I was so disappointed, having buyer's remorse, and all that. I've only lost 20 lbs in 45 days, but altogether (including my pre-op dieting) it's 50 whole pounds since May 11th!