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Hey everyone! I'm about a year out from surgery. The past year has been a pretty steady increase in my capacity for food. I know that that's normal, you're stretching your pouch out. For the past year, I'd joke with my husband that my capacity was "enough to eat until I felt like I could explode, but I could still send a meal back in a restaurant under the pretense of not liking it"* The past month or so, I feel like I've reached a slightly larger portion size. I always measure my food out before the meal and lately I feel like I'm able to eat more off my plate. I went from being full after half of a small chicken breast to being able to do the full 4oz and then some of my sides. I'm curious how far out from your surgery you are, and how much you can eat now. Care to share? *For the record, I'd never do that! I just had to frequently explain to waitstaff that I didn't eat much when they commented on how little I ate

For me the physical hunger is completely gone now. With my sleeve it was also gone but it did come back. It was around 6 months that it started coming back if I’m remembering correctly. It comes back for most people to varying degrees of intensity. The best case is that you take that time to really change WHAT you eat, not just how much because when the hunger comes back you will likely eat larger portions and if it’s less healthy food you will probably begin to gain. At least I did. With my revision I have changed what I eat entirely. I didn’t do this with my sleeve. I had just a few menu options so it’s no wonder I got board with it and started to eat off plan more often. This time I did research and found several healthy recipes to try and I found quite a few that I enjoy so I don’t get board at all. You may not recall but I have Bipolar and Anxiety. I have found that freezing some healthy meals has come in real handy at times when I am not up to cooking. I also am in touch with my surgical team more often for office visits as well as the support group meetings and those help tremendously. Post op I also had more frequent appointment with my psychiatrist and psychologist as well. I just asked for all of the support I could find because it is a lot of change which I don’t do well with but now that I am two months out and i have a little routine I am feeling better than ever. The exercise that I am finally energized enough to do has helped my mood tremendously and the weight loss and the social aspect of the group fitness classes have helped with my self esteem too. I have so much more structure and routine now which is actually really great for Bipolar. I am able to fall asleep at night and stay asleep and I wake up at the same time and exercise, I set recurring alarms for vitamins/food and I log my food with the Baritastic app and my fitness watch keeps track of all of my activity. I show all of that data to my NP at my checkups and she helps me make adjustments to my nutrition. You will probably see a nutritionist for food related questions but I had a newer surgery called the SADI and the nutritionist wasn’t very helpful with regard to the macros after I got back to normal food. As long as you are managing your mental illness, though, you should be just fine. Just don’t hesitate to ask for whatever help that you need in order to be successful.

Hi everyone I’m back again for moral support. Got my MGB back in February. After a couple of extremely hard weeks, 5 weeks to be precise, i finally thought that my ordeal was over. I had spent all this time finding it really hard to drink water and reach my protein goals until then. Suddenly, starting the 6th week post op, i saw some light at the end of the tunnel and managed to expand my food a little bit. I avoided everything I was told to avoid until then, oil, sugar, pasta, rice, raw veggies, you name it! one day I was invited to a barbecue and ate what I was given, namely a bit of salad and some marinated chicken. Everything was fine for the days that followed and I was ecstatic! I started to experiment with food more and more and I realised that the food I tolerated the most was still just plain potatoes and carrots with some minced meat of chicken. However, as weeks went by, my sensitivities seemed to increase by the day. I’d try watermelon and suffer excruciating cramps the next day, so I stopped. Then I’d try beans, and I’d be fine the next day but suffer more cramps the day after, long story short, it seemed like every single new food I’d try was not tolerated by my stomach. The pain and cramps would be instant, and the explosive diarrhoea would follow the next morning like clockwork. I remember at some point, i barely ate for 2 days and what followed were the most painful cramps and hunger pangs I’ve ever ever experienced in my life! Looking at a plate of food triggers me now. I am absolutely scared of putting anything in my mouth. Even my trusted potatoes and carrots have forsaken me. That means I have not a single food that I seem to tolerate and I have absolutely no idea how this happened! Today, i tried boiled potato with some rotisserie chicken, and ended up vomiting 3 times. And when I say vomit, i mean, gag as if I would vomit, but only saliva comes out. i feel weak and desperate. I have lost 32kg in almost 4 months, that about 70 pounds. That is way too much weight. Let’s not start about my hair loss… it’s ridiculous. I plan to shave my head… i never in a million years thought this would be my life after the surgery. I have a doc appointment this week but only will see my surgeon in July… does this story sound familiar to any of you guys? Did I do something wrong? What did I miss?! I’ve been on the verge of going to the ER multiple times…

Make sure you ask your team about bubble bathes before you take them. I was told no bath or swimming for a while. I would have ti look at the paperwork but I think it was 6 or 8 weeks maybe. I love that your hubby is on board to eat the healthy foods with you, that will make it a lot more fun. Maybe you can do a blog or a thread on here with recipes if you have the time?? And your sister being so supportive is amazing. I found That I used the food processor instead of the immersion blender in the purée stage but it was super sweet of they regardless. I got a little 3 cup one. Actually splurged Quite a bit on the kitchen aide one so it wouldn’t bugg me to leave it out but bf budget doesn’t permit for that they have them far more reasonably priced. I have puréed eberything. I also found these little containers from dollar tree to be super handy to store leftovers in individual portions. They are 2.6 oz I think. 1/4c is 2oz and I am allowed 1/8 to 1/4 on puree so then take up a lot less room in fridge than all the big leftover containers and I can keep a pretty good variety that’s grab and go. They are basically little baby containers if you don’t have dollar tree I’m sure Amazon has something. I also got a couple of packs of their little desert sized paper plates for now and spoons so I don’t have to deal with as many dishes for a while. in terms of weighting it was really hard for me not to weigh everyday but what I did with the sleeve was to record my weight in my phone notes once a week so that when I got discouraged I could look back at that and see the overall downward trend. You can do it in the Baritastic app as well or on this app but doing it was than daily sort of reinforced it to my brain that little daily fluctuations didn’t matter. I’m curious to see what pill organizer you got. I have added magnesium at night now so I have five doses a day. I didn’t think they made one big enough for all these big vitamins so many times per day. Although I figure that most times I will only need to take the calcium while I’m out. Then again it couldn’t hurt to keep a couple multi vitamins with us just in case we would get stuck out unexpectedly. I do that with my rx meds and these are just as important ooh and if you like the fruit flavors chews you may like the caramel to change it up as well they are sorta like weathers original flavor but better because they are chewy.

I'm glad it helped!! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that, moving to soft foods will help some, purees just don't have as much solidity to them. There is a huge difference between a 1/4 cup of pureed food vs 1/4 of a solid protein, even if it is a soft protein... At 8 weeks I was cleared for most foods and I think that is part of the reason why my hunger started to ease off around then. If your PPI is omeprazole it is possible it isn't working as well as you need it to, sometimes people need something like Pantoprazole or Dexilant, so if that gnawing hunger at night continues you may want to ask your doctor about it at your next appointment! ❤️

Purely my experience - when I lost a lot of weight previously, I had a lot of pains in my hands and feet. Had the usual blood tests and everything was fine. My GP wasn’t convinced and booked me in for a different blood test and an ultrasound scan on my hands. Both confirmed that I had seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve cut & paste the following from the RA website, just in case it may ring a couple of bells with you: Some of the most important symptoms in diagnosing seronegative rheumatoid arthritis include: Joint pain, stiffness specifically in the hands but also in knees, elbows, hips, feet and ankles Joint swelling and redness Joint tenderness Symmetrical symptoms and in multiple joints Ongoing inflammation Morning stiffness lasting longer than 30 minutes Fatigue Eye redness I may be way off but this was my experience. I was 43 when I was diagnosed and just entering perimenopause (which also has an effect on having the symptoms and being diagnosed RA too) I hope you find some answers and some relief.

HI all! Me again I have gotten over my guilt of my "cheating" and took all you wonderful peoples advice and kept on truckin! What does a typical food day and activity day look like for you? Recipes are welcome! I am ready to venture out.

Hello! My dietitian has been preparing me for the pre op diet for months now. I started it on 10/8. My surgery is on 10/22. The first few days weren't that bad, but around day 4-5 I was really hungry and craving my go to foods of cheesy-type stuff. I missed just being able to eat savory foods. I reached out to my dietitian and she said I was ok to drink some pickle juice and even eat one. It has helped tremendously. She even said if the craving is too much I could eat a small piece of lean protein, as the pre op diet is really a liver shrinking, high protein, low carb diet. I have stuck to just a couple pickles, but it is really hard. I suggest keeping in contact with your care team. They are very helpful. This diet is not easy. I am struggling and just want to eat a bowl of macaroni and cheese! Good luck on your surgery!

My follow-up appointment is on this Thursday. Hoping to begin my next stage which I believe is the purée stage. Anyone have any ideas for first foods to try first during the puréed stage. thank you @Hiddenroses! For your support for Veterans!

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

@draikaina8503 wow, sounds like you are doing really well. Make sure that you give info that fatigue and get your rest though, you recover best while your resting. Yes, The no straw thing is for life with my team. There are a very small few it seems that make this only for like 6 months or a year but MOST seem to have that rule due life. Thanks for the direction of eating new foods. I already had a few today but thankfully so far I’m still good. I think I will do it your way from now on though. It will work out well because of course I have lots of leftovers from all I made today. I totally forgot about the recipes on Baritastic. I have the app too to track food and stuff. I just checked the soft foods and that cauliflower purée sounds good. Not sure about the heavy cream though. I think that may be bad witb the no gallbladder thing. I think that has a lot of fat. I will have to ask. Or maybe just try it with like 1/2 cream and half 1%! Is that like making whole milk. 😆 Anyways, for anyone who is looking for a way to track progress I second that app. It tracks measurement and weight as well as exercise and water too. And it’s nice that it lets you scan food and create meals to add things easier once you have used it for a while. And it’s free so worth a try.

Hi Everyone, new here... My surgery date is 7/22 and my liquid diet starts tomorrow mid day. I have an apt tomorrow where they'll be giving me info and the foods I'll have to buy from their store. I'm nervous and excited... and dreading the liquid diet. Lol I'm already grieving food and I haven't even started it yet!

@Onemealplan I just want to thank you again for that site. So many of the recipes sound really good. And to unlock the recipes that aren’t available to be a member it’s not astronomical. Cheaper than the dieticians I have seen that didn’t give me anything in terms of food ideas beyond the purée stage.

well that's good! hahah being sick will prohibit you from doing it again hopefully lol I gave in one time and grazed all day, still tracked and ate 1900 calories. Way more than I have ever ever ever ate, even though I grazed on fruit, sugar free candy, popsicles, yasso poppables, I didnt even eat crappy foods so that's disappointing hahaha but I did learn that I cannot graze but I never feel full. That will be how I gain my weight so I need to make sure I sit and eat my food in one sitting.

I love to eat seaweed which is very high in iodine. Here is an article about 20 iodine rich foods to include in your diet. https://blog.savoryful.com/iodine-rich-foods?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb-zBhCmARIsAAfUI2uhEzQRV3ajF7vBOd2I8mdPBNIEAePobehwiWzbG-GSIP8o-UbvurwaAqBdEALw_wcB

@NeonRaven8919, First of all, let me assure you that we all have head hunger. None of us got to a weight where we required weight loss surgery without overeating, and we all have our own demons. You are among others like yourself. It sucks, but it's not unbeatable. Here's what I have to say. I was in intensive outpatient eating disorders therapy for a few months, because I recognize that I am a compulsive overeater. That did nothing for the head hunger and portion control problems. For me, gastric bypass was the only solution because I need that brake on my overeating. And now, I have not had any sweets or high-sugar items since surgery because I know I could have dumping syndrome afterward, and nobody wants that. So that's another brake. For me, it's much easier to not eat something than to try to moderate. The reason for all of that is because I have a food addiction. I know this about myself because I also happen to be a recovering alcoholic, and the cravings are exactly the same. I did not get sober by myself. White-knuckling does not work for addiction. The compulsions are simply too strong. I could not have gotten sober by myself. And there was no reason to, because there is free help out there. Did I want to quit entirely? NO. But I couldn't go on like I was. And now I'm 32 years sober, after starting in a position where I couldn't go 24 hours without drinking. Why am I saying all this? Because your story sounds like mine. "Mindful eating" to control compulsion makes about as much sense as "mindful drinking" to control alcoholism (which is to say, none). So you may want to approach this problem like an addiction. I am not saying you are a food addict, only you can know whether that's true for you. What I'm saying is that you do not have to do this alone, and there's free help out there. @BigSue told you about some, and you will find TONS of support groups online in addition to the one she recommended. Take advantage of this free help, because white-knuckling is horrible and mostly doesn't work. Why? Because it's not about willpower. You did all the stuff to get your surgery, so we know you have willpower. If that worked against the kind of compulsion you're describing, it wouldn't be a problem. It doesn't. What does work is support groups. That's because they're full of people like us, who have to fight to change our relationship to food. If you do happen to think you might be a food addict, check out Overeaters Anonymous. There are groups everywhere and it's free. You don't have to commit to anything and there's no test or anything to attend. You can just listen or ask questions or whatever. I absolutely guarantee that if you told your story about the food at work to an OA meeting, every single head would nod. Everyone will know exactly what you're talking about because they've been there. Please don't give up on yourself, you're on a journey. People slip up. We get to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, and keep on going forward. You did a brilliant, extremely courageous thing in sharing your challenge here, and see how much support and help you got? You can do this. You CAN do this. We all need a little help from our friends.

Allright if anyone was curious the food processor did work to make the spices way smaller. I went ahead and mixed them in before I heated up my refried beans so that they could get mushy too. The taste is of course way better now.

I was March 19th, and honestly after 2 weeks of (really disgusting) pre-op shakes, everything on the full liquid diet feels amazing in comparison. Try switching up some of your liquids maybe? Don't be afraid to throw the rest of the portions of things like soup in the freezer so you can get more variety in. You can always use them up later when making purees, etc. (I fantasize about the puree stage at least twice a day LOL)

I forget if you have had your surgery or not but if not or for anyone that has not if you are allowed the option of food on the LSD I suggest eating it. I didn’t and between that and the post op liquids it got REALLY old. I was so sick of shakes they made me feel almost ill.

Does every doctor interpret this treatment process differently? I've been reading so many different timelines that everyone is being given, and I'm confused as to whether there is actually a "norm" and then doctors deviate accordingly, or if each doctor/medical group sets their ideal SOP? For instance, my surgeon required 2 full weeks of liquid only diet for pre-op and at least one night in the hospital after surgery. My first in-person check-in was at one week. I have video/phone appointments until my next in-person at 6 months. Pureed/soft foods don't start until week 3. Solid foods will start week 7. Red meat/shrimp at 6 months. I have Kaiser in the DMV, so the food part is proscribed by the bariatric department, but even the overnight requirement was different with other people having surgery the same day as me. A nurse said my surgeon makes it a standard while others are out in hours. Obviously, it looks like my doctor is moving out of an abundance of caution, which I appreciate, but is anyone not in the Kaiser system getting the same guidance?

3 months post op sleeve and since last two weeks digestion is off & on for the same food Somedays chicken slides smoothly others it sits heavy in the stomach - this off & on has come around in the last two weeks, earlier was smooth Concerned if this is normal - nurse says to just monitor

I have been having issues with my phone that I have literally spent like 20 hours on the phone (mostly on hold waiting for a representative) over the last 3 weeks trying to straighten it out and now they did a ticket and someone is supposed to call me in 5-7 days but he basically implied they did all they can do. I have tried anything and everything I can think of. Gone into the store, then another location, new phone, new carrier and back to the old carrier with the old phone. Nothing is working. BUT, even though I am stressed out to the max I have stayed on plan in terms of diet and kept up with my activity. In the past this entire last three weeks I would have given myself a number of cheat days because “i needed it with all that was going on” but Nope. This time I am not turning to food. In fact I am walking more and doing more YOGA to try and calm myself down which surprisingly helps more than food. Huge win for me!’

That actually pretty impressive that they seem to include more in their package than most places in the states. The two dietitians were pretty worthless I tried too but in all fairness I did get a new surgery. I just schedule more often with the NP and run my food log and fitness app by her just to verify that I’m still on track. She can also check my incisions and talk about any vitamin issues so that is working for me.

I bought some extra large silicone ice cube trays (with measurements!) Anything like soups, casseroles and mashes I freeze in the tray then pop them out and put them in a large freezer bag for easier organization -- with dates and portion size scribbled on. My food tracker app also has a section for custom foods / recipes, so I can save the exact nutrition info there and add a portion whenever I eat it. But reading this, damn am I ever craving bolognese now. XD

Yes. 5-6 Protein shakes and clear liquids. Sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles and low sodium broth(which is disgusting). That is it! I think it is ridiculous. I am trying my best, but it is not easy. I would love to have just a bite of anything!! They said I could have 1 bite of protein, but I know I won't be able to stop at 1 bite. Especially after not eating food for a week now.