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Like said before check with your plan. My plan may be out of date..Surgery 3 years and 7 months ago. I always was told carbs were evil. My diet plan was no potato rice breads. All my carbs were vegetable based. (crazy to think of that now). I was allowed two tablespoons healthy carbs after I lost 75% of my weight. This was to slow down or stop my weight loss ( Healthy carbs sweet potato, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bread) If your dietician gives you a carbohydrate goal just make sure what you eat hits that range. Trust me...My diet does not look like this after goal.

Hello, I’m new on this site and on this weight loss journey. Thank u so very much for sharing ur experience with so much detail u really made me feel sooo much better about thoughts that worry me.Literally everything I thought about u put up here especially the going in to operating room and waking etc... Wish u a speedy recovery !

Two thru four I didn't weigh til dr but only 2 lb loss Sent from my 5054N using the BariatricPal App

Hi, everybody. I recently underwent gastric bypass surgery on 09/21/16. I'm having a very strange problem and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I am having a lot of trouble getting my daily liquid requirements in. Liquids don't taste good to me. In fact, they taste absolutely awful. This isn't nausea. This is strictly an issue with taste. I do fine with chicken broth, soups, and Jello. It's things like Water, decaf tea, crystal light, etc that I can't tolerate. Everything seems to have a very exaggerated aftertaste to the point that I need to use a mouth rinse to get rid of the taste. Water has a very metallic taste to me. It's as if I can taste every mineral in the water. I've tried all different brands of bottled water and I get the same result to varying degrees. I tried many different brands of Protein prior to surgery and found that I liked Premier Protein best. For some reason, it tastes completely different to me now. It has a very slimy taste now and I almost gag trying to drink it. Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this? I am so thirsty and obviously not getting in my protein requirements. Any suggestions or recommendations? I'm a nurse and I know how important it is for me to be compliant with the daily requirements for Fluid and protein. I'm at a complete loss with this. Please help. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I have not weighed. I did not have to do any kind of pre-op diet like a lot of people so i don't think I have loss anything yet. I still have a lot of swelling. How about you? How much have you loss?

I am seriously thinking of cutting it really short until it starts to grow back. I had short hair before and loved it. It was so much easier to take care of.

I think tracking is super important for weight loss. I lost about 70 pounds before surgery just by doing two things: tracking everything in MyFitnessPal and intermittent fasting. I haven't used the Baritastic app because I really like MyFitnessPal, but I think the two apps have many of the same features (barcode scanner, ability to enter recipes and meals, copy meals from one day to another, etc.). I find it super easy to use -- much easier than calorie counting of the old days where I had to look up everything in a book or calculate the points or something. MyFitnessPal gave me a calorie goal of 2280, and at first, it was a challenge to stay under that, but tracking everything made me more aware of the calorie content of foods and made me think, "Is it worth eating this?" Like @Uomograsso, I gradually decreased my calories over the course of the 5 months before surgery to the point that I was averaging about 1500 calories per day. Something that worked for me was that I made myself enter the food BEFORE I ate it -- basically like budgeting, to make sure I had enough calories left before I started eating. Intermittent fasting is a bit controversial, but it really helped me to cut back on snacking by making me get used to going long periods of time without eating. I did 16/8 fasting (fasted for 16 hours per day and had an 8-hour window for eating), fasting from after dinner until lunch the next day. Another nice thing about intermittent fasting is that since I was splitting the calories between two meals instead of three, I felt less deprived because I could eat a lot at those two meals and stay under my calorie goal. I actually didn't make huge changes in what I was eating, like cutting out sugar or carbonated beverages (I did cut out caffeine a few months before surgery, but it wasn't a huge sacrifice because I don't drink coffee, and I just switched from caffeinated diet soda to caffeine-free diet soda), because intermittent fasting was a big enough change for me! If you can do it, kudos to you, but I think sometimes we fail at diets because we try to change too much, too fast, and it's overwhelming so we just give up. I did make gradual changes to what I was eating, like eating a salad before dinner to fill me up, and switching to light salad dressing because the regular dressing wasn't worth the calories. I also started eating protein bars as snacks and found one I loooooove (Built Bars -- so delicious!), which became a nice, relatively healthy treat for me.

Hey everyone! Ok so I weigh 250 lbs and my surgery is in Oct. 13 ..... I'm so excited but I'm a bit worried about having loose skin after the weight loss ..... I'm just wondering if there's any way to prevent that from happening ??

I watched a ton of weight loss surgery videos on YouTube and got a lot of my information from them. When it came time to see the surgeon I didn’t really have any questions for him. I do, however, wish I asked more questions about the post op diet as far as calories and protein since they don’t stress on protein goals until you are eating solid food. My best advice is to relax and take advantage of the required supervised diet. I only took advantage of it at the end. I wish I also took my measurements before surgery as the only ones I have are not at my highest. Take before pictures and progress pics. Your surgery will be here before you know it.

I'm so excited and nervous! Walking into my appointment today, I almost turned around! I was so nervous of the "what if's".... What if I'm too big for surgery... what if he thinks I'm not a good fit for the surgery I want... what if he looks at me and tells me I'm not trying hard enough with other options (my mom's suggestion: "Why don't you exhaust all of your other options first honey!") What if he likes everything and first surgery date avalible is in December... what if!!! Thankfully my husband was by my side and I'm too chicken to tell him "lets turn around and hide!" What if nothing! ***Happy "I'm getting surgery" dance!!!!**** (never thought I would be happy about going into surgery willingly! needles *cringe*) He approved me for surgery, he said two weeks of shakes/ less than 1,000 calories a day and surgery on June 13th!!! Bonus: Work is good with the days off, kids are going to hang with my mom and my honey is going to be by my side (he is my rock!) On a side note: The girls in my office are always having some sort of weight loss something going on... I think the current thing is $5 to weigh in each week for 6 weeks and at the end the "biggest loser" gets the "pot". They have always invited me to join in, but at twice their weight I've never been interested in everyone knowing my actual weight. Today they told me they didn't want me to join... that they all knew they would lose!! (this actually makes me happy!) Happy Tuesday everyone!

I know several people who have experienced success with the lapband and not had any problems. My sister has had her band for 10+ years and lost over 100 pounds and has maintained the loss. Work with your health care team and be honest with yourself about your ability to be compliant with any surgery. I now have the band and I'm losing 10 pounds a month. I'm happy with this and knew going in my loses will be slower, which I wanted. Slow and steady. Banded 10/12/16

Oh DelongH, Hope that you are much better today, I teasingly told Hubby yesterday that I may have had major surgery after all. THat cracked him up. I knew that each sleeve experience is unique and some peeps have a better reaction than others. I just was not expecting mine to be so unpleasant. I am complaining to much because I am not having all that much pain now and am truly doing better today.I have the same amt of incisions that you do, plus I discovered a new one yesterday. I felt a pin prick like pain under my left breast, raised it up am there was a 1 1/2 in abrasion, like a burn. I havn't had any gas, knock on wood. I had terrible gas pain when I had a lapband. I have been able to drink my shakes and water today, also some cream soup and jello. So it is day by day getting better. I am not craving anything or wanting to eat. So that is good also I am so tickled that I was taken off all my diabetic meds and most of my b/p meds before leaving the hosp. I am so happy with just that. No weight loss yet, but I know it is coming. My discharge instructions included no lifting anything heavier than a milk jug, no bending over and picking anything off the floor for 4-6 weeks. So what is left except take it easy.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and above all your generous support. I have 2 people in my life who are very supportive and all of you. I will just concentrate on all the positive around me as I become closer to starting my journey. I wish I could go to bariatric weight loss support groups but unfortunately there is none in my area, I live 2 hours away from the hospital and surgeons office, so would make for a long drive. I will just get my support and information on here through all of you. Thank You Again

I noticed the same thing this week. Two day I was stressed and could not get anything down. I was able to drink Water but nothing else. I actually forgot to ask my doctor today when I went for a fill. I too am at a loss. Hopefully someone will have some advice.

Sherri297LOL you remind me of myself when i go to the line in the grocery store that says "15 items" i am the one that will go there with about 20 items i always jokingly say to the cashier "I hope i don't get "in trouble/arrested for being here"!!!! one person promised not to turn me in, THIS TIME!!!! go ahead - enjoy the veterans board i won't tell anyone that you haven't posted 100 posts yet!!!! 100 lbs down - congrats btw - i'm pretty sure other people sneak in too!!!! nsquared 114 weight loss!!!! great!!!! sorry you are at a stall but......you do know that your stall will eventually break - and you will lose those 40 darn lbs sorry you are at a stall but......you do know that your stall will eventually break - and you will lose those 40 darn lbs good luck kathy

Sweets and high fat don't make every person sick after the surgery, and most of the time it is a short term effect for those that do get sick from them. I couldn't touch high sugar for about 6 months, but guess what? That effect wore off and I could eat anything now with no serious repercussions other than gaining weight. I know that, so I don't eat crap foods all the time. I do eat stuff like a cupcake or a cookie for special occasions, but I plan out my day so I know I have room in my calorie count and I eat healthy 90% of the time, so eating something "bad" occasionally doesn't derail my whole life. Relearning how to eat healthy during the honeymoon period is what the surgery is really all about. You have to throw out everything you used to do and establish good eating habits while the restriction takes care of the portion control. That is what everyone is supposed to learn how to do during the honeymoon phase after surgery. It is really sad that the doctors don't explain this part better to every single patient before they have the surgery. If you don't do this, then the weight loss will happen in the beginning just because you're not able to eat as much, but likely will slow down sooner, and also regain is very likely once your metabolism adjusts in a year or two and all you still eat is crummy foods. Anyway. You definitely need to try doing the 5 day reset. It will help remind you how your stomach feels and feel the restriction again, and should help you detox from the sweets/crap food cravings - eating high carb usually makes you crave more carbs - it is a vicious cycle. You made some mistakes, but the sleeve is still there, ready for you once you're ready to recommit to eating correctly. You lost the best time to make fast and easy changes, but if you put in the work, you can still make it happen. But you have to be willing to do the work. Start tracking every bite of food and sip of drink. Get your Protein and Water goals figured out, keep your carbs low (under 100 definitely but if you can push it down to 50 grams/day that would be even better), and get your calories for the day down to around a 500 calorie less than you burn in a day. Throw out all the junk food in your house. Tell friends and family to not tempt you with foods like that and don't go places where you'll feel weak until you get control of yourself. Think of it like being an alcoholic or trying to quit smoking. You don't go places where you'll feel tempted and you ask friends/family to be supportive of your struggle and not offer you things you shouldn't be having, and do your best to remove the temptations from your path. Exercise - find something you enjoy doing and then do it a minimum of 5 days a week. Even if it's just walking a 2 miles around your neighborhood after dinner, it's something if you're currently doing nothing. What seems to work best food wise is whole foods, that you cook yourself. If it comes in a box or frozen package, it probably isn't a very good choice. Learn to read labels REALLY well, and figure out things like net carbs, sodium levels, etc., and check out both here and bariatric recipe sites like http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ Proteins should be the main part of each meal and every snack: things like fish, chicken, lean cuts of beef, cheese, yogurt, even Beans and lentils. Healthy vegetables - leafy greens, red peppers, squash, zucchini, avocados, broccoli, cauliflower... watch the ones that are high carb like corn and green peas as even healthy veggies can have high carbs sometimes and you need to be aware when you eat them. Should also be including healthy fats like coconut or olive oils and things like nuts or avocados have fat too, but it's a good fat (just watch the amounts and calories). Watch things like lunchmeat that are usually high sodium (again, read labels!) and be aware of times of day that you might be weak and have healthy Snacks on hand to prevent the quick stop at the drive thru or dropping by the office vending machine. MEASURE everything. You can't rely on eyeballing food amounts. Get a digital scale, and weigh your food so you get accurate calorie counts. It is way too easy to guess and over-estimate your food portions. And you might need to see a counselor that deals with eating disorders if you can't get control of your eating and get your head in the right space to succeed at this. Please don't take this as being mean, but worrying over what others did and comparing your lack of success while eating bad foods isn't helpful or realistic. But here's the thing. You aren't a failure unless you give up completely. Don't give up, and you will succeed.

I have a friend who started exercising this month. she is going to a club, trying to go everyday. by the 2 week mark she hadn't noticed any weight loss, she became discouraged. thankfully she commented on FB & this is why I am starting the topic. One of her friends sent this message to her. Melissa wrote: "Jackie, stay with it. food Journal is a great idea, it's just simple math; Calories in-calories out=calories deficit. Livestrong.comhas a place to keep track of the food and the workouts, giving you an approximate idea of how many calories you've burned. What you're doing so far is great, adding some strength training in there will help a lot. When you have more muscle you burn more calories, even just sleeping. Strength training can be lifting weights, pilates, yoga, boot camp...something where you are taxing the muscles. Weight yourself once a week about the same day/same time...you will go up and down everyday a bit. But don't be so concerned about the weight, think about how your clothes are fitting you, even better take measurements of your waist, hips, thighs, and upper arms, monitor those. 1 pound of muscle and 1 pound of fat are the same weight...but muscle is much more dense, hence you may lose fat and gain muscle, but your clothes get looser. The best way to lose weight is 2 pounds per week, it's been proven that's the best way to keep it off. It didn't take you 1 month to put the weight on, it will not take you 1 month to take it off. And like I said have fun, don't get obsessive, just enjoy the day for what it is and the goal will come, you just have to keep working. It's fantastic that you feel better after only two weeks, enjoy that! Be Proud! You're doing great! Ask questions when you need to. Sounds like you have lots of support, that's huge...we are all routing for you! You've got this ROCK STAR! http://www.livestrong.com/" Do you have support? Do you accept support? Can you listen to that support, even when you don't want to? I love the support I get from this site. I don't know any of you but I feel encouraged and accountable. I feel that it is important to support each other, as most of us have only had criticism. I feel that it is important to enjoy each day for all the minutes I am given. I hope that I never forget the weight and inches I lose and forget who I am. Paying it forward is our responsibility. Can we really do this?

Hi! I had the surgery on March 27th. I would have done the exact same thing over again! For me, there have been small bumps in the road but I would do it again. The weight loss hasn't been instant but I appreciate it more that way. It has allowed me to learn and "reprogram" my brain to better choices. You have to be prepared to do the work and I'm so glad to see that you are on the message boards getting other people's opinions, its important to know as much as you can before your surgery. Use this board as a resource for many different things. My best advice - stay in the know, keep learning and don't set unrealistic expectations. Like anything else, this takes time and will require you to relearn about yourself, but its all worth it.. Good luck and keep your head up!

Elfie, You're right, I've had a rapid weight loss in a month, and this is probably my body's way of putting on the brakes. My bariatric coach says that you're going to plateau every 20-30lbs. Just trying to figure out the best way to work through it. I will try to up the calories just a little and increase my workout to see if that helps- Today my pouch is very grouchy, so hopefully tomorrow will be better!

So, I know there are a lot of posts on here about the "3rd week stall". Has anyone been through a 2nd week stall? My first week post-op I lost 15 pounds!!!! Then I started puréed foods and ever since the scale hasn't budged! It's been about 5-6 days of nothing, nada,zip! Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for my initial weight loss and I'm sure my body is freaking out but how do I get the scale moving again!? I'm getting about 80oz fluids/day and hitting my protein goals that my NUT set. I've also been out and about walking around target, Walmart, the mall, etc. I know I could probably do a little more exercise but I'm a little hesitant until my 2 week follow up appointment which is tomorrow! Any suggestions would be great!

You know, I would say you need to find another doc to do your fills and follow up care. I have an 11cc band and it took 7.5ccs to finally feel restriction. I was banded in Mexico (by an amazing surgeon) but I live in Indiana. So, it was really too far for me to travel back for fills and follow up. I now use the Fill Centers USA for my fills / follow up and I've been pleased. The doc I see really listens to me and is just generally great. She's put in more ccs per visit than the "usual protocol" recommends, because I was having no restriction. She also has done her own research into my band size and how much she can put in. The most important thing is that your doctor listens to you and treats you accordingly. You had the band placed because you needed help with weight loss, like everyone here did. You deserve to have the band work the way it's supposed to, and it won't if it doesn't have enough fluid in it to cause restriction. Good Luck!

I'm a woman. I had my hair cut a lot shorter already, but that hasn't helped much. People say I look fine, but I notice a huge, huge difference. This has been the only downside to my surgery...

I've been doing low carbs since my surgery (about 10 1/2 mos. out) -- I DO NOT count the carbs in my fruits and veggies. I figure they're good for you, you should be eating them, so they don't count. I DO count the carbs in breads, pastas, cereals, rice, etc. You get the idea. Frankly, I think (and it's just my belief) that given our small stomachs, we need as much fiber as we can possibly get -- I still battle constipation and if I don't get enough fiber in, I'm miserable. I've also come to realize in my short time post op, that while we should restrict "bad" carbs, we need to emulate normal eating as much as possible. Our tummies are going to be naturally restrictive (seriously) -- and despite what we eat (even if we fall off the wagon), we're going to lose. I'm about 5 pounds from goal and am still losing at a pretty good clip, despite the fact that I'm upping my calories, upping my carbs, etc. The thing about weight loss, something I think we often lose sight of (and I do all the time despite almost being at goal and almost a year out) -- is that we don't lose at a steady rate. It's stair steps -- sometimes we lose a bunch, then our bodies stop. Then we lose, then we stop. It's our bodies' way of adjusting to the weight loss -- it's mentally frustrating (believe me!) -- but, we have to accept that we will lose as long as we are active and eating well. Now, if you're gonna binge on cake, well after awhile you're not gonna lose. But, eating well, moving our bods, and keeping the weight loss thing in perspective is what it's all about

Yup. Walked around all last weekend in 4 inch heels. My calves ache some, but did fine. I have a thing for heels, so I'm excited with my loss so far-I can wear my sexy shoes.