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Greetings! I'm new to the group and praying for some advice. My sleeve surgery was 10 days ago. My daily protein recommendations are 60g – 90g. I am struggling to get in 30g, and I do mean struggling. The only thing I can keep down is ice water. The smell and slightest taste of protein shakes, protein water, and even unflavored protein (three different brands in 10 days) make me gag. I literally cannot tolerate anything sweet since surgery. I have tried sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, thinned sugar fee pudding, sugar free juice, Crystal Light, etc. I have tried adding protein powder to soup, protein bariatric soup, and even made my own, all with the same result. When I plug my nose to force myself to drink the protein, my body actually tries to vomit but there’s nothing to come up. Has anyone had this happen? Any suggestions? I start pureed foods in 5 more days but realize I can’t sustain on ice water alone for much longer.

Still trying to find a post-op protein drink that I actually like. I haven't had luck with the powders as I just can't get used to them and even though I've tried the Unjury unflavored, I can still taste it and can't stand it. I came across "Isopure" and have read VERY mixed reviews. Some people say it's an amazing post-op drink, packed with protein, and tastes pretty good. However, according to the nutrition label, it's also high in sodium and calories. On one website, the reviews reflected as being BOTH an outstanding drink for weightloss/post-op bariatric surgery AND for gaining weight (bodybuilders). So, which is it? Also, any idea where it's sold in less than a 12pk? $40+ for a 12pk on Amazon for something I'm not even sure I'll like seems like a lot. For clarity - here's a pic of the product I'm talking about.

One important piece of advice/knowledge that it seems nearly no bariatric program gives out is that stalls do happen, very commonly around the 3 week mark. If you use the search box on here and search "three week stall", you will find THOUSANDS of posts from people who had surgery and then suddenly hit a period of time (anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks) where the weight just won't come off. It is something that is very common but is almost always a temporary situation. If it happens to you, keep calm and keep to your doctor's diet plan. One of the easiest adjustments to make to help get out of that stall is to increase your physical activity a little. Stalls/plateaus are likely to happen but they do not signal the end of your weight loss. It's only temporary. Also, start exploring protein shakes/drinks/powders now, if you haven't already done so. This will be where the lion's share of your protein is going to come from post-op and you will want to find one (or two or three) options that you like before you have surgery. Otherwise, it's a miserable experience to try and find what you like immediately after surgery. If you slip up on your diet, that does not mean it is the end of the world, but it IS something to be concerned about. It is something you will want to take corrective action on right away. The surgery is only a tool and if you don't make use of that tool, then you won't see the results that you want. If you have a slip-up, communicate with your doctor right away. Seek advice and assistance from your medical team (doctor, nutritionist, counselor, etc.) so that you can stay on track. Communication is key especially in this difficult time where in-person appointments are not always easy to come by. Don't compare your weight loss to anyone else's. Every single person's physiology is unique. Your metabolism is different from mine and from everyone else on this site. As long as the numbers on the scale are going down, you are succeeding. Never forget that. Lastly, this journey is a marathon, not a sprint. It is, quite literally, a lifelong journey. Use every pillar of support that you have to achieve success. Congrats on completing your pre-op program and I hope that you get your surgery date soon!

No, I've lost 43.4lbs in the past 2.5 months (post-op). The other 78.3lbs were lost in the 5 months pre-surgery when I first joined my bariatric program. That total is for the entire journey. Your pace is pretty much perfect!

I am also an NP here in Austin and when I decided to have surgery I asked several other friends at work who they used. I chose Southwest Bariatric Surgeons - Dr Eric Atcheson who performed my outpatient robotic gastric sleeve at Seton Ascension Williamson Medical Center. Post op went smoothly and I am very happy with how I am recovering. Dr Atcheson has a wonderful bedside manner and his staff are awesome!!

I'm getting 60-70g of protein, Im taking all my vitamins and getting between 60-80oz of water a day. Im following my bariatric bible!

ok i will say for bypass the big pill organizer. the 2oz disposables for things like batch making of jello. i am almost a month post op at this point and i use them to remind myself of not eating too much because full is a different feeling now and comes on slowish. you can get the tashi ones on amazon for under 10$ for 200 i believe. Also i got some cheapy warm glad containers that are 4oz for microwaving for premaking soup (walmart 3$). a water bottle is a necessity (insulated i use klean kanteen). just carry that little 12 oz with loop cap everywhere. It fits in the car too. one bag of whatever shake mix protein your program requires and a blender bottle for choking it down in the morning. the blender bottle while it doesnt keep it cold by design i seem to sip better because u can only take small swig with it. i have a magic bullet mini it was 29$. thats what im using to blend. however u can use a handheld one. get some pb2 to flavor your choc shake as peanut butter choc so you dont get burnt out on just choc. some peoples incisions open back up two of mine did. im fair skinned and the surgeon says i have baby skin though. surgeon rec palmors oil post op so using that on belly. i did use some gauze afterwords with some tape from the drug store. You might not need it but some of us did. you need to acquire a script of simethicone from surgeon in chewable (insurance pick up tab for me that way). I recommend also bentyl in case you get abdominal cramping post surgery. You need to inquire about the gallbladder med too if you still have it. Next you need to buy your multivitamin which i use bariatric advantage ultrasolo 1x a day. Its nasty and huge but my program required it. Next buy your calcium i have bariatric advantage soft chew in caramel. one 90 item bag per month. I bought three months worth of the vitamins. It would be helpful for you to have some kind of food water tracker. i use happy planner fitness for mine. Heres just some pictures to give you ideas.

I cannot recommend this cookbook enough! My husband bought it for me and it has been immensely helpful with recipes from the liquids to the regular food stage. It has a number of smoothie recipes that are tasty and get you plenty of protein. I'm moving to pureed soon and I'll use the recipes for the pureed stage as well. Totally worthwhile purchase!

I was wondering well I be able to get bariatric surgery pain on the low dose of methadone would that be a problem

So I don’t deluge your post, If you’d like the rest of helpful info from my Bariatric Coordinator & Nutritionist just message me & I can send you pictures.

Hi, My Dr. Who is head of Bariatric program in CA. (L.A. area at least said he considers the vertical sleeve the Gold Standard now. I was asking about the sleeve compared to bypass. To tell you the truth I don't know much about the duodenal switch. I think it would depend on how overweight you are Vertical Sleeve was a good procedure for me however after about four years you can start getting your way back if you are a snacker if you are absolutely desperate to keep the weight off you might consider the other however all of my friends who had bypass are severely anemic they barf much more regularly than I do I never Barker ever I don't have any troubles like that you may really want to think about what the duodenal switch entails. I don't think any procedure is a magic pill, so to speak...but I do know that I see a lot of people that have had the bypass, and they just seem uncomfortable a lot more....or need to go be sick. The Vertical Sleeve is a tool but I feel perfectly fine I just get full when I'm eating too much so you do have to have a little bit of willpower at times push yourself away from the table. Good luck in making your decision.

I had this problem. So apparently the protein shakes in my program were full meal replacements with things like potassium vitamins (bariatric advantage). My intolerance to the shakes is high but my hands & feet began to tingle (potassium deficiency) and i was like “wtf am i doing drink the shake” we arent children! So now every morning i get up i fill that blender bottle and i plug my nose as it goes down. I have done this for two days in a row now. The newness of it all can really throw you off track but remember you know what to do thats what all those appointments were for they were drilling it in. I also want to add my shake flavor is orange and its much smoother going down with some diet cranberry pineapple juice mixed in. I also ordered a bag of chocolate flavor which i intend to put pb2 in (peanut butter chocolate). Plug thy nose and get it downn sometimes thats how its gotta be. I do have unflavored protein powder as well that i bought on the side of my program shakes that i use in jello. I also take bariatric advantage once a day ultra solo w iron as instructed. It might be good to watch the news or something while you are choking it down. This close out from surgery you know what you are supposed to b doing and my advice is to just do it!

Thank you! I definitely agree because it feels so good when the numbers start dropping again. I had my an appointment with my bariatric doctor and I am now down to 226! I'm over the moon.

I've done WW off and on for most of the last 20 yrs but never reached my goal. I would get to a certain point and then start regaining, get discouraged and quit. Then of course I'd gain the weight back because I was depressed and felt like a failure. Of course I'd gain back more than I lost, the typical yo-yo dieter! When I attended my bariatric seminar I had also recently gone back to WW. I decided to continue it while in the "pre-op" stage, incorporating "bariatric" guidelines I got during my nutrition counseling period. I gave up sugar, stopped all soda and bubbly drinks and started tracking on My Fitness Pal to keep track of my macros in addition to tracking on the WW app. I considered that practicing for my post op life. From my seminar to surgery was about 4 months. I lost about 30 lbs in that time period. I still continued WW after surgery because I figured by then I had paid them so much money in my lifetime that I was going to finally reach my goal and get my "lifetime" status! And I did it! I liked the idea of a weekly "official" documented weight and the support of the people who had become good friends and my support system. Now, I attend meetings for free. The main reason I continue is it keeps me accountable and on track. My bariatric program support group only meets once a month, before Covid, and is now virtual and I felt I needed more than that. WW is weekly, also currently virtual but starting to reopen the studios. Bariatric surgery is a tool and WW is a tool. I see no problem with having all the tools available. I am happy with the path I have chosen and now have started the plastic surgery stage of my journey. Good luck with your continued success!

Hi All, I'm trying to figure out what I'll need after surgery and in the life thereafter so I can prepare myself. So far I have: gotten bariatric sized flatware and plates (livliga.com and little ceramic crocks) gotten a mug warmer for keeping my food warm while I take forever to eat it figured out my favorite protein shakes and have a good supply of my favorites gotten unflavored protein and chicken broth protein sampled vitamins and worked with my dietician to figure out the best regimen for at least the first 2 months Can you think of anything else you would do to prepare? Do you think I'll need a shower seat for showering after surgery or will it only last a few days and I can stink that long? Maybe will I need one of those wedge pillows for sleeping upright to prevent pain/nausea? Thanks!

I'm sorry to hear that your insurance won't cover bariatric surgery. I hope you are able to figure out an alternative. Good Luck

I love the Whisps crisps. Very low carb and that satisfying crunch. They are small but you could put your hummus on them. Love your idea about "Bariatric Nachos"!

I'll second the quest protein chips - I'm just over 4 weeks out and was also craving something crunchy and "zesty" - Friday we made "Bariatric Nachos": 1 bag of Quest tortillas 1 oz of cheddar cheese 2 oz of ground turkey cooked with taco seasoning About 1 oz of pico (tomatoes and onions) Put it all in a medium oven safe bowl and cooked for about 4 minutes. I ate about 4 chips and was MORE than satisfied. Everything i was craving in one small bowl. Husband ate the rest and also agreed it was YUMMY.

Good job on losing instead of gaining! Your PCP is right. Call your surgeon’s office and see where they are at with what you have already lost. I gained weight from my first visit with the surgeon and my pre-op visit for many of the same reasons you have been struggling...stress and some depression. Then I lost 15 pounds on my two week liquid pre-op diet and was right where they wanted me. I had three Bariatric Advantage shakes per day. I was also allowed non-starchy veggies prepared with no fat or sugars. I am a nurse in Nevada. While we have not had fires nearby recently, our air quality has been horrendous with smoke blowing in from California. Hang in there!

This is a very rude statement. According to the rules of this site: Posts that are forbidden include, but are not limited to, the following: Rude posts. This is a first time poster and I find the content of the OP to be rather questionable. There is an artifact left in the account that makes me believe it was lifted off the Internet. The artifact is < /span>. The <span> tag is an inline container used to mark up a part of a text, or a part of a document. In reviewing the post, I asked the questions WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN. The where an the when appears to be the Seattle, Washington area around 9 February 2019, that is the date of the SNOWMAGEDDON in 2019 that struck the Seattle Area dumping 4-8 inches of snow. To support this observation, in the article it mentions the West Side, which is part of Seattle. It mentions Richmond Hospital. There is Richmond Internal Medicine hospital located in Shoreline, WA. It mentions St. Paul's Hospital, but from my perspective this is not really a hospital but rather it is a small clinic called St. Paul's Medical Clinic in Seattle. One of the things that attracted my attention was SNOWMAGEDDON 2019. The OP said it dropped 20 cm. of snow. Who in the U.S. would say 20 cm instead of 8 inches? The whole article is overly melodramatic. The OP identifies Dr. Kantner as an Obesity Specialist. There is a Dr. Jenny Kanter who received her PhD from the University of Washington in Pathology in 2010, with a specific focus on myeloid cells inflammation in the development of diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis. Her specialty includes diabetic kidney disease. So this may be the WHO. But another thing that attracted my attention was the article opened with her diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis can be a very serious condition. Liver fibrosis is the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins including collagen that occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. Advanced liver fibrosis results in cirrhosis, liver failure, and portal hypertension and often requires a liver transplant. It can be a life ender. This is a serious medical condition. Some research seems to indicate that gastric bypass surgery can help with this condition but only sometimes. So although the OP seems focused on the bariatric surgery component, the liver fibrosis disorder is very serious complication. Another thing that bothered me was the OP description of the surgery. Gastric bypass is a complex surgery. When I had it done several years ago, I was in the hospital for 2 days after surgery. This was routine. A few years have passed since then but bringing someone home the same day of surgery seems rather unwise. Yet that is what the OP expected. The OP mentioned that the sleeve had come loose. What does that mean exactly? There can be several complications associated with sleeve surgery. So revisions may be needed sometimes, I haven't heard of a sleeve coming loose. There is a form of weight loss surgery called Lap-Band surgery. In this procedure, a bariatric surgeon places a a silicone ring with an expandable balloon around the upper part of the stomach. This creates a new, smaller stomach pouch. These bands have been known to come loose and slip and need adjustments. During the gastric sleeve operation, around 80% of the stomach is removed. The remaining section of the stomach is formed into a tube-like shape about the size and shape of a banana.

My bariatric surgeon told me I needed to lose 20 pounds before the surgery. I remember at the time thinking “I’ll smash that, I’ll lose 25.” Here I am now, halfway through the 6 month period before my final consult, and I’ve lost 5 pounds. I’m stressing out a little bit because I wanted to lose at least the 20, but now it’s practically logistically impossible. Every day I keep logging my food and getting exercise, but I’m still having 2000-2300 calories a day on average. I talked to my primary care doctor and she said that generally all they want is a show of good faith that you can lose weight and stay focused most of the time. I think a lot of my struggles are stemmed from depression. I’m not generally very depressed, or I can usually pull myself out of my “funks” pretty quickly...however right now with COVID happening, now forest fires only 40 miles from my home (I live in Central California, near Fresno), plus basically becoming a homeschool teacher because of COVID (and my kids are special needs, did I mention that?)...on top of that I’m trying to keep my home business afloat (I make jam and bread). So it’s a lot to deal with all at once, and trying to lose weight is just one more piece of fuel to chuck onto the fire. I guess I’m just looking for some kind words from people that have been there. I know that losing weight in general is hard, that’s why we’re all here, we need this tool to help us lose that weight. But why can’t I just keep my head in the game? I know a lot is going on, and past me has just let things go and gained 30 pounds. So at least there’s that. I’m still down about 5 pounds.

What form of intermittent fasting were you doing? 16/8? 18/6? OMAD? I did intermittent fasting (16/8) before surgery and I lost about 70 pounds in 5 months. It really helped me to get out of the habit of snacking. The psychologist who did my psych eval for surgery didn't like it, but nobody else (the surgeon, bariatric nutritionist, PCP, endocrinologist) had a problem with it. Can't do it post-op, though (at least initially) because I'd never be able to get all my protein. Anyway, my suggestion is to think of it as doing mini-fasts. If you were doing 16/8 and skipping breakfast, maybe you can change to 12/12 (have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but fast for 12 hours between dinner and the next day's breakfast). Have a small breakfast and fast between breakfast and lunch.

I really have been meaning to write more blogs during my journey and well...I'm kind of lazy and was always motivated right at bedtime. Moving on. So June was my sleep study, have super mild sleep apnea but enough to warrant a cpap machine. I hate it. I hate that I have to pay like $900 for the stupid thing(insurance would not have kicked in until over a thousand dollar deductible had been met so I went with an online provider that I emailed my prescription to and had them set my machine to). So true story, I used it sometimes and for the most part ignored it. Until after talking to one of the nurses about requirements for surgery they require a 75% use of the machine for 4 or more hours a night in the last 30 days (so that is around 22-23 days for anyone wondering). I was in maybe the 25-30% range at that point. I kept taking off the mask at night, or I wouldn't sleep for 4 hours(I skew to a late night person and my job normally has me getting up to get ready to go in at 5am so that clashes most weekday nights). I asked this wonderful community for help and got lots of recommendations and really finally sat down with myself and made sure each night keeping the stupid mask on was at the forefront of my mind every night AND I had to make sure I was in the most comfortable position as possible--9 times out of 10 it worked and I was able to hit my goal. So come to this morning I hit 76%!! Immediately downloaded my sleep report from my app(I have a ResMed machine and their app is pretty great), screenshotted it(can't screen shot it in the app) and messaged it over to Baylor Scott and White (my surgery should be happening in the Temple hospital). That was the last requirement besides the last 2 visits to my super awesome PCP-visit #6 is next Monday and visit #7 is October 27th-two days before my birthday. As soon as the October visit is done my job will be to call the bariatric department to let them know so they can submit all my paperwork(fingers crossed no appeal will be needed)!! When I've tried this process the last few times it has never felt like this, so much more real, something that is SUPPOSED to happen vs doing it because it felt like what everyone wanted me to do. I guess that was something I had to come to the conclusion was the best choice for me, it took me a few years (the first ever wls seminar I went to I was 18-I'm 30 now). I always say that unless someone wants to help themselves it doesn't matter what others offer in support or help(mostly from my experience with people I love and drug habits) and it was so true for me. I always thought I'd lose the weight on my own, day after day, year after year until my weight was 17 pounds higher than my highest ever in the surgeon's office...that was a blow and moment of clarity. is the longest 'supervised diet' I had to do in the past and I have used my time thus far to prepare mentally and emotionally, taking up new hobbies, and changing my habits one at a time. I have thus far: upped my protein and water intake, almost entirely quit sugar(desserts/junk food), quit energy drinks and started working out(this has been a struggle y'all but I plan on taking up Krav Maga and probably kayaking once I'm healed along with my winter hikes to keep it fun). I want to be where I need to be when I wake up from surgery, not grappling with quitting horrible habits and trying to juggle the emotions and physical healing of the surgery. I won't lie, I am an instant gratification person, I would love to be able to just go and self pay with none of the hoops to jump through but now at this point I am so thankful I am not because for me, that would have probably been a disaster. I have lost some weight along the way and I try to keep the fact that weight lost now will make recovery so much easier to keep me on the straight and narrow. I love this community and hope that as I progress from hopeful patient to joining a lot of you on the loser's bench I can contribute valuable insight and motivation. Until next time, Amanda

I was intermittent fasting when I decided to look into bariatric surgery. Kaiser does not like intermittent fasting. I’m trying to transition back to eating multiple times a day while staying at 1200 calories. I’m failing. I have said no to doughnuts, soda, candy, snacks. I’m taking my vitamins and drinking my water. I initially lost three pounds but now I am stuck. Eating so often is so hard!

I know it’s so, so common, especially for Bariatric patients and alcohol. I drink a glass or two of wine a night most nights but that was normal for me before and I don’t think it’s excessive. I definitely don’t drink to get drunk and rarely even get tipsy. But I used to be only a social smoker and I am now up to a pack a week 😕 I think it’s called addiction transferance? I want to cut back.