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You can take my advice with a grain of salt since I've never been in the position of losing too much weight and am only 4 weeks post-op, but I think at this point your best bet is to ignore calories and just listen to your body. Eat if you're hungry, don't eat if you're not, and focus on nutritious food. Your body will stop losing weight when it feels like it. I agree with @Spinoza that I think the surgery gives you a new set point. It's best to just see what that is and only worry about it if it's so low that it's unhealthy. More than likely, it'll bounce back up on its own if it's too low for you to maintain. But better you bounce up to where your goal was initially than put the brakes on now and then bounce up 10 lbs higher than you wanted in a year.

I crushed my thyroid pill and emptied the omeprazole and ursodiol capsules into a little bowl and mixed all three with 2 Tbsp of applesauce. It took about 10 minutes to get that down. I'm going to need to check with my primary care doctor because my blood pressure the morning I left the hospital was 92/54, so I have not been taking my blood pressure med since they told me to stop it the day before surgery. I need to go check it at one of those machines at the drug store later today.

I like crispy tofu in the airfryer. Block of Tofu/Cornflour/Spices/Oil Spray/Salt/Pepper You need firm tofu. A couple of hours before you want to eat take the tofu out of the package and blot it dry, then stack a couple of sheets of kitchen paper above and below it (or clean tea towels) then put a plate with a weight on top of it for 5-10 minutes. In a big bowl add a a big tablespoon of cornflour and the spices/seasonings of your choice for example garlic powder/paprika/liquid smoke/dried lime rind Herbes de provence/ lemon zest and juice/ground bay Cumin/Tumeric/dried corriander Soy sauce/sesame oil/garlic/ginger MSG/orange juice and zest/maple syrup/clove powder/cinnamon/chilli/onion powder Mix your cornflour with your spices and seasonings until well mixed or if you have liquids in your seasonings until its a smoothish paste Wipe the tofu dry again and cut into cubes, tip the cubed tofu into the bowl with the cornflour and seasoning mix and shake the bowl vigorously until the tofu is covered in the seasoning mix. If some of the tofu breaks into crumbs this is not a problem. They will just be extra crispy crumbs! It's best to let the tofu marinade for at least 15 minutes to a few hours but I often skip this part because I don't have time. When you're ready to eat preheat your air fryer to 200°c/400°f. Open the airfryer drawer and spray with oil, tip the tofu in and give it a spray. Shake after about 7-8 minutes and then put back in for another 7-8 minutes of until crispy. Enjoy! You'll find a lot of youtube/internet recipes that are probably easy to follow then mine if you google "airfryer tofu". It's nice as a protein without feeling too "woodstock crunchy vegan"

Now that I'm 2 years out from my sleeve and 1 year out from my revision to bypass, I can tell you that I eat around 1200 calories per day when I'm not working out and 1400 - 1500 per day when I'm working out (depending on the type of work out I'm doing). I'm on my feet all day at work, so I increased my daily calories from what they were before. Same with my work outs. I can't work out as often now, so I go harder than I used to on the days I can actually work out (now that I have full medical clearance with no restrictions). I noticed pretty early on that if I didn't eat enough calories during the day, but was still working out, my body thought it was starving and it would hold on to every single thing. As hard as it was to wrap my brain around, I took the advice I saw on here and increased my calories on work out days by a couple of hundred each day and I actually started losing again!!! I was floored!!! So as I increased intensity of my work outs, or increased the weight I was lifting, I increased my calories a bit. I didn't go crazy, but enough to let my body know it's still healthy and not starving. BUT....I had to initially give myself grace and time to be able to increase calories. Work outs or not, I had to do it on my body's timeline, not a doctor or nutritionist's. No way could I have been at 900 or 1000 calories at 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 months. There just was no way. And honestly, mine didn't expect that. They didn't want to see us above 700 calories before 5 months post op. I had JUST hit 900 calories at 7 months post op. I'm actually thinking about increasing my calories a little again, because I'm still losing, and I'm nearly 10 pounds under my goal weight, and I really would like to start maintaining lol If I drop to 179, I will definitely increase my calories by 100 everyday and see what happens.

I was out of town the past two days and had to navigate 4 restaurant meals. I think I did okay! For lunch the first day I ordered the cup of tomato soup and a half dijon chicken salad sandwich. I ate all the chicken but left the bread, and had about 5 bites of soup before handing it off to my daughter to finish. I shared a burrito bowl with chicken for dinner, out of which I took about 4 strips of chicken and dipped it in guacamole and little bit of sour cream, I ate one tortilla chip and it was lovely. For breakfast the next morning, I ordered the oatmeal with fresh fruit and a Greek yogurt. It was enough to feed 100 people (but cost under $10, so a bargain compared to the rest of the menu). I ate maybe 1/3 of the yogurt with 1/2 the fruit and then had a few bites of oatmeal (I mainly ordered it because they didn't have just fruit on the menu). For lunch, I had sashimi and miso soup. I was pleasantly surprised at how moist the chicken was both times. I had some concerns that it would be dry, but it was perfect. Feeling much more confident about my week-long vacation this summer.

Well I had a revision (no surgery on my stomach) so I won’t even talk about portion. Also, I’m pretty active (2-3 hours of at least walking) so take this with a grain of salt but my calories are around 900-1000, protein is 90 plus, net carbs are 60-70, sugar is usually under 20 but my max is 30, fiber is still too low but around 10-15 with the fiber powder, fat is 20-30, water is about 80, and calcium is usually around 1800 or above. I was told that calories alone don’t mean much at all and carbs and fat depend significantly on what kinds of carbs and fat. Carbs from fruit and veggies are usually fine in our portions and healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and nuts or low fat dairy are okay too but you do have to measure of course and not have them multiple times. It’s when you get into the processed stuff that you have to watch them numbers so much closer. They sneak things in. I have noticed that the low carb stuff is usually really high in fat. My goal is to keep it to Whole Foods as much as I can. So far I have had the occasional low carb wrap, Turkey jerky, yogurt drinks, and quest potato chips in terms of packaged food. Ooh and that burrito wrap I had to seriously budget for. But I mean like twice or three times a month. Your team will have the best info for what’s right for you though. So many things make these numbers different for everyone. Did you ever find an app that you can access to log your food?. It has really helped me. Usually when I sit down to have lunch, I enter my breakfast, my lunch and play around with ideas for dinner and snack and see how that works out in terms of macros. I always have fish and frozen low carb veggies that I can pull out of the freezer if I am too high for the day. I found these burritos that supposedly freeze well I wanted to make but they used a real tortilla. They do not have the big ones in the low-carb version. I looked everywhere but I needed the bigger one and order get enough protein. I wanted to make those four nights in a row but every time I entered them I was going over on something. I finally was able to have them last night but all I had was my morning proffee and five egg whites with pico de gallo for lunch. Then I added a little bit more cheese because I was 2 g low on protein. Anyways, it makes it so much easier to be able to plug these things in and you can delete and try something else if it doesn’t work or add or subtract snacks. The only thing that I do not enter, but I always allow myself to have. I kind of learned on the preop diet was the sugar-free popsicles they’re actually 15 cal I believe but they were free foods on my preop diet and I keep them that way in my mind. It keeps me thinking that I’m never going to be not allowed to have food. Mentally it somehow makes me think that I don’t have to starve. I can always have something.. I actually really enjoyed them the tropical flavor ones on my preop but I haven’t wanted sweets very often since. I have had them a couple of times when I wake up late wanting something though.

If you love soups here is a recipe I found that I have made twice now recently and really like; https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-carrot-lentil-soup I made it in the slow cooker and added 2/3 of the carrots for the whole process so they were soft and then added the other 1/3 in for the last hour or so to have a bit of bite to the soup even after blending down. I did peel and chop the carrots, did not leave the peel on. Also I did not use the oil or yogurt and went with more than a pinch of chili as it gives it a really nice kick. I got 9 to 10 servings out of the recipe instead of the indicated 4 so the nutritional values according to MyFitnessPal are; If I need to up my protein intake for the day I add some protein powder to the soup.

I had surgery May 10 and am down around 134 pounds. I still have about 70 pounds to go.

i had low grade anxiety the morning of surgery. i remember a nano-second of PURE PANIC literally just before i was knocked out. I remember them telling me to count down from 100 (or was it 10?)...i got to like 97 (or 7..) and felt myself starting to freak out. the last thing i (sorta) remember was 95 (or 5??) next thing i knew i was waking up in the recovery room and my very first thought was "YEESSSSSSSS!!! I'M ALIVE!!!!!". the relief of it all allowed me to ignore whatever pain i may or may not have been in. when i did finally register pain, it was manageable. i took the hard stuff pain meds during my 1 day stay at hospital. i was sent home with an Rx for more, but didn't fill it...i was fine with just Tylenol. best description of it would be it felt like i did a ridiculous number of situps...more of an ache than a pain, if that makes sense. so yeah, alot of us had at least some level of fear/anxiety/trepidation. only way is through it! good luck ❤️

i picked my consults based on before and after photos (their work), and the NUMBER of before and after photos (their volume/experience), and if they had any (unresolved) complaints or sanctions or investigations on their records. (i went to 5 consults) then i shortlisted based on a combination of price, evaluation of aftercare, whether or not they were willing to do all my procedures (3 of them: tummy tuck, breast lift, arm lift) all in one shot...this left me with 2. tie breaker was based on my perceived VIBE of them. One seemed more serious and by-the-book-ish and other was a bit more chill and easier-going. i chose the chill one. i'm sure i would have been perfectly fine with either of them, but i had to choose one, so i just went with someone i was more comfortable being around. p.s. i had my plastics 7 months after reaching goal (14 months post wls) . i would have preferred it done earlier, but he was booked up for almost a year (which i booked), but later he decided to open up a day just for me over the xmas holidays a few months earlier than my almost-year-later-booking. i am thankful he did that because my original PS booking would have fallen on the beginning of COVID and would definitely had been postponed as a non-essential surgery for several months. he had no requirement of maintaining any sort of weight wls or not. nor did the other 4 original consults. in the month or so after plastics, i lost about 5 lbs and hit my lowest weight of 109 lbs. since then i've bounced up and down between generally 115-120 for about 5+ years (so a net gain of about 5-10 lbs depending on the day), and i still look as awesome, if i say so myself.

First, don't panic! And don't compare your progress to others, if you can help it. I agree with everything Nickel said -- including the book rec. Kristin Willard's Bariatric Meal Prep is a great resource, and I also really like "The High-Protein Bariatric Cookbook" by Stacey Gulbin and "Fresh Start Bariatric Cookbook" by Sarah Kent. I think a good Bariatric book might help cover some of the information you've been missing from your 'care-team'. Is it possible that you've been focusing extra/too much on calories and not enough on what makes up those calories? My team told me that calories can be important (especially later on) but the first several months it was definitely more about making sure you're getting enough nutrients. 60-80 g protein per day minimum -- my team told me for me personally, she'd actually recommend 70-90g -- and definitely 3 meals a day (+ 1-2 protein-geared snacks). If you have to make them smaller at first since you're used to eating two meals, that should be ok. Maybe while you get back into a regular routine, make one of your meals a protein shake or protein bar? It was suggested to me that both my day (and each meal) should be 50-60% protein, and the rest of my plate should be mostly non-starchy veg -- with any starchy veg or complex carb coming in at 10-15% (20% max). The types of carbohydrates can be really important too. A whole grain/whole wheat item or a starchy but nutritious veg is going to put you in a much better place than a processed corn taco or white tortilla. Are you taking any supplements? Also, maybe check out local nutritionists and see if any of them have experience with bariatric patients.

Thank you very much! Congratulations to you as well for your successful journey. It's amazing to finally be free of the fat and, more importantly for me, the addiction to food and the total control/power I have over food now. It's seriously my lifelong dream at 55 so staying motivated was baked in.. Thank you again. I am sure I didn't elaborate or explain my reasons enough but actually I am concerned about slowing down the weight loss. I still eat very small portions and am worried it would be hard to sustain on just protein, without carbs. I like my body running more ketogenic than carbed up with the ups and downs of carbs. Without adding fat, and with our malabsorption aspect of the surgery, I am wondering if its possible or not so much..If I am being honest, at 240lbs, I started eating dirtier with carbs to try and stabilize at 240 until I got my knee surgeries, but then just dropped another 20+ within a month and a half or so. My steps and activity increased, small by normal people standards, but a lot for where I have been, after I got another Cortisone shot to the knees. This just illustrates my concern once I reach goal weight and I am rucking, hiking, and lifting. Those three things will be lifelong for longevity and mobility going forward. Obviously everyone is different as far genetically and such, but I have been extremely low calorie, plenty of short fasts up to three days, and have plateaued at certain points during my weight loss, and after doing a refeed with carbs and basically whatever I want to eat, I recharged my metabolism for another huge run of weight loss. The refeed was usually only a couple days to a few days but less than a week. Now with this approach remember I am lifting weights. I mean hard as I can weight lifting 4 days a week. It sucks! Low energy lifting is not fun but the recomp.. I really believe the built-in calorie burn from lean muscle mass is the most efficient way to permanently stay in shape. Male or female doesn't matter. IMHO if your metabolism is slow and you are struggling with the last few pounds, I mean the literally like 5-10 pounds from goal BF, man or woman, start lifting weights. The body recomp will floor you. And that weight or really I think just your body composition after significant weight loss without adding lean muscle mass leaves you looking(Sometimes) like a no muscle bag of skin. Flat. It's not fun but the results.. Anyways thank you for the reply and just to make clear if any of the vets care to weigh in, the WLS gave me the tool, the only tool I will ever need again to lose weight. It's so powerful for me that I need to think about slowing down my weight loss combined with, if possible, being low carb and more ketogenic as a lifestyle choice I prefer. I just don't know if low carb is sustainable without the fat calories. that specifically is what I am looking for. Does anyone prefer low carb/ketogenic after surgery and is it possible? I already realize that fats can be problematic, is anyone doing carnivore after DS Sadi. Not my preference but the only option it seems for low carb without the keto fat plan. Thanks in advance for any tips.

OH YES! I am still pre-op and I HAVE to be at the goal weight the surgeon gave me of 275 on my surgery date, so I gotta make sure I stay in check! I went back to tracking, eating proteins first and doing my 30min of activity 3x a week. It came back off but I still have 19 more days till surgery day!

Ohhh ok I get it now. The thin full liquid diet. Well I’ll be the first to tell you the ish gets annoying after day 10 lol for me at least. I’m hanging in there. I’m excited for all of us. Summer Time fine is loadinggg. Happy healing Queen

First of all, can I just tell you that you're beautiful!!! I don't mean anything awkward or inappropriate with that, but I just felt like I wanted to tell you that you are a very beautiful woman To answer your questions: 1. What was the best part of surgery for you? Getting off blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and anti-inflammatory meds, losing the weight, and gaining mobility back 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? I had several complications from the sleeve and had to have a revision a year later 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? not during the surgery but about 7-8 months later, complications started showing up. 4 endoscopies, 1 colonoscopy, and massive amounts of PPIs later, had to have the revision 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? it's been hard sometimes, but overall, so worth it and rewarding and a huge blessing 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? If you stick to the plan, it's a gradual process. By 6-8 weeks, I was nervous but ready to eat food and just made sure to go slow. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? pasta, rice, potatoes, bread (a year or 2 out, some can eat it in small amounts every once in a while, but I'm so sensitive to carbs that I stay far away...but there's alternatives that allow me to not feel like I'm deprived so it's completely ok) 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? dumping really only happens with the bypass, not the sleeve. Never had vomiting and very little nausea (in the beginning). Once I had my revision to bypass, I had dumping twice and learned my lesson lol I follow the rules and I'm careful, so I haven't had it again. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? about 4 weeks after the sleeve, about a week to 10 days after the revision to bypass (much easier surgery to recover from, for some reason) 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? not right away. I was beyond exhausted the first 2 weeks. Weeks 3 and 4 it started to get better. By week 6, I felt normal, and by 3 months out I had lost a good amount of weight and my energy levels really started to pick up. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? not in any kind of negative way until I started having the complications. Once I had the revision, every complication went away and I've been beyond happy and thrilled. The only real issue I have now is body dysmorphia sometimes. I have moments where I look in the mirror and still see 421 pound me and not 195 pound me. I'll look in my closet and think someone stole my clothes and replaced them with someone else's (I use to be a size 30/5X and now I'm a size 14/XL). 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I absolutely do not regret it. The only thing I would go back and change is I would just have the bypass to begin with and skip the sleeve altogether. Now, there are a lot of people really happy with the sleeve. They have zero regrets. I was one of them, until I wasn't. Many of us sleevers have to get a revision to bypass for one reason or another, but just as many, if not more, have the sleeve and never have any issues and love it.

I cleaned my house 2x the night before surgery. Then I decided to just stay up and watch a bunch of movies and listen to music. I never slept. Looking back, I was very anxious. Likely of the unknown. So here’s what happened the morning of my surgery: I drove to the hospital, parked and checked in. I was given a clipboard with tons of paperwork to fill out. There was a lot. I was give a scannable wristband to confirm my identity. I talked with the person who came with me trying to keep my mind off of what was happening. We talked about a lot of random things, but mostly what I was doing the next month. That helped me to believe that there was a future beyond the surgery. The nurse called me in. I gave her a the clipboard and was asked to verify my info. My wrist band was scanned. She measured my weight asked me to give a urine sample. I brought back to a room and given the preop gown to change into a bag for all the things I brought with me. My companion was also allowed in this room. The nurse asked me to confirm name and my date of birth and scanned the wrist band. She measured my blood pressure O2 levels and started an IV line with saline. Next in was the anesthesiologist. I once again confirmed my info and was asked questions previous responses to anesthesia. Since this was my first surgery with general anesthesia I asked what it felt like and he it explained everything very well. The surgeon came in and once again I gave my info but this time he asked me to verify what surgery I having. He asked if I had any questions or concerns I did not. Last person to come in was the nurse who is brought back to the OR. This is where it began to get real for me I was a little nervous. When I rolled into the OR everyone was clapping like it was a party and they were congratulating me in advance. It was pretty special. One by one they introduced themselves and their positions. I was moved from one bed to another. Then the dance to hook me up to cardiac monitors and other devices began. I was giving instructions on how to move which way to roll and everything that they were going to do before it happens. I was never left in the dark. When anesthesiologist came in I was hooked up to the IV he explain what would be administered. The oxygen mask went on and I was told to count backwards from 10 to 1. I didn’t get very far. I felt extremely tired, blinking a few times before drifting off to sleep. This was a dreamless sleep that felt like only a few minutes when I began to awake in the recovery room. I asked no one in particular if the surgery happened. I drifted in and out of sleep for a while. When I finally woke up I was in the hospital room, I would stay until I went home. I Hope that helps!

this is very thought provoking for me! you know, it never even occurred to me that getting wls would/could have re-inforced negative body issue ideas to my daughter at the time i had it. like the other poster above, i just told her point blank (she was 12 or 13 at the time). i think it was along the lines of "i'm having surgery to reduce the size of my stomach to help me lose weight". and i remember her asking me why i wanted to lose weight and me saying that i am fat and i'm getting old and being fat and old will probably stop me from getting older....AND i just wanted to not be fat anymore and surgery will help me alot in achieving this. and that was that. now, my daughter is familiar with the concept of surgeries so maybe that is why she presented as aloof when i told her. when she was 5 or 6 she asked about my breast reduction scar and i told her i had surgery to make my boobs smaller because they were too big before and hurting my back, and now my back doesn't hurt anymore. also when she was younger she asked why she doesn't have younger brothers or sisters and we explained Mr.'s vasectomy. she was 10 when my mom had double bypass surgery and she knew that the doctors took a vein from grandmas leg to put in her chest to help her heart work better. she is also like her father, slim and naturally active and fit, so i dunno if me doing something to my body to "fix" weight would trigger her in any way... BUT i totally see now how WLS in particular may touch on self-image issues and ideas that we may perpetuate or even create about our kids bodies. i'm gonna go ask her about her thoughts later.

10 days post op and I decided to go with my BF to do the grocery shopping. I figured the walking would be good. Half way through, I started to feel nauseous. I think it was all the smells from going up and down the isles. I went to sit in the car and just being outside with the breeze helped subside the feeling. Anyone else have issues like this?

Thanks for the reference. I ended up having a capsulorrhaphy procedure on my right shoulder about two months after my VSG surgery. They also repaired the labrum, rotator cuff, and she spent over 45 minutes just cleaning up the bursitis. She put in 4 anchors during the procedure just to try and stabilize the shoulder. I used Alison Cabrera @ UTSW, and would highly recommend her. I ended up on daily hydrocodone just to get me to that surgery, however, I was still able to maintain my daily steps. Shoulder surgery is no joke! And this was all done to try to get me another 10 years so I can get reverse shoulder replacement 😐 My range of motion is limited now, but that was to be expected. I'm doing my best to protect my left shoulder so I can avoid surgery as long as possible. I've finally gotten used to sleeping flat on my back. For VSG follow up, I ended up about 80lbs lost. Right now I'm sitting about 75lbs down (gained 5lbs back) as I am noticing I can eat a little more (but still really restricted). I have a little anxiety about that as I am just over 10 months post VSG surgery. The last thing I want to do is undo all of the work. I'm still staying positive and using the Streaks app (iOS) to help with motivation (70K steps a week, plus 360 minutes of workout per week (includes walking)). I need to get back into putting all of my food into the fitness pal app. After the VSG surgery and the shoulder surgery, I ended up in a depression. Talking with a therapist who had experience with bariatric surgery helped. I don't think it was a depression just because of the VSG. I'm sure the chronic pain followed by a shoulder surgery (sling for 6 weeks post-op; and PT for 5 months) contributed significantly. As I mentioned previously, make sure your are taking care of your mental health. @Humikrig Good luck on your surgery!

Hi sorry I’m new here I had my surgery December 19 so it’s been like 2 weeks and 3 days so the first 7 days i lost 17 pounds but right now I’m loosing weight very slow like a pound each day its that normal or mybe I’m doing something wrong right now I lost 27 pounds total 2 weeks and 3 days

You're 100 pounds overweight with a BMI of 38.7 (with 20-25 being normal). Only 20% of people can lose even 10% of their body weight and keep it off for more than 5 years through diet and lifestyle alone. You're looking to lose about 25% of your body weight, at which point you will still be borderline obese (29.5 BMI). You might consider asking yourself, how much more overweight would you have to be to see yourself as "very heavy"? And how much worse would the odds need to be for you to think you have no chance with diet?

Congrats on the surgery! I was sleeping in the recliner for 3 weeks, and was 5 weeks out before I was comfortable lying completely flat. I'm at 10 weeks now, but I'm still using some pillows to prop myself up in the bed, I guess I got used to being propped up, but I am able to sleep flat without discomfort.

Has anyone tried the gardencup meal delivery service? Everything is in a cup to take to go they have soups, salads, power cups, produce cups, and dip cups as well as snack cups. They are $10-12 each so kinda pricey but I’m justifying it for myself since my husband doesn’t eat what I eat and produce tends to go bad on me before I can use it all as do all the different cheeses and stuff to make a variety of salads. That plus the convenience factor are making them enticing. I am looking at the protein and the mini cup salads have less than the regular sized ones which is unfortunate since post surgery the mini one will probably be the better portion size. The minis are around 15-20g protein. I’m Just curious if anyone has tried these or has any thoughts on them. I’m thinking I may have to switch out the dressing for a lower fat option or have no dressing but that’s with premade salad from anywhere. I usually get the southwest or market salad at chick fila with an extra chicken filet on the side. I take it home pull off the toppings and a little of the lettuce and that’s plenty for one day then the next I can make a chicken ceaser salad with the extra chicken, the leftover lettuce and my own yogurt dressing but that’s only when I’m in town anyways. I don’t like to make a special trip just for salad plus those aren’t prepared to grab And go like these cups are. They would fit perfect in a cooler to take with me when I’m out for the day

I’m going jump in on this discussion if you all don’t mind. I had gastric sleeve in January 2019 (5’2” 210lbs). Within 6 months, my weight was 130lbs and i didnt like how i looked (cheeks sinking in), so i started increasing my calorie intake. Its January 2024 and im currently 175, trying to get back down to 150. Ive done it all…. gym 3x a week, personal trainer, nutritionist, dietician, logging my foods, staying within the 1500 calorie range, etc. Still no change. I got tired of the assumptions and guessing game (you should eat this, limit your fat, carbs, calories, do cardio, lift weights) and did my own research. I found out about a few scientifically proven tests that give 99.9% accurate results in regards to how many calories my body NEEDS just to function, how much lean mass and fat mass i have, etc. Low and behold, my body needs at least 1600 calories to function. Being active throughout the day, gym 3x a week, my body NEEDS roughly 2400 calories just to maintain my current weight. In order to lose weight, i have to consume 500 calories less, so thats 1900 calories. At 1500 calories a day over the past 3 years, my body was running on fumes, holding onto everything i ate, and going into hypoglycemia because it didnt have any fuel storage to pull from.

I was told by my bariatric team nurse that it's normally a two week wait, and they would call me at that point to set up my surgery date. BCBS approved me within a week. So, I was surprised when the hospital nurse called me with check in day instructions and found my surgeon had already scheduled my surgery in 10 days. So what normally would have been a 2 week wait for approval, then a 2 week pre-op diet turned into a Fastrack to surgery. My liver shrinking diet was shortened because of it which was OK with me and obviously OK by my doctor. Good luck!