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I’m three yrs 7 months post surgery. I’m about 3lbs heavier then my lowest weight (2 of which are above from where I initially settled). I eat about 1400 calories a day & don’t really exercise apart from from resistance exercises, sit ups & stretches (wouldn’t burn 30 calories 😁). I am pretty careful with what I eat & there are certain foods I don’t eat or eat very rarely. Some are foods that don’t sit well in my tummy like bread, pasta, rice, quinoa, cous cous & starchy vegetables. Others are things I’ve realised I feel better without like sweet foods. I don’t eat fast food like burgers & rarely eat takeaway like Chinese, Japanese or Thai - only with others & make careful choices. I don’t consider this a diet but just how I eat. Some may think I’m fairly restricted in what I eat but it’s only with certain things & I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything. I still have cravings - salty foods are my challenge - but I understand the why & the when behind them like craving salt after I eat yoghurt (🤷🏻‍♀️). Sometimes I surrender though I’ll have some salted macadamia nuts, a couple of multigrain rice crackers (carefully as they’re a slider food) or roll some cucumber in salt. I changed some of my cooking styles & use have incorporated some alternative ingredients & more if others. Like I use an air fryer or oven more & incorporate more lentils, pearl barley & beans than I did before. I don’t track as such but I do random checks of portions, calories & nutrients. I still keep a close eye on protein, because I have an absorption issue, & on my water intake. I weigh myself a couple of times a week just to keep myself on track & honest. A lot of how you manage your maintenance into the future is a personal thing. My body, how it works & what it needs, is different to yours. My lifestyle will be different. How I want to live my life & the demands on it is likely different too. And you may be more or less active than me. Health, age, etc. are a considerations too. So how I choose to eat may not work for you or for anyone else. Same with the other changes & choices I’ve made. Best advice is to experiment with different eating styles & cooking styles, introduce new foods, reintroduce old favourites, etc. & see how you go. It just need to be sustainable, complementary to your lifestyle & you’re happy & healthy.

Good Luck, my revision to bypass is on Friday 12/23 ......I'm so excited. I have to do 3 protein shakes a day, I do 2 ready made and make my own shake for lunch in my Ninja blender. Add Better than Bullion to my broths for better taste and I like Sugar free chocolate Ice pops. Since I do not like water I'm adding Cold Enhancers to my 64oz jug which are pretty good and I drink Zero Cherry flavored Gatorade and Propel water......I'm 195 today and Goal weight is 145lbs.

Oh yea, not an option for the tummy tuck!

I asked my surgeon at preoperative and he said it was an option. I never did use it. But will for tummy tuck.

HI Everyone, I'm relatively new here but hoping someone might be able to help provide me some guidance. I'm 7 weeks post op and been nauseous since week 3 but the nausea has gotten worse. I've been suspecting a stricture but my surgeon does not believe it. While I can get water and food down, it feels like sits in my stomach forever and I have nausea every time I eat. The other night, I tried upping what I ate because I'm not getting enough protein. Mind you, I ate slow and small amounts. I was super nauseous that night and all day yesterday. Now every time I eat or drink anything, my stomach is gurgling. Especially with water, like it's trying to get through stuck food sitting in my stomach. My surgeon is on maternity leave and won't be back until February, so I'm going to see another surgeon in her office (that doesn't do bariatric surgery but acid reflux surgery) on Tuesday of next week. Can you tell me if an upper GI would diagnose a stricture? I've also thought it could be an ulcer but I don't have much pain, just nausea. Any thoughts would be great! I'm so miserable right now and at that "I wish I had not done this" stage. : (. Thanks. Laura

I added milk (dry powdered) to scrambled eggs to keep the moisture in them and add protein. I didnt eat them until soft food stage. Puree stage everything went through my blender and liquids added to make as runny as applesauce. Meatloaf, curry chicken salad, Jimmy Dean egg fritatta with bacon. 1/4 cup.

I was just told to walk, I wasn't given any guidelines for what that meant. I did some walking back and forth in the living room, but not a lot - just when the pain seemed to be getting worse. I also got my own "meals", so I was up in the kitchen heating up broth and getting protein shakes, refilling my water, etc. I took a shower every day, so there was activity in that. Other than that, I was fairly sedentary.

Since you seem so on the fence about the surgery, my only suggestion would be to try *everything else* first. Make sure that this revision is your *last resort*. That way, you can go into it knowing that you have no other options; that this surgery is the only way. And, you can toss the match on that bridge and walk away without looking back.

Hello, I just wanted to share my story. I was on a fb group through the weight center that did my surgery on 12/5 but they didn't let me share my story. I went in for my sleeve surgery but shortly after while in recovery my BP dropped really low, I started sweating badly and my skin/eyes turned gray. They gave me a blood transfusion which brought my BP back up. I was brought in for an emergency surgery because I was bleeding out. They said leaked 3 liters of blood and had multiple large dark blood clots in my stomach. I was bleeding and oozing through the staples so they double stitched me and cauterized some of the stomach. Since the 2 surgeries I have had very high pulse, which they call Tachycardia. Also, I am anemic. I also get this uncontrolled diaphram spasm where it makes me gasp for air. The 1st week it hurt to swallow anything, even a sip of water. I started to get pain up my throat so they gave me heartburn meds which helped that matter. I went home after spending a few nights at the hospital but quickly after I was home I went back into the ER for low BP and dehydration. I am home again now, monitoring my BP. I am taking fluids ok and getting my proteins in. I still have to drink slow but I am able to. You can feel/hear every sip go down and every pill go down. I still get times where there is pressure from air stuck under the rib cage and the pain goes up to my shoulder. They just ok'd me to start cream soups, yogurt and cottage cheese 2 days ago. I get full really fast. I just wanted you to know that the 1% they warn you about can happen. It happened to me and I cry myself to sleep about the events that happened every time I close my eyes. It was very scary to go through. They said it will take about 6 weeks for my body to rebuild its own blood back up. Your body rejects some of the transfusion since it isn't your blood. Until then I get weak, dizzy and lightheaded every time I get up to walk around and my pulse goes really high and my heart beats out of my chest. I have a couple of mins to walk or shower and then I need to lay back down to catch my bearings. I am starting to get color back in my lips on occasion. The most important thing is I keep fighting to get up every day, walk a little and drink my fluids in order to get better. They tell you that you need support at home and I live alone so I was worried. They are right, you can't do this alone. After the ER trip it helped to have my parents coming in to remind me to keep drinking and to do things around the house that I couldn't. Thank you for listening. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm having revision surgery on 12/29 and started pre-op diet on the 15th. I had my VSG surgery in Mexico in 2016 and wasn't nervous at all. After gaining over 100 pounds back (thank you Covid isolation and depression) I decided to explore the conversion which was the surgery originally advised for me but my insurance wouldn't pay for it. I'm really nervous this time and I'm having surgery close to home. Also feeling super emotional about it and trying not to keep internally beating myself up for feeling like I failed! I struggle with the protein drinks so I've been buying the high protein yogurts and I found a zero calorie gatorade with added protein that they did a good job hiding the whey aftertaste. It's not as high in protein as a shake but I figure If I'm getting it in that's what matters

I didn't have a revision, (virgin bypass here) but I had the same concerns pre-op. I was worried about never being able to eat a piece of steak again.. or becoming lactose intolerant. I LOVE DAIRY! Long story short, none of it happened. I can eat anything I want, never dumped or maybe once but so mild I am still not even sure if that's what it was. By about 5-6 months, I was pretty much perfectly back to "normal" other than the restriction and eating WAY less than my normal pre-op self. I never had a problem getting my fluids or hitting protein goals. You got this! Don't worry. I know everyone is different but keep in mind, negative travels faster than positive! So it seems like you hear about more negative things but in reality it is just how word of mouth travels. Best of luck to you!

Everyone is different. Follow your plan and you will do great! I can eat drink decently too. Never had a problem getting my fluids or protein in. Depending on what the food is, sometimes I do fill up fast but otherwise I can usually eat a serving without a problem. I just follow my plan and go with the flow, seems to be working great for me. PS: You are still early out and your stomach is still healing so the nerves aren't completely healed and not getting the hint. You will start to feel the restrictions when you get to solid foods.

I had chickpea spaghetti noodles. 1/8 cup with 1/3 cup 93% ground beef with low sugar marinara.no problems, chickpea has great protein and doesn't have the dough ball in stomach like pasta and bread. You could make some Mac and cheese with lentil pasta noodles. I do carbs 3x week but mostly 1/8 cup of veggies and 1/3 cup meat to get about 1/2 cup a meal.

I loved the puree stage after 2 weeks before and after surgery of chicken broth... pureed foods added seasonings, spices. I did turkey chili, Jimmy Dean egg frattata with bacon, meatloaf with catsup added. Baby food turkey sweet potato with a pinch of taco seasoning, chicken curry salad. After 3 weeks puree it was great to get to soft foods. Just got to regular food and nervous. Going to get set up on Fitness app to track calories, water and protein. Eating 1/3 cup meat, 1/8 cup veggie or carb. 3x day, 2 snacks of same but with no carb, one of fruit.

I'm with you! I had to ask my nutritionist if I should quit exercising since it is less than 700 calories a day of mostly protein. I was definitely fatigued and experiencing headaches the first few days but it does seem to get better. I have had to leave the kitchen every time the family cooks a full meal or bakes holiday goodies. Sent from my Pixel 5 using BariatricPal mobile app

It's amazing to me how different the pre-op liver shrinking diets are from place to place. I'm on a 14-day liver shrinking diet that includes two high protein (30g) and a low carb (<30 g) shakes and then one extremely small meal with balanced macros. I'm just finishing day 6 and I would be lying if I said I wasn't hungry or dreaming about carbs. Sent from my Pixel 5 using BariatricPal mobile app

It's my cousin lol And I'm posting everything here that she said for me to do so anyone who wants to do it, can. I'm also drinking Propel electrolyte water, gatorade zero with protein, and I use Arbonne pre workout Arbonne muscle recovery. And long, hot showers after lol I'm used to working out a lot, but these are INTENSE!!!

I know it is quite a bit later for this answer but I just spoke with my dietician about this same thing. She suggested Orgain and Naked Whey for protein sources that do not have sucralose (I figured out I am sensitive to it). Orgain uses erythritol and stevia. Naked whey has actual cane sugar, so might want to double check if it fits your program.

Congrats! wish you the best. My weight loss did slow once I added food and stopped the complete protein drinks. Having said that, I'm 64, have restricted movement and had insulin resistance. So, I had a lot of thigs to work against. Still losing, but its abut 5 pounds a month.

Thanks everyone, I’m still pleased with what weight loss I’ve had already and I know everyone is different so shouldn’t compare to others but seems like everyone’s loss has been greater so just want to make sure it seems like I’m on track. Fully aware I won’t loose 60lbs overnight haha! only just moved onto soft food (no puree stage) been on liquid for 4 weeks. I’m tracking what I’ve started to eat on my fitness pal it’s still only circa 700/800 cals a day as portions and Snacks are small, getting my 60g Protein and Water intake as per my plan so everything seems on track for what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel great in myself - started to incorporate walking daily - I know I’m still early days so only time will tell 😊

Hello and welcome in this forum. I weighed in, heavier than you. I lost 15lbs during my 3 week pre op. Then 27lbs in the first month. So you seem on track to me. What kind of foods are you eating and are you tracking your proteins and calories ? Everyone has a different weight loss journey and its not a great idea to compare with others. Medications, age, height and medical issues are different with each person. This leads to different weight loss. Also how much you can walk or exercise can benefit weight loss.

Congratulations! We all have different tastes. And like @kcuster83 says, don't stock up before surgery, because your tastes might change. Mine sure did. After surgery, I could only drink the Fairlife shakes. I bought a case of the Premier Protein Chocolate Mint shakes to make ice cream with. They're pretty good. I don't really drink shakes anymore - I'm pretty much on to real food now. Really, I only drink a shake if we have to be in the car and it's time for me to eat and I don't feel like bringing actual food.

Thank you all for your feedback. I have noticed that they are more excessively dry after drinking a premier protein for breakfast and lunch. They are a tad chalky and it makes sense they would try out my lips. Sent from my Pixel 5 using BariatricPal mobile app

Not sure about this one? Unlike most of the rest of your skin, your lips have no oil glands, meaning they don't rely on sebum for lubrication. I do think there could be something to the comments above related to protein drinks, especially if you find yourself licking your lips more. (Excess saliva can actually cause chapped lips.) In addition, this could also be due to nutrient deficiencies. If you're not currently taking a multivitamin, a lack of B vitamins can lead to dry, chapped lips.

I feel your pain! I seems to hit long plateaus and they are frustrating. I saw that although the scale wasn’t moving in those weeks - my body was changing, clothes were still getting smaller, skin was firming or readjusting - so that was nice to see! I noticed my calories and protein were on the low side because I’m struggling with amounts I can eat but when I can bump those calories and protein up some, I would notice a loss. Keep up the good work! We can do this!! :)