Search the Community

Hey! How is everyone doing? Today marks 2 months since my sleeve and I've loss almost 50 lbs from my pre-op diet. Overall, I feel great. I go for my blood work tomorrow so I hope everything checks out OK with that. I walk about 3-4x a week and attend a weekly water aerobics class. I have to "UP" my exercise routine but as a mom of 3 (youngest being a toddler), it's just so hard to find the time. The weight doesn't slide off the way I envisioned, you definitely have to put in work to lose the weight but I have no regrets.

My program requires six monthly meetings with the dietitian, four of which have to be in-person because they need to weigh me. Ugh! I'm in month 3 and haven't lost ANY weight yet because I've been eating up all the "bad stuff" in my cupboards and freezer (pot pies, frozen burritos, frozen meatballs, pasta, and many freezer bags filled with prepared meals. And lots of cereals too. I think I have 7 boxes of Special K Red Berries.) I went this route because it's very easy for me to lose weight, and I know that I can quickly drop the 12 pounds (220 to 208) the dietitian requires me to in order move forward with scheduling my surgery and beginning the two-week liquid diet. My February visit showed I had actually gained weight, up to 223, and I felt really embarrassed in front of my dietitian. I promised her I would lose at least 5 pounds before my next visit, which is coming up one week from today. So, starting yesterday, I abandoned all my cupboard and freezer food and have been crash-dieting (broth, fruit, a little lean chicken) just like in days of old. I figure after the 8 days, I'll step on that scale in front of her and we'll see at most 115 and I'll be in her good graces again. Then I can be a bad girl and keep working my way through the unhealthy stuff for 3 weeks, then crash diet again for my weigh-in. Yeah, I feel guilty doing this, and I know my dietitian wouldn't like it, but here in the forum I know I can be totally honest. You are my people! And I know you understand. It's important to point out, I live alone, which explains why I can't simply have others eat that food. Another main reason is that I'm a penny-pincher, and just won't throw it out UNTIL I'm in the final two weeks pre-op. That's the deadline. I have to toss it at that point because I absolutely do not want it around post-op! On the positive side, my progress so far includes: cutting my coffee from regular to half decaf, mastering eating slowly, not buying any more "naughty" foods, exercising 30 minutes every day, drinking at least 64 ozs of water every day, recording my starting body measurements (shocking!), and reading tons of threads in this forum. Good luck to all of you.

I'm not new to this; I want to reiterate that I am 18 months out and have reached and exceeded my goal weight, and this does sound awfully similar to what I would "normally" eat. However, things are not normal right now. At this time, I am not able to tolerate a lot of things. This is a specifically difficult period. I know what I should be eating but it is very difficult to even drink shakes right now.

Yes same as @kcuster, just sending a hug. I hope you get things sorted quickly. Antibiotics and steroids are a combination I hate, my come down off them was worse than the reason I was put on them in the first place. I still am on 5 or 6 tiny meals a day because I cant eat a lot at once, I dont know if it help you but I will post a menu that my team said will help me with weight and energy, my calories were very low before before this Breakfast - protein yogurt and berries Mid morning - whole milk Lunch- A homemade soup with chicken, veg and lentils i.e. curried lentil Afternoon snack - nuts Dinner- Meat and vegetables or fish and salad etc Supper - Cheese and grapes This gives me 1000 to 1300 calories a day and between 60 and 85 grams of protein

Hello, welcome to the Bari world! You will learn very quickly that everyone has their opinion about foods/shakes. Not only how something taste but also their opinion on it's value to your diet. (Is it healthy? Should you eat it? Don''t eat carbs.. do eat carbs.. etc.) I always say, follow YOUR teams/Dieticians plan! Period. You trusted them with your life (literally) so you should trust them in your recovery and your WL process. Every team is different, different rules, different guidelines, everything. I tried a bunch of different "alternative" foods. Some are ok, most I didn't prefer. I find it easy to hit my protein goals, so I don't need to make sure EVERY single item of food has protein. I still drink shakes every day for breakfast but that is mainly because I am not a morning person and don't like to eat in the mornings. Otherwise most of my nutrition is from whole foods. My point is, if I feel like I really want "need" some chips, I just eat a few regular ones. I eat regular cereal (usually raisin bran) with fairlife milk. With that being said I reiterate ALL PLANS ARE DIFFERENT. I am "allowed" anything in moderation as long as I am hitting my protein/fluid/ WL goals. My Dietician says "you shouldn't feel like you are on a diet for the rest of your life, you should modify your eating habits to gain a healthy life and learn moderation". Now, to actually answer your questions. My opinions: Quest chips: They are ok, the taste is good but the texture is a little weird to me. They feel powdery to me and do not hold up to any type of dipping or even to use as nachos. Protein cereal: I have not specifically tried the magic spoon brand but have tried a few others. I hated them ALL. haha Literally hated them, brought them to work and threw them on the "sharing" table in the lunch room and it all sat there till i threw it away. I have tried premier brand, they are SO HARD and taste like stale rocks. I ate 2 bites and tried to flush the rest down the toilet and they wouldn't even flush! haha I also tried the brand "wonderworks keto" and felt just about the same way although they were better than the premier. They were ok to eat dry as a snack but disgusting with milk. To each their own, you may find like some other people that you love them. I have also tried Quest protein pizza, it was actually good but not a big enough deal to me for the price. I will jsut eat regular pizza. Usually a few bites and then just the toppings. Or, make home made pizza on low carb/calorie wraps. I don't know what else I have tried other than probably hundreds of protein bars, which I still randomly try and eat once in a while. Usually more of a meal replacement in a pinch than a snack. Ok- I have rambled long enough! best of luck on your journey!!

Ok folks I want to pick your brains. I am 18 months out from surgery, I got really sick a couple weeks ago and my doctor put me on steroids and an antibiotic. I finished the course of meds in 10 days, and ever since then it has been nearly impossible to eat. I gained 6 pounds in water weight while ON the steroids and then proceeded to drop all that and 5 more pounds I did NOT want to lose just because I am not eating enough. I'm dangerously close to slipping into double-digit weights and I'd really like to stop this before I end up there. I've gone back to basics and have mostly been consuming things that are really soft like soup and making sure I chew everything very well, but my portion sizes are TINY (again, I'm 18 months out. My breakfast the other morning was 3/4 of a scrambled egg and a forkful of hash browns, as an example. I should be, and have been able to, eat more than that.) Every time I eat, no matter what it is, I get this sharp pain around the left side of my rib cage and my left shoulder has been aching for days. I went to my general practitioner (who himself is a gastric sleeve patient) who said that I probably am just having a harder time recovering from being ill because I'm not 20 anymore and that steroids can wreak havoc on our systems for weeks after we're done taking them, and sent me for some blood tests that I haven't gotten the results back yet from. Before anyone makes this suggestion, yes I am drinking shakes to supplement and I'm having a hard time getting even those down. I feel like I'm starving to death. I just want to not be in pain anymore.

Is there a big market for this? Seems like a one-way trip to gaining back every ounce you lost and more. I guess some people like feeling like they have a "safety net" which is why the dangerous gastric balloon seems to keep sticking around.

I found out that not onlY have I not lost weight, but I’ve put on 2lbs. I know it all takes time, but even after doing all the right things and sticking to the plan, my body is resistant to it. Thank you for all your help but I am beginning to regret this surgery. Maybe it doesn’t work for all bodies. I’ll let my surgeon know when I have my 6 week checkup and ask how long it’ll take to stretch my stomach back to normal. There’s no point in me eating minimal amounts anymore if I can’t even lose the weight - I may as well go back to how I was eating before and actually enjoy food again.

This has not been well studied. One study from Scandinavia showed no difference in weight loss when people drank during meals. Many of my successful gastric bypass patients, as well as sleeve and band patients, do drink small amounts during meals. The key is not to drink liquids with the sole purpose of forcing in more food. Remember, speed-eating champions (with normal stomachs) will sip water while they pound down their hotdogs. Mimicking the eating patterns of the world's speed-eating champions is probably not a great way to eat on a regular basis. I advise my patients to drink a glass of water (or some calorie-free beverage) about 15 minutes before they have a regular meal. This prevents them from being thirsty when they start a meal. It also helps to "flush through" thick saliva that may cause food to get stuck inappropriately. If the "pipes are clear" every time they eat (band, bypass, sleeve, whatever..) their eating experience will be more consistent.

Your weight loss is never a perfectly straight downward line. It zigs & zags girls up & down. Stalls, hormonal fluctuations, fluid retention, constipation, diarrhoea, etc. all affect our weight. Last month I was retaining so much fluid due to some very high humidity I couldn’t put my rings on. Took three days to pee it all out & get back to my usual weight range. We all have a natural fluctuation too. I mean we don’t eat the exact same thing, pee & poop the same volume & do the exact same activity every day. Stick to your plan & you’ll be fine.

I have had 2 previous stress tests from an irregular ekg reading pre-op (mine was for ligaments being replaced in my knees), but the day before surgery I was cancelled and referred to a cardiologist- both times I had to have the nuclear tests and no issues. No I am in the process of needing cleaners for the sleeve surgery and worry about the same thing. My health has changed since before and my previous tests tooold to use for this time. My pulmonologist told me Friday that he won’t give me clearance until I see a cardiologist and get that clearance first. I had respiratory failure in 2018 and have reduced lung capacity, so losing weight hopefully will help me breathe easier. Don’t stress about the stress test…. Many people have a slightly abnormal ekg ready and go on for the stress test to be clear.

Oh happy day! Congratulations. I also ask my self the same question. I still need to lose 14 kg to reach my ideal weight of 70 Kg. My current BMI (29.1) puts me at the end of the overweight range. I think I'll be happy if I'm in the range of 75-70 Kg.

So happy for you summerseeker - you had your surgery within a few days of mine and I have LOVED hearing about your journey as I went on mine. No big insights to share, just wanted to send huge congratulations to you. There is no right or wrong final weight. I suspect (and hope) you'll land where you're happy. Best of luck to you x

Thank you for sharing this. It was so interesting to see that your friends of the same weight all wore different size jeans. That’s a really good point. After having 3 kids, my tummy fits differently in jeans vs before. That’s something I need to consider. And I agreed with you wholeheartedly on the vision board! I started mine a few days ago and have added pics of airlines, indoor skydiving, scuba diving, snow shoeing and - stretch goal - white water rafting 😊

I haven’t had surgery yet either, and I don’t have a date set. If I am able to obtain all my clearances then it should be mid-end May. I have been so many different weights at various ages. My body is shaped different (I guess)z. I want to tell you about my history so hopefully it will help you just incase you don’t meet the clothing size goal. When I was in high school I weighed 100-110 lbs and was 5’2”… I wore a size small top, 32A/AA bra and jeans size jr 9-11. All my friends approx same weight wore size 1,3 or 5 at the most. I gained weight to about 160, Medium too, 34A, womens 14-16 pant. Lost weight to 132, Medium Top, 34A, size 12 bottom. (Looking back at photos - that is where I hope to be eventually) that was also after my 1st child. at age 25. After 2nd son, age 30… 160 pounds 38B, size 18 jeans. (Would still be happy based on those pictures) I am now 53 (in May), still 5’2”, weigh 347!!!! Top is Plus size 26/28, pant size 28-30 if stretch material. I don’t recognize this person. So for me —- my goal is going to be weight loss and to feel healthy. I still have all different size of clothes - can’t wait to get into them and keep down sizing (I won’t keep clothes as they get too big for me). If I were to do a vision board, I think it would be more pictures of thing I want to see me being able to do. Fit into a roller coaster seat, comfortably sit in a booth, fly on an airplane for vacation, go to the beach and not look like a beached whale! I do think visualizing goals is great; just don’t be so specific that if the goal you meet looks a little different than planned.

I just had my 1st tele-appointment with my surgeon and the dietician. I have been reading and talking to people the last few years about bariatric surgery. Friends with different surgeries, different goals and different outcomes. They have told me the good, bad and the real uglies too. They all seem to have had it slow movement the first couple months then within 10-12 months from surgery date they have lost right about 100 pounds. I know that there are recommendations for how much and of what needs to be consumed before and after…. It is very important to follow those as close as possible. Your body will not react how it should if you don’t nourish it enough . My Grandma always said your body is like a furnace; it has to have fuel or food to burn to work. So if you don’t put wood in your furnace then it won’t heat up to burn. (I think I may have not remembered it exactly right) but you can get the idea. Lol I am looking forward to the long term weight loss & will keep what you are going through in mind. Please do keep updating your status; I can’t wait to see how it goes once your body has healed and out of the “what the hell just happened” stage. That is all it is doing right now.

Just for a little update, I’m almost 1 year post op and about 34 weeks pregnant. I had lost a few pounds during my first trimester and so from my actual starting weight when I found out I was pregnant, I still have only gained about 20lbs (I was close to goal weight when I found out I was pregnant, 185lbs at 5’11). I am finding that I cant each as much as I have been the closer I get to my due date as I am out of space. My blood pressure has been consistently low, 110/70 and he is measuring in the 44th percentile.

This is a very informative video about goal weight for WLS patients:

Congratulations! Your hard work has paid off. The BMI and "normal" height/weight charts can really do a number on those of us who literally have bigger bones. Seriously - I had a complete body composition analysis and was told my frame, at 5'7" is much larger (larger bones - see it most easily in my wrists) than most and I should not expect to be 140 and healthy. I am just getting ready to have a consultation with a surgeon (on Wednesday) after nearly 40 years of fighting with my body and food (I just turned 60). The weight I looked and felt my best is 160. I was strong, fit, healthy and attractive. And at 160 I wasn't satisfied because all the charts said I was "overweight"! Now I will cry tears of joy when I hit "onederland" and then again when I hit the ultimate goal weight my doctor and I agree upon ( I am 250 now). I do not expect it to be below 160. I am not setting myself up for that battle. I say be gentle with yourself and celebrate the amazing accomplishment you have achieved. May you meet your goals!!!!!

I had sleeve surgery 12/19. I have only lost 35 lb. I now weigh 195. I am definitely losing inches for I am down to sizes. But I am not losing weight! I am becoming frustrated that it is taking so long. I am extremely tired I continue to drink a lot of protein shakes and protein but I do not exercise. I am so tired after work. I am just concerned that I am not losing weight. But happy I am losing inches.

that's totally your call. A lot of people seem to end up in the "overweight" or "class I obese" range (with "class I obese" being...not very obese), but about 10-15% of us make it down to the normal range. I can tell you that the last 20-30 lbs are a bear to lose, but people do it. Also, keep in mind that even though we lose bone and muscle along with fat, we still end up with more bone and muscle than someone who's never been obese. So you're likely to look 10 or more lbs lighter than someone of the exact same weight who's never been obese. the other thing to keep in mind - I think you and I are around the same age. I lot of physicians nowadays like to see their older adult patients in the 23-27 BMI range, since that little extra cushion is good to have if you're sick or injured. People in that range tend to recover more quickly. I'm currently about 8 lbs overweight, after being in the normal range for a few years (the gain is mostly thanks to COVID). It plays with my head and I want to lose it, but my physician is totally happy with my weight. I do admit I look better than I did than when I was at my lowest weight two years after surgery (I thought I looked great, but looking at pictures now, no - I looked pretty awful), but yes - that "normal BMI" thing is really important to a lot of people. I think I'd be happiest if I was there again, but at the higher end so I don't look so gaunt. I'm trying - although admittedly, I think it's mostly a "mental thing" for me.

So it’s been a little over 3 months since my surgery. I haven’t lost any weight for the last two weeks. I actually think I gained a lb or two! ( if my scale is accurate lol). Despite efforts of trying to exercise more. Walking up to 4 miles a day plus riding stationary bike 20 minutes most days! Also been cutting back and only eating 500 to 650 calories a day. What is going on?!?!?

So I did it, I got to onederland, a place I dreamt of but did not ever believe I would attain. I thought loosing 100lbs was a reach but I ran through that. I was on a super high until I wanted to change my next goal weight. The BMI doodah says that I am still in the obese range, damn. 150 to 180lbs is still classed as overweight, do I really need to get another 49 lbs off my already skinny bod to be in the 'normal' range ? What are your thoughts on a new goal weight ?