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Hi all! Looking for any good tips and tricks to start back losing pounds. My surgery date was 10/7/20. I am 143 and my goal is 128 by May 2021. I ate small amounts of about everything over the holidays and drank my fair share of wine/liquor. I was able to maintain my weight in December so I didn’t gain but no loss I am back to eating much fewer carbs and trying to get my water and protein in properly. Don’t scream at this part— I also take phentermine so it can take any hunger feelings away. I haven’t had any negative side effects from it before and none this time as well. I only plan to use it to help get to my goal.

Hi Lynn and happy new year! You certainly have to be comfortable with the surgery. You need to weigh out the pros and cons. It is generally for people that are obese or morbidly obese and have been for a while. Those that cant get off the weight or yo-yo. Those that have health issues. As we know, there are major health issues of being severely overweight. With the surgery, you will lose weight, but if you push overeating and you continue to eat high fat and high sugar foods, you will eventually gain the weight back. It will take a while but you will. That is in your control. As for pain, the sleeve will be less painful than the full gastric bypass. I had the mini gastric bypass and I had no real pain. Some gas pain that was uncomfortable but no pain. I didn't have to take pain medication. I had it done on a Thursday and was working on Tuesday (desk job at home). I was doing laundry and walking around the house on the Saturday and Sunday - also trying to keep moving (it relieves the gas) and it was no problem. The only thing I would not do is lift anything heavy. Or bend with my stomach (I would bend with a squat) as not to put any pressure on the surgery site. I had the mini gastric bypass done in November 2020 and was also wondering if I should get it done. I did not qualify for insurance as my BMI was too low and I do not have any other health issues, so I had to pay for mine personally. I had a lap band that I needed removed so I had to make the call if I do a revision to mini gastric bypass or try weight loss on my own. At that time, I had already gained almost 30 pounds from my lowest with the band (I had the band in 2009 so it was 10 years). I tried and tried to loose weight on my own. I would loose 10 then gain it back. I never came close to losing 30. So, I did the surgery and I am happy. I am down 23 pounds in just a little over 6 weeks and I could never do that on my own. I want to lose a total of 60 pounds so I am 1/3 of the way there in 6 weeks. It may slow down but I am ok with it. Now, am I eating wings, nachos, pizza, burgers, fries, cake, cookies? Nope. Will I try these at some point? Yes. Just like any diet, as you see the results, its somewhat easy to be "good". I have had crackers, flavored rice cakes, bananas, salted almonds, carrots, turnip, butternut squash soup, etc and lost weight. When I hit a plateau ( recently) I went low cal and low carb and pushed through. So, you control your weight loss. The surgery just makes it easier to do that!

Not totally the same as you but I've had no trouble with water from about 4 days out. Can finish 500ml (sorry UK) in about 10 mins but my surgeon did ask me not to & to try & do it over 30 mins. Apart from veg I've not had issues tolerating anything either, meeting protein goals & sometimes feel real hunger. Please try not to worry, I know that's hard, I'm a worrier. This forum has helped loads though & I'm learning every person has a unique response to these surgeries. I've lost over 55% of my excess weight since late October by the way, so even people like us are capable of losing. You're not damaging your sleeve

So, I posted previously that I was having a hard time getting all my protein and water in. That is still kind of true but at day 7, it's like I turned a corner. I can drink normally (not a gulp, but not a tiny sip like before) and I can get in 1.5 oz of food at a time (protein first, then fruit or veg, as per the diet) and an 8 oz shake so I can get closer to my protein goal. I am terrified of stretching my sleeve out because I can drink more and I can get more at day 10. I do 8 oz of protein shake before it gives me 42g of protein in one go. And NONE of my tastes have changed and nothing has "sat" wrong with me. I have tried pureed fruits (baby food), sugar free popsicles, eggs (they got "caught" the first time but we made them runny so now they are okay), ricotta bake, and tomorrow tuna puree. Nothing has made me ill yet. I don't get hungry like before, but I do feel hunger sometimes and it isn't head hunger. The only problems I have now is the stupid redness from my incisions as an allergic reaction to the glue, I get hot flashes sometimes from the hormones I guess, and I am still very tired, even when hitting water goals. I don't know, I guess I thought I was going to only be able to tolerate food a little, not like anything that I previously did, have no hunger pains, and get sick from a lot of the stuff I've tried. So far, none of that has happened. From what I read, my experience isn't super normal and I hope I am not doing something bad to my sleeve without knowing it. Anyone else have this? I am curious. Edited to add: I feel very, very little restriction when I drink water now. It's there with food, certainly, but water seems to go on down easily.

I had mine Nov 30th along with hiatal hernia repair and all went well. No hesitation as I had to try again after an attempt on Oct 21, 2019. Surgeon had a very difficult time taking out my Gastric Band and port due to extensive scar tissue. Sent from my [smartphone] using BariatricPal mobile app

First, I know there is a large population of WLS folks who don't drink carbonated beverages, so if you are one of those, this will not interest you. Look Away! Soooo....I am big carbonated water drinker, drank the stuff pre-wls, and continued to do so after surgery (starting around 2-3 months post op). The literature my team provided advised against it, but when I brought it up with my surgeon & nutritionist, both had no real objection. Our household probably goes through 10 or so 1.5 litre bottles of carbonated water a week (of which I probably drink 6 or 7 of them myself). I have long been considering a Soda Stream but the idea of having to keep buying C02 tanks put me off. I had also considered setting up a DIY carbonation system but laziness kept getting the better of me. Enter Sparkel. I got this as an Xmas present this year, and after using it for a week, I am a True Believer. It doesn't use CO2 tanks, but instead uses "carbonators" that interact with water and through some chemical process produces C02 that is injected into liquid. Broken down, these carbonators cost .65 cents (Canadian) to produce 750ml of carbonated water. Which by itself, is already a savings vs. store bought carbonated water (after the initial cost of the unit is recouped). HOWEVER, being an avid Reddit reader, I discovered that these "carbonators" are basically citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (i.e., baking soda), which, when bought in bulk, reduces the cost of making each 750ml bottle of water to just .14 cents (Canadian)!! The initial cost of the unit is $129 CAD, so these savings would be realized at around the 8 month mark. In short, this thing is a hit at my place. We have tried carbonating everything we could get our hands on. Water (of course), Juices/Ciders, Wine, Vodka, all good. Milk, Coffee, Tea, um...probably an acquired taste, lol. My fave is Mint & Cucumber infused water. The fam loves our version of Ginger Beer (water, ginger syrup & ginger slices). While I totally love this thing and plan on continue using it multiple times a day for days on end, there are a couple things that could be improved upon: Speed of carbonation. I've seen the traditional CO2 tank-based units carbonate a bottle in about 30 seconds or less. This one takes about 3-5 minutes, depending on your desired level of carbonation. Cost of the proprietary "carbonator" powders...but this can be circumvented by buying the ingredients in third-party bulk. Handle seems flimsy...I feel like I need to be careful pulling the handle down lest I snap it in two...I feel like it should be made out of stainless steel instead of moulded plastic. The unit needs some "feet" underneath. I often drip water everywhere, and since the bottom of unit basically sits flush to the counter, I feel like this is a electrocution accident waiting to happen. The bottle size is could be larger. 750ml is basically a single serving in my house, so having to make a bottle for everyone at 5 mins a pop can get time consuming. So.....if you are a carbonated water person, I wholly recommend this product (so far...we'll see how it holds up to daily use in a few months from now..). The few Cons with it are well worth the Pros. I am not affiliated with Sparkel in any way 😁 lol medium 3 sm.mov

Hi, I am on the same road. Gerd with Barrett’s Esopighus condition. Belching and acid reflux are common. I also have Hypothyroid. Got my Gastric Sleeve done in 2017 along with fixing of Hiatal Hernia. I was well for a year and half and then everything returned. I gained all my weight back, belching and gastric attacks became an everyday occurance. Went in for 2nd Hernia repair in 2019. My surgeon said he stitched my Esophegus to small size as it had grown too big/wide. That did not help at all. Early this year I had COVID and the side effect is getting out of breath too soon. Shortness of breath along with a gastric/belching attack, this was making my life hell and my insurance suggested that I go for Gastric Bypass. After weighing the pro/cons and consulting 3 surgeons, I went ahead and had my Gastric Bypass done on 12/23/2020. I am 10 days out of surgery, and don’t have trouble keeping liquids down. I am at 45-48ozs of liquid a day only. Do get nausea without eating/drinking anything. Zofron really helps. I have lost only 6lbs of weight in 10 days. Is it normal. Would appreciate any and all support. Thank you all.

Hi, I've been preparing to have laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery for a few months now. My plan has been to go to school part time (only taking two classes; Linear Algebra and Data Structures) this coming spring semester (starting in a couple weeks) , and have the surgery during the semester, probably in February. With Covid-19, being in school after the surgery won't require much physical activity on my part; just sitting in my apartment at a computer desk, writing math problems or doing work on a computer. But it occurred to me recently that I really have no idea how I'm going to feel after the surgery. If I'm always going to be tired and unable to focus, that could be a problem, because I can't just not study and do homework for two weeks straight. Would any of you be able to tell me how you felt after your surgeries? Do you think you could handle beginning to study at home again a few days after surgery? Thanks, Dan

This was my day yesterday. I seem to be able to eat more then others with no issues. And I had munchies yesterday and couldn't stop snacking. RNY 12 days out, 10 lbs down. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

So true. And for some brands there's a lot of overlap in the sizes but there's STILL a price differential. For example, Alfani 0X has the exact same measurements as XXL but still costs $10 more. It's a rip-off!

Hi my name is Alexandra, I had Gastric Bypass Surgery on 11/18/2018 due to GIRDS which caused Barrett's Esophagus. I started this road back in 2017 after many years of having food becoming stuck in my damaged swollen esophagus. It would just stop moving down and with each bite would back up further and further up my throat until I was in so much pain and had to stop eating and wait for 20 - 30 minutes until the food at the bottom would finally slide into my stomach. The pain as that food sat there stretching my already swollen damaged and inflamed esophagus was intense. The GIRDS that had gone on undetected for years had caused my esophagus lining to wallpaper itself with intestinal cells as to protect itself from the stomach acid, this is called Barrett's Esophagus. They told me that if it continued to do so I would end up with cancer. So I went ahead and had the surgery, and at that time I weighed 222 and at 5'7" which was right on the borderline of being able to qualify for surgery under my health insurance guidelines. Today I struggle to keep my weight at 127 and belch constantly after eating, for 15 to 20 minutes, and I mean constantly like every 4 to 5 seconds. Food still gets stuck in my esophagus on occasion but it is usually due to eating too fast and not chewing my bites enough. Sugar is another thing that causes me a great deal of pain with the dreaded "dumping syndrome" and I constantly have diarrhea everyday but I have had that for over 10 years. That started with a bad case of giardia that sent me to the ER and even though I have been tested for giardia many times since then the diarrhea is a constant in my life and makes it very difficult to go to work. But I'm happy to be able to tell you that my esophagus has returned to normal cells that make up the lining so no more threat of cancer at this point. Three weeks after my Roux-en-Y surgery my gallbladder was functioning at 10% so back to surgery I went and with one surgery after another so close together the road to recovery was long. But that is my long story to answer your question about GIRDS

a lot of us loss our sense of hunger for up to a year after surgery. Mine came back at five months out. Take full advantage of this because it's never going to be easier to lose weight than it will be the next few months, when you're almost never hungry. And 10 lbs in 12 days is a lot!

you all are too nice. thank you 😏 Honestly the last I was this weight was probably when I was a kid, even 9 or 10 Id say. And I always had body issues. I appreciate the feedback. Having plastics felt like it solidified my weight loss journey even though I still feel challenged to keep it up. And funny I get comments from my doctors as if Im too skinny now 🤣 Im only 5' i still feel like the fat kid. But Im grateful to have come this far. and wish the best for everyone else on this journey too.

10 pounds in 12 days is stupendous! Your poor body can't shed weight much faster than that, it's almost a pound per day. You're doing great. 😀 I'm not sure about the "neither hungry nor satisfied" feeling, I didn't experience that. I had no hunger or desire to eat for the first two weeks and I slowly regained my appetite after that. But you are off to a super good start. I only lost 15 pounds in my whole first month!

It's only been 12 days. 10 pounds in 12 days is GREAT! What were you expecting? You're not feeling hungry, and that was the whole point, so that's a good thing. Give yourself time to adjust.

12 days post RNY I feel fine, no pain, no discomfort I can drink water easily, 2-4 regular sips in a row. I can eat 1/2 cup or 4 oz of food in one meal without any discomfort. I think I could actually eat more, but I don't plate more food. I finish what I plate though. Ex: 1/2 cup of blended chili with 1 oz ff greek yogurt, 2oz grilled cod with 2 oz cottage cheese and slice of grilled tomato, 1 egg mashed and 2oz of mashed cauliflower, etc. These seem like big meals. They are all in my NUT's sample menu but at the upper limit of allowed portions. I called NUT and she just said to chew slowly and stop after 30 min. I do chew slow and still finish within 30 min. The thing is I do not feel full or satisfied. I also don't feel hungry. I sort of feel nothing at all. I find this very weird and frustrating. Overall I get about 80 g of protein and 500-650 calories. I'm down 10 lbs in 12 days and I feel that its low. Not sure what to do or how to proceed. I feel that without feeling full or satisfied I'll get off track really fast. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

I started at 629 lbs (per the bed scale at the hospital; I was on a ventilator for 8 days with what, in retrospect, was probably Covid-19) on 12/26/2019. I weighed 501 lbs at my consultation with the surgeon on August 14th, and 460 lbs on my surgery date of 10/21/2020, and last week when I weighed myself I weighed 428 lbs. So to date, I have lost around 200 lbs. It's so much, but I still have so much left to go. I feel so much better, and I can do so many more things, but I can't wait to see what the future holds. I know I can do this. I have proven to myself time and again that I can. Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 10 years out from a sleeve. Sleeved at about 300 lbs. Started at 320. 5'3" and I was 54 years old. I lost total of 150 pounds to 170. Then life happened. Lost my mom, then my younger brother then my dad.... and divorced and single parenting and moving and working and well.... I gained back to 220. About a year and a half ago I decided I needed to make changes. Small ones. and little by little I got control back. I didn't do a major diet, I didn't do a fast or liquids only. I just started eliminating one lousy food and then another... and replacing one bad habit with a good and positive one. No cheap chocolate. Only good expensive chocolate. And one or two pieces is enough when it is really good chocolate. No potato chips. Air pop popcorn. Salads. Fruit. Veggies. Protein. More water. I have never been a soda drinker so that was not it for me. Just rebuilding good habits. I lost 45 pounds in 14 months. Not fast. But steady. And I took breaks to see what it would take to maintain that weight. Since September when I got back to 175 I have lost another 2 pounds. I will be 65 in two months. I know I will never be THIN. I don't need to be. But I am stronger, healthier, happier and maintaining my weight at a level that I can for the rest of my lifetime. Eating well. Moving more. You can do this. Figure out what will work for you. Then do it.

Today I am 10 days post op, and after what feels like 97 years, I can go to the full liquid diet. [emoji119] I just had 1/2 a cup of creamed soup, strained. Mentally, I feel SO much better!!!! That being said, what are your go to full liquids??? Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using BariatricPal mobile app

The Week 3 stall hits everyone, so welcome to the club. 😀 My surgeon and nutritionist don't have us count calories. They won't even talk calories. They just say to get in the 60-70 g of protein each day and eat whole food, 1/4 cup portions at first, then 1/2 cup portions down the road and that's it. That's their full suggestion. I was 600-800 calories in the first few weeks but quickly grew to 1,000. Now this past week I'm trying to reset my pouch after gaining 10-12 COVID and Christmas pounds, so I have been averaging 650 calories per day. I skip breakfast. I eat ham and cheese (no bread) for lunch. I snack on peanuts. I drink a protein shake for dinner. And I have a protein snack (Optimum Nutrition Protein Cake bites).

I’m excited, I have been watching you tube with peoples stories and I can’t wait. My surgery was cancelled on 31 December due to COVID but reschedule for 5th Jan!! I have everything crossed that I can have my surgery on Tuesday - the surgical team have been in isolation for 10 days and only go back on Tuesday so I’m hopeful 😁 Good luck

I’m scheduled for February 19th. I had the band 10 years ago and had to have it removed. Anyone out there who had the band and is going through their second surgery? Looking for encouragement

My heaviest weight was 445 lb. When I started dieting in July 2019 prior to surgery I was 427 lbs. My surgen wanted my BMI to be at 50 before surgery. My surgery weight was 335 lbs. Almost at my one year surgivesary and I am around 200 lbs.

I’m right about where you are! This coming Wednesday will be 6wks. My first period post surgery just ended today. Gained 1.5 the week prior and stalled for 10 days. Pre surgery my period was like clock work spanning 3 days.... this time was 9 days and very heavy flow. But on the upside, was down 4.2 this morning (last weigh in was Wednesday the 23rd). So don’t fret! I bet you’ll have a substantial loss when all is said and done 🙂

Fruits and veggies are not "empty" calories - they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that are essential for good health. How do I handle them? With at least 10 servings a day, including the starchy ones!