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My surgery is feeling very real now, having just booked a taxi to get myself to the hospital on Sunday morning (April 25th). The hospital is a 1hr drive away which isn't great (largely because of the added taxi expense) but there was a 12 month wait at my nearest hospital whereas its only been 1 month since my initial phone call to this one (I'm in the UK, paying privately). I've lost 24lbs in a bit over 3 weeks of pre op diet and got a 50lb total loss from my highest weight a year ago today as I did keto for 11 months before the pre op. I've come a long way over the last year, and regularly cook, shop for and have in the house lots of foods that previously I couldn't have resisted (I'm taking about you, pizza, ice cream and biscuits) without finding it a problem. I've also happily gone through the drive through with my (slim) husband and felt perfectly content with my protein water. There was a question earlier about doubts following a successful pre op diet. For me, having lost a lot of weight in the past and losing quickly on my pre op, I'm happy to have surgery. Research shows that for many reasons including hunger hormones, metabolism and fat cell activity weight loss surgery makes it significantly easier not just to lose weight but to maintain that loss. The way I see it from my research and experience is that losing weight through diet leaves you slim but in a body that physiologically is doing everything it can to get you back to being fat. Surgery leaves you slim in a body that has in a sense been reset to being slim and is not trying to get fat again. Do it by diet and you'll be left fighting your body as well as your mind to maintain. Do it by surgery and you don't have to fight your body, just keep control of your mind. That's much more achievable. Preparation wise I've got lots of protein water and shakes ready that I know I like plus chewable bariatric vitamins. I'm feeling very settled on the liquid diet which I'm glad about as I think it'll make the post surgery transition easuer. I've treated myself to a new pair of headphones with alexa built in to make my hospital time and recovery a bit more convenient. I bought a giant cosy dressing gown for a bit of comfort. And I've sorted all my outdoor sports gear /books /maps etc which have ended up in the loft after a blissful period having lost 140lbs about 12 years ago that didn't last very long before it all came back. I've read a whole load about bariatric surgery and nutrition and have lots of self improvement books lined up to read or listen to to help me keep working on me, not just my weight and relationship with food. I'm so excited about my new life and feel very determined and prepared. Loads of waffle there... Can you tell I'm excited?! Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

I agree 100% with @Jaelzion Once you are past the specific restrictions faze, you have to learn what works best for your body to stay in a healthy weight. There are weight maintainers here who swear by keto and others who do vegan or Mediterranean. It's the same for people who never had WLS. The truth is that there are ZERO randomized controlled long term studies on nutrition because we can't control what humans eat in the wild, and most humans are not willing to live in a cage for a few years. I can't imagine why. So we don't know what is the "best" healthy diet; we can only guess. In the absence of good science, we have warring factions of "experts" who will sell your their diet books. Talk to a nutritionist who specializes in bariatric patients, but also think about what foods make you and your new stomach happy. Are you a true carnivore? Probably a traditional mediterranean diet won't work for you (also true if grains don't sit well with your new stomach!). Maybe try low carb! Do fatty foods now upset your tummy? Maybe don't do keto! Some nutritionists will tell you that artificial sweeteners are the worst thing in the world but honestly, there is no good evidence of that. Most of the limited studies have serious methodological flaws (I studied research methodology as an undergrad and I can pick apart almost any study). Newer research shows that they're basically weight neutral. Maybe you don't want to use them anyway, Fine, but if you're the type of person who needs a sweet treat, consider them an option.

I'm 9 months out from gastric bypass. I eat fairly simple meals because I can only eat small portions -- mainly meat and vegetables. I usually eat about 2 ounces of protein (chicken/turkey/pork/eggs/fish -- I almost never eat beef because I've heard that a lot of bariatric patients have issues with it) in a meal with a side of vegetables (usually lightly sprayed with olive or avocado oil, tossed with seasonings, and roasted in the air fryer). I eat a lot of salads with chicken and light dressing. I also eat a lot of cauliflower rice, which is funny because I have always hated cauliflower, but cauliflower rice is genius and I find it to be a good substitution for real rice. In case you don't know, most bariatric patients don't eat rice because it expands in the stomach and can be uncomfortable (not to mention empty calories and carbs). I don't miss rice AT ALL because I can eat cauliflower rice any time I want. There are some frozen cauliflower rice products available with different flavors and mix-ins (but you have to be careful to look at the ingredients and nutrition for those). I combine cauliflower rice with different meats, sauces, and veggies for variety. Examples: Taco chicken + black beans + salsa + cauliflower rice Carnitas + pico de gallo + cauliflower rice Lemon garlic chicken + air-fried asparagus + vegetable medley cauliflower rice Asian chicken + "fried rice style" cauliflower rice + green beans I love going on Pinterest to find bariatric-friendly recipes. There are some keto recipes that work, but I'm careful with those because some of them are too rich -- full of heavy cream, cream cheese, cheese, coconut oil, etc. Recipes labeled as "Weight Watchers" are often a good bet; they sometimes have rice or pasta, which aren't bariatric-friendly but easy enough to omit or substitute. I've found some good and healthy soup, chili, and casserole recipes. And I still enjoy ricotta bake (topped with turkey meat sauce -- it's like a noodle-less lasagna). These are all great to freeze in individual portions for quick meals (same goes for cooked meat). Thanks to tiny serving sizes, you can get tons of portions out of one meal. I have a freezer full of bariatric portions of various foods. When I first got to the solid food stage, I struggled to meet my protein goals, so I had to supplement with protein shakes and powders, but now I get most of my protein from meat/eggs/fish/yogurt. I still eat a daily protein bar and/or protein mug cake just because I enjoy it (I'm obsessed with Built Bars because they taste like candy bars so I can have a treat without going off my plan), but most of the food I eat is just basic, good, healthy stuff.

Oh boy... I tried the creamer when I tried keto and wow was it not for me.

Ok, just a few of my thoughts. Take them for what they are and are not exact facts. First, when or if you speak to your nutritionist make sure to mention that this happened (Just be honest with yourself and your team). Second, and this is where my thoughts come in but while I was on the pre-op liquid diet I didn't have any craving but my sodium level dropped significantly. I have to wonder if that is why you had that craving and that your body may be asking for a bit more salt. If you haven't had many electrolytes or have a "keto headache" then upping your salt quantity may be needed here. Now just take it as my 2 cents, but that is a potential cause of the craving or at least I would think it would be. After I consumed a significant amount of salt my keto headache went away. I did this by taking a broth based progresso soup and strained all of the solids out. This left me with a high sodium broth that tasted just like soup but with only a small number of calories. Good luck on your preop diet and you should be fine, but your bariatric team/nutritionist should be able to verify. I have read a few other stories of people eating much worse than you on the liquid diet here and if you need some validation on this, you can search for others mess ups. If we are honest with ourselves we will be able to achieve great results and be the best that we can be.

It sounds good, but alas, I am lazy. So much easier to not bread 😂 Also, I do not eat keto, just husband. The stuff I make for him is generally too rich/fatty for me. This was a good one for both of us to enjoy.😊

Yumms. If you Keto-ing, have u tried pork rinds/cracklins/chicharron as breading alternative? Its actually pretty good! High in fat, yes, but still yum 😋 and Keto appropriate.

Per husband’s request, a keto take on chicken parmigiana (no breading on chicken). It was delicious with Caesar salad. I had one small chicken breast cutlet with the sauce and cheese, plus some salad. 😋😋

It will pass. My surgeon called the first week pre op diet as hell week. I was so glad I only had to do keto but I have friends who could only have three meals a day: three shakes or two shakes plus one meal. You’re fortunate you are on 4 shakes + a meal. A lot of the effects you are experiencing are ketosis - fat burning. Plus you’re experiencing some withdrawals. You’ve reduced your calorie intake so until your body get used to it you will feel a little weak. The weakness will continue post surgery though too.

First off, let me say that you should always listen to your doctor and nutritionist...rather than crazy people on the internet, myself included. But here's my rant today. And for what it's worth....this is just MY feelings on this nonsense. I'm no expert. Ya'll need to eat. Not overeat. But also NOT UNDER-EAT. Eat healthy food you enjoy. I know how it happens. Your weight loss gets sluggish and stuck and you think OMG, this isn't working, I'm Failing at this! You start to panic. And what does a lifelong self-destructive dieter DO when they start to panic? They go exteme. They go...ok, my doctor said it was ok to eat this much.....so I'm gonna try to eat HALF of that to speed up my weight loss! I'm going to work harder than anyone! I'm going to eat less! I'm going to force this weight off of my body...because this is my last chance and I'm freaking out and I can't fail at this, so I NEED to do better and cut back! Only, here's the thing. You don't need to cut back. You need to stay the course, nourish your healing body, have good energy to boost your metabolism and lose weight sensibly. Why do people do VLCDs? (very low calorie diets....1000 or less calories a day)....they do them because they show results in a hurry. And there is nothing people like better than a lower number on the scale...regardless of how they're achieving it. Or how harmfully they are achieving it. When you eat less than 1000 calories a day, did you know you lose more muscle than fat...even if you are eating tons of protien grams? When you lose muscle, you slow your metabolism, endanger your organs that have muscle (heart anyone?), and decrease your bone density. None of this is a good idea. And when you're eating starvation level calories, your body tries like hell to keep you from dying....by, you guessed it, slowing your metabolism even further. And the carb thing...can we talk about that a minute? You DO want to avoid carbs that are metabolized to sugar really fast, like sugary foods and refined white flour items because they can cause your pancrease to over-react and send too much insulin and you'll end up with rebound hunger....but other carbs, particularly ones that have good fiber content to slow the sugar can also have good protien content...and they don't do the rebound hunger thing. They give you great available energy. Why do we lose so much weight so rapidly when we do keto? We don't really....but the first five pounds is so quick and shocking that it MUST work! (except you're not losing fat, you're losing the water that your liver stores extra glucose in.....and you've stripped your liver of its emergency reserve of energy. And yeah...you can make the sugar you need from other things through gluconeogenesis....but it takes amino acids that your body is typically harvesting from your muscles.) Don't do that thing where you lose the five pounds eating keto....then eat a few carbs and go OMG, look at the weight I've gained!....and go keto again and lose the same five pounds of water. It's an illusion. (Not saying keto people can't lose weight...they do lose weight fast...but they also have about five pounds in lost water from glucose storage, no emergency stores, and their bodies may be consuming their muscles) Food for thought (literally!) Guess what organ runs exclusively on sugar? Pure glucose. Your brain. Your brain burns over 300 calories of glucose every day. At just 2% of our body weight....our brains burn about 20% of the calories we use each day! The CPU needs fuel. Lots of people lose weight rapidly with Very Low Calorie Diets after bariatric surgery. They have these amazing results that other people notice and are in awe of. They lose to goal eating very little and feel very accomplished about their self discipline and their amazing fast results. And then guess what happens? At goal...they are still people who have never learned how to eat sustainably for life. All they know is starvation and self deprivation. And starvation doesn't work long term. Please learn to eat sustainable amounts of calories. Do it early so you don't fudge your metabolism into starvation level calorie requirements. One of the best ways to have a robust metabolism...is to do exercise every day. It doesn't have to be the gym or something you find tedious. Do things you enjoy....but keep moving. It's hard to build your robust metabolism.....when you're too tired to do anything but go to work and go to bed...because you're starving yourself. Please eat. Don't overeat. But eat. Learn to eat right, not starve. Starving is not the cure and in many cases sets the stage for significant regain. Do it right, even it it's slower than other people. Do it sustainably. Learn to coexist with food, not avoid it. (easier said than done) Don't get discouraged by small losses. Just keep losing to goal with small sensible tweeks. You don't have to suffer extremes to have success. Learning to control your diet moderately...is the best skill to have when facing a lifetime of sustaining a significant weight loss. This end my rant. Totally ok if you think I'm nuts/wrong/whatever. Take what you like and leave the rest. Peace and best wishes to everyone on this crazy road.

Most of the veteran posts, lets face it.... are "Help, I've regained!" And the response I see over and over and over and over is... "Go back to basics...starve yourself at 1000 calories a day (or less)...start drinking protien shakes....do keto...blah blah blah" I don't mean to criticize heartfelt advice...and I know some of ya'll are genuinely trying to help. But why in the world would you tell someone to do the same thing over again....that didn't work the first time? It seems nuts to me. My two cents: see a bariatric therapist. Stop the self punishment. Stop the self sabotage. Stop the self harming extremes. Get down to the real reasons you're addicted to food, what you're medicating with it...and work on fixing those issues. If you do....making slow reasonable changes to your diet that have slow but steady results....will work. You don't have to starve. You don't have to do very low calorie diets that hurt your metabolism, your bone density, and your muscle mass. You don't have to be so freaking EXTREME. Breathe. Make reasonable changes you can live with for a lifetime. No crash diets. They don't work. You know this. How many years experience do you have KNOWING that this approach doesn't work? Stop running from the real issues.

I was 234 at heaviest 118 at lightest and am now (4 and a quarter years post op) 149. Yes - lockdown but more than that it’s sugar addiction. At 114 I had no bum or tits or shape and people said I looked gaunt and old but I LOVED being skinny. I’m now a size 8-10 uk - up from a low 6 and definitely not fat or even really overweight. My bmi is maybe a tad over but I’ve always been solid - short legs long back- great build for a hod carrier an ex once told me!!! so I need to deal but it’s sugar I need to deal with. I go in and off IF and Keto but constantly relapse with sugar. I’m weaning off just now and am going to aim for IF on work days (my tummy is v hair trigger so that helps avoid leaving a classroom mid lesson. the struggle is real. I’m a recovering alcoholic and sugar hits the same button. I’m depressed, sedentary, lonely but I’m not giving up. It’s great to hear from people who’ve kept weight off and I’d like too to hear how you get it off again befor it’s all back... on a positive note I have boobs and a bum again!

I'm a sloooow loser, average 1.9 pounds (.86 kg) a week. I keep track of my food. 600-700 calories. Days that I eat more than 20g of carbs (usually when I crave bread, I will eat some questionable keto bread, usually just a single slice) I will stall for days. Sigh, such is life. I'm hungry all the time, I resort to drinking more water, squeeze my daily exercise or drinking tea. Sent from my SM-F707U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Stlll doing keto and IF? Did the dietician go over your daily food intake? Did they make any suggestions? Anything else that may be masking scale weight loss? Fluid retention? Been excercising a lot lately? Do you know if you are losing inches/centimetres? If you aren't already may be useful to use body measurements they can be motivating when the scales aren't going down.

I’ve told my boss bc I was just out on a 6 wk leave for shoulder surgery... and I need to take a few hrs off of work here and there for dr appts to get the wls approved thru insurance. I told my mom, (she’s a nurse too) who will help me thru the process... and lastly I told my sister and BIL. My sister is skinny and very weight conscience. She works out, eats healthy, etc. I wouldn’t be able to hide my restricted eating, having surgery, and all that comes with it. We are close so it’s nice to have my sister and mom to support me and talk about it with. Other than that, I’m telling NO ONE. I’m fortunately working from home thru Sept and I should have my surgery (Est July) before. People at work, family I bump into will get the...”I’ve been eating healthy, cut my portions way back, and exercising”... that’s all they need to know. If they want more specifics, “ then add high protein, low carb, no sugar... say it’s Keto”... that’s not even a lie. It’s no ones business. You don’t owe anyone an explanation. It’s your journey!

Haven't had the surgery yet myself but there are many Keto recipes floating around that you can try that MAY work for us after surgery (as they are usually sugar free). Here are some of the ones I use periodically. As you can see they are sorta similar. Various Versions of Whips/Mousse Desserts 1 tub sugar free cool whip 1 block softened cream cheese 1/4 cup Swerve Mix with mixer until fluffy and store in fridge (scoop what you want, when you want). Can add in Lily's Sugar Free Chocolate Chips (in various flavors), berries, sugar free syrups, etc. 1 block softened cream cheese 1 box any flavor sugar free jello 1 cup heavy whipping cream Mix with mixer until fluffy. Scoop into small balls with scooper or use hands. Lay balls on parchment paper and put in fridge or freezer for a few hours. I store leftovers in and airtight container in the freezer. 1 package of sugar free pudding mix any flavor 2 cups heavy whipping cream Mix with hand mixer until fluffy. Top with sugar free chocolate chips, sugar free syrups, or berries. Since these call for Sugar Free Pudding mixes there are soooooo many flavor variations you can come up with. Peanut Butter Balls 8 oz softened cream cheese 4 oz creamy NATURAL Peanut Butter (ingredients should list nuts and salt only) 4 Tbsp Swerve 1/2 cups crushed dark chocolate chips, optional Mix together room temperature PB, cream cheese and sweetener. Stir until well mixed and smooth. Scoop into small balls or use your hands. Roll into crushed chocolate chips, optional. Arrange on parchment paper lined pan and put into freezer for 2 hours. Enjoy. Store remaining balls in airtight container and store in freezer. Sugar free whipped cream and some berries would be a good treat too. There are lots of recipe websites out there too dedicated to those who have had the surgery.

@Blueslily 3 protein drinks plus small quantities of lean protein plus veg = 800 calories per day. Also apparently the “keto flu” is a normal thing - once your body starts burning fat over glucose, it’s common that people feel flu-like symptoms. I’m also not doing any sugar free or fat free stuff, only whole food so it limits my options. also yes they want me to clean with hibiclens but my partner and I are hippies and avoid chemicals. When I had to have a c section for my breech twins (we planned on a home birth), my midwife got me lye soap to use instead of the hibiclens. Also my partner is a surgical tech (responsible for sterility of OR and tools), and he was totally on board with lye. I’m doing it again this time.

Bringing this thread back to life. I'm in the pre-op diet. It's only been a few days and I have what I call a chemical taste in my mouth. It's like the nasty taste you yet sometimes when swallowing a pill but it dissolves some before you can get it down. Like a nasty pill taste. A chemical taste is how I can best describe it. On my pre-op diet, I drink 2 protein shakes and can have a healthy dinner. Just like the original poster, I noticed the taste when drinking water and thought it was the water. But, with multiple new bottles of water, it's still there. Brushing my teeth and mouthwash dont fix it either. But, when I eat real food, I dont taste it. I looked up ketosis because I remembered reading about that on here. But, I was shocked that it could happen so soon and since I am eating a dinner meal with food versus drinking shakes for all three meals. Does it sound like this could be keto breath already? Just seems fast to me.

Oh no. I wonder what's causing the nausea and headaches. You're getting two protein drinks, two lean proteins/meats, and non-starchy veggies in each day? Sounds like a lot of substance for one day. Hope it gets better for you. One more week to go. Then the weeks after surgery of course. Maybe TMI, but no BM the past few days. I'm guessing that's because I'm eating less, maybe. I'm surprised that I'm not experiencing discomfort. Taking a chewable assistance today before bed to hopefully help on the morning. If not, I will crack open the box of recommended tea that I bought for post-surgery constipation that most folks mention. Other than that I have moments of head hunger, but not as much now as I did when starting this pre-op diet process. Funny but not funny, I got a wisdom tooth pulled Friday. So, my desire to try to cheat is limited since my mouth is tender, I can only chew on one side, and I prefer soft foods. Man, this has been good practice for the first few weeks post surgery. I'm only eating soft foods and tiny pieces. I prefer protein drinks because I dont want to trigger pain. Hahhaha Also, do you have a chemical or chalky like taste in your mouth? I kind of is like the.taste you have when trying to swallow a pill but it dissolves some before you swallow. That nasty pill taste. I noticed it Sunday. Very annoying. I keep brushing and using Listerine, but it's there all day until I eat the actual food. Makes water taste disgusting when I'm drinking all day. Shakes are ok. Once I eat real food, I'm fine. But, I dont eat real food untol dinner. So all day water tastes horrible. Can't be keto breath already, right? Seems odd. Sorry for always typing a novel. Hahaha

Nothing is impossible to eat after sleeve. I have tried literally everything I ate before surgery....but my daily diet has changed significantly. Things I've eliminated from my diet: white sugar and white flour. I do eat a small piece of birthday cake on a very rare occasion....but I keep treats like this super rare, and try to limit the serving to about 200 calories. Over about 200 calories of refined carbs at a time makes me a little nauseated, so I avoid it. It's also a poor food choice. I don't do it often. Special occasions only. (and NOT during loss phase....in maintenance phase) I love sugary things, but a little goes a long way. Once in a blue moon I'll really want something enough to have it....and I have an incredibly small amount and I'm done. A little one inch piece of donut. A Tablespoon or two of ice cream. As a rare treat...it's great, but it takes very little of these to feel satisfied now. And again, it's not a regular part of my diet. For sweet stuff, I love fruit. I eat a lot of frozen banana smoothies when I have a sweet tooth craving. My surgeon's diet had potatoes and beans on the post surgical diet in the first month. In fact, thin mashed potatoes were one of my first foods after surgery. I eat a ton of carbs, but they are not processed carbs. Whole grains, oatmeal, regular and sweet potatoes, beans, legumes. I get half of my protien from plant sources, and these unrefined carbs are a big part of that. Beans and potatoes and whole grains have quite a bit of protien and fiber. (I know a lot of surgeons do keto based diets...I'm thankful mine is NOT one of them) I do eat 60+ grams of protien a day. Tons of fruits and veggies. If I eat rice, it's brown rice for the extra protien and fiber. I do eat 25g of fiber a day, which is tougher than it sounds! There are plent of things you shouldn't eat. You shouldn't eat very fatty foods, or highly refined carbs, white flour, sugar, etc. You know what you shouldn't eat. You shouldn't eat too many calories. Figure out a good calorie target with your nutritionist and balance your day. There will be a million opinions about what you should and shouldn't eat. Talk to your dietician. Eat foods you enjoy. Balance your diet for good nutition and energy. But yep...I can sneak a little of anything in that I really want to try again.....I just don't really have the need to do it. You just need to stay aware of what you're eating...balance it...get the nutrition you need...and keep your calories reasonable. (I eat 1600 a day in maintenance)

I noticed this before my weight loss surgery journey when I did a Keto diet and now post bypass. I was on the verge of getting a double hip replacement due to arthritis. Now I think I’ve got some more years in my hips.I’ve even been walking and biking like crazy because now I can. 😀

I have contemplated eating what I want too while getting all my pre op stuff done. But then my blood work came back saying that, instead of still being borderline, I was now in fact Type 2 Diabetic. Luckily I had already started Keto weeks previous before that test came back (to get me used to no sugars or bad carbs). But yeah before that I most definitely felt like saying eff it, I'm gonna eat what I want while I can. But nope, figured I'd take this time now to prepare myself for what needs to become the norm for me anyway once this surgery is done. But I totally get your way of thinking. Had my blood work not come back like it did I may have even done the same but that scared the sh*t outta me because it is something I had been trying to avoid for years now.

I've learned over the years of dieting to stay off the scale but for once a week. For instance, I started Keto again while I wait to get all my pre surgery stuff done and last weekend I decided to have a cheat meal of Chinese food. First cheat in a month. So the day after the meal I weighed an extra 7 lbs!! Now of course this was not true weight/fat weight because I obviously did not eat that much food to gain all those pounds. LOL It was water retention. BUT, it took me ALL week (as eating no-no foods usually does for me) before it went away and I went back down to what I weighed before that cheat meal. So yeah, you definitely can fluctuate BIG TIME depending on many factors. If you're ok with that then have at it. Otherwise I'd just do it once a week, same time of day, same clothes or naked if possible, after your bathroom business, etc.

You mentioned in another thread that you are doing keto. If you are doing a genuine keto diet which is high fat, low carb it maybe that your stomach/digestive system is not able to cope with the high fat intake one month out.

My family and 3 coworkers know. I don’t plan on telling everyone my business, but if asked, I will say I was doing keto LOL since they knew I did that before. My 6 & 9 year old don’t know, I just told them mommy was sick from her tummy but that’s it. They haven’t even noticed anything different since I still cook for them. My hubby is my #1 supporter , he has been so helpful in this process.