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My journey involving bariatric sleeve surgery began at 450lbs. My blood pressure was in true digits, both numbers, I had diabetes, and my doctor could only guess my BMI, because the chart went to 65, and I was over 70! My legs hurt all the time, and so did my back. I could eat 100 wings in a single sitting. I ate 32 tacos at once to show off. It was killing me. Almost 2 years ago, I started the bariatric journey, with Kathy Scutella. I got to the surgery date, but had to call it off because I had just gotten a job and without FMLA I would lose it. I have up for almost a year. Then I got better insurance, and met my current PCP, Dr. Kelly Wienecke. She encouraged me to look into bariatric surgery again. So, I did. I lost 68lbs before my surgery the second time through. That included the 16lbs I lost during the 2 week pre-op diet alone! I lost 7lbs in 7 days between my visit 1 week after the surgery with bariatrics and my appointment a week after that with my metabolic disease doctor. My one month goal is to be down to 300lbs or less when I see Kathy Scutella again. She said 20lbs loss would be good. I want to go for more. Protein shakes, salmon, eggs, yogurt, tuna, chicken all the time. I got healthy mayo and chicken broth to blend it up real good. I read things on bariatric pal all the time. It gives me hope for having some things I used to eat. It gets lonely being the only one not eating what's for dinner. One day, in moderation I can though. That's my short story. I've went from 450lbs to 314lbs in about 2 years. I got over 100 more left to lose.

My journey involving bariatric sleeve surgery began at 450lbs. My blood pressure was in true digits, both numbers, I had diabetes, and my doctor could only guess my BMI, because the chart went to 65, and I was over 70! My legs hurt all the time, and so did my back. I could eat 100 wings in a single sitting. I ate 32 tacos at once to show off. It was killing me. Almost 2 years ago, I started the bariatric journey, with Kathy Scutella. I got to the surgery date, but had to call it off because I had just gotten a job and without FMLA I would lose it. I have up for almost a year. Then I got better insurance, and met my current PCP, Dr. Kelly Wienecke. She encouraged me to look into bariatric surgery again. So, I did. I lost 68lbs before my surgery the second time through. That included the 16lbs I lost during the 2 week pre-op diet alone! I lost 7lbs in 7 days between my visit 1 week after the surgery with bariatrics and my appointment a week after that with my metabolic disease doctor. My one month goal is to be down to 300lbs or less when I see Kathy Scutella again. She said 20lbs loss would be good. I want to go for more. Protein shakes, salmon, eggs, yogurt, tuna, chicken all the time. I got healthy mayo and chicken broth to blend it up real good. I read things on bariatric pal all the time. It gives me hope for having some things I used to eat. It gets lonely being the only one not eating what's for dinner. One day, in moderation I can though. That's my short story. I've went from 450lbs to 314lbs in about 2 years. I got over 100 more left to lose.

It will get easier to hit your goal as you get further out from surgery. It's a learning process to find what works for you. If you hate shakes, find high protein "real" food to hit your goal. The leaner the meat the higher the protein. Not plugging a product: Quest bars are high protein low sugar but 21g carb. Honestly, Meal bars are just as dense as eating real food. This is just an option take it or leave it -- The goal is healthy so, If you have to choke down a shake in order to hit your goal. here are a few recipes to try. coffee mocha shake: Vanilla protein powder. Instant coffee and sugar free chocolate syrup Ice Pumpkin pie: Vanilla protein powder, pureed pumpkin and cinnamon ice Strawberry-Banana Smoothie: Vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt frozen strawberries frozen banana ice Reese's peanut butter cup shake: Vanilla protein powder, PB2, sugar free chocolate syrup ice Be creative and keep an open mind to try new things. You will find what works for you.

When I went to my pre op class I asked about the coffee. They said I had to give up the creamer. So I put my protein drink in it instead. They told me that was fine. After surgery though I'm only allowed 12 oz of coffee, which to my calculations comes up to 2 cups a day with my new tool, as long as I continue to put the protein drink in it until I have to ween off of it. After that I'll figure out what I need to do next. As for the pre op diet, they have me on a weight loss diet of a protein drink in the morning 4 to 6 oz of lean meat with non starchy vegetables for lunch and dinner with a snack in between meals of either cottage cheese, yogurt, protein drink, cheese sticks, or a protein bar. I don't start full liquids until Sunday. I've doing well with the first part so far, Next week should be the real test. How is it going for you @confusedturtle3?

You are doing great with your weight loss. over 100 down is fantastic. It's normal for weight loss to slow down as you get further out from surgery. A few things to try to break the stall. Are you logging your food? It's better than guessing your calories and carbs. (myfitnesspal food log app makes it easy) The amount of food you are able to take in will increase. Try eating protein with as much veggies as you want. The bulk and fiber will make you feel full. I can eat 4 to 5 oz protein with 8 oz of salad. Your weight can slow if you are doing the same exercise or same intensity level over and over. HIIT / High intensity interval training works well. Start a pace that you are comfortable for 5 mins. Increase the speed several numbers for 5 mins. Repeat this process for as long as you are on the treadmill. (hope that made sense) You already know carbs can mess with your weight loss. My dieticians instructions were to add healthy carbs when I lost 75% of my weight to slow or stop my weight loss for maintaining. Your instructions may be different than mine. Follow your dieticians plan. Salty and sweet cravings happen. Be sure to have healthy options on hand to satisfy cravings. Example: Salty Jerky or quest protein chips Sweet yogurt or sugar free pudding with protein powder.

Day of surgery 246.9. One year out I was (to the day) 171 so down 75 pounds. But, I really look at my high weight which was end of April 2017 at least the recorded weight - 271.5 I think I was higher at points, but didn't get on the scale and my weight now - at 14 months out at 166. I'm down 105 pounds. In an average day I eat about 1,000 calories with 60-90 grams of protein, and 64 ounces of water minimum. I usually start with a shake (fairlife skim, protein powder and 1/2c fruit for 35 g. protein), lunch is usually 3 oz grilled chicken with a salad and dinner is whatever the family is eating. Snacks are usually Oikos Triple Zero yogurt, fruit or cheese. I eat a pretty normal diet. Best of luck to you.

I use Genepro Medical Grade Protein powder. I bought it on Amazon.. $30 or $40 , don’t recall, but it has 30 servings in it. Each scoop is approx 30g protein (same as 1 premiere shake) I use a scoop of it and put it in my broth. It has NO taste. Once I move on to more foods I will add it to my yogurt, cottage cheese, anything. When you use it, to avoid clumping, I mix the protein powder in a few oz of liquid first. Mix it well to get rid of any clumps then I add it to my larger portion. I tried it as a recommendation on here from someone else. It works great for me!

My surgeon said any solid foods (other than my 1 yogurt/day) during the 7 day preop period will disqualify me for surgery. Other surgeons may not be as strict but mine is. I don’t know how they would know you ate but I don’t want to chance it. I’ve waited a long time to get my surgery and I don’t want to do anything to risk losing it. I am having a family pre-Thanksgiving meal on the 10th because I am supposed to start my preop diet on the 13th, surgery on the 21st. That will give me plenty of time to enjoy the Thanksgiving yummies and use the bones for broth for my Thanksgiving dinner. Have a great day! Amanda [emoji16] HW 248 CW 241 Surgery Date: pending 11/21/2017. Goal weight 150’ish [emoji23]

I am at the puree stage but was in the same boat when I was at the liquid stage. I could not tolerate ant pre-made protein shakes. I had the unflavored ISOPURE and I added it to my soup, you can add it to your water (works great with a flavor packet) and I also made my own protein shakes with it that were delicious. I did unsweetened almond milk, ice, a scoop of protein and strawberries and bananas. Now that I am at the puree stage I can tolerate 2-4 ounces of the premaid shakes between meals (which is my plan from my doctor). I was sleeved on the 19th and after one week was allowed greek yogurt and cottage cheese which made a world of difference. If you are allowed sugar free pudding the isopure works well in that as well. Good Luck!

Man this weekend was rough.. My husbands Aunt died and we had to go out of the town to pay our respects. So that means.... Restaurants.. First restaurant his family wanted to go to was Chinese food Buffet.. So $24.99 a plate and lots of grease later...... I am a bit sick.. I tried to stick with veggies and the meat that is mixed in it, but they cook that with lots of oils. So i had more salad than anything.. Just not filling plain old salad. Ok then next day.. Well gee lets go to PIZZA... Soooooo here I go again. Hubby ordered medium pizza, deluxe, and I had one slice and I was done.. The place we stayed at was last minute so they had no groceries and it was too late to go shopping. So all morning I lived off cheese strings.. That was ok.. But I went to grocery store and got yogurt for my breakfast the next day.. No Protein Premier in Montreal, Quebec that I seen. So i was a bit ticked. Anyways I weight myself today and from last week i lost over 10lbs.. How did that happen. I hav eno clue. I thought I would of gained it from this weekend.. I am also still having to eat every 2 hours. My stomach is in like lots of pain. hunger pain, and I just can't keep up with eating.. I am constantly making meals and having LOTS of left overs but how long do they last in fridge.. 2 days???? So how is everyone else doing with their WL.

At 12 weeks out, you might be able to do without the shakes. Protein can come from food. Yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts/seeds, beans, tofu, meat, seafood, etc. You are getting biotin in your One A Days, so I'd drop that, but you need to add calcium citrate (500mg two or three times a day) and 500mcg B-12 once a day. I agree with the above. Double up on the One A Days (making them 4-A-Days!) Lol.

I don’t have to do clear liquids till the day before. Right now I’m allowed yogurt and cream soups. But I also have to do a bowel prep, night before surgery.

I’m the same and found potato soups good too, I also have a yogurt in between my soups just to help the hunger Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ate a lot of refried beans. I also would pour some of the liquid out of lentil soup and put my immersion blender in it to eat the thickened lentils and vegetables. I ate greek yogurt and tofu. I think I was allowed to eat string cheese at that point as well. I was allowed to have eggs then, but only had them a few times at that stage.

I'm not on pre-op liquids yet, but here's what the surg and nut cleared me for of the one's I like: Premier Protein RTD drinks: vanilla, choco, banana Isopure Unflavored Powder (for adding to soups) Isopure Vanilla Powder (for adding to yogurts, Fairlife Skim Milk, So Delicious SF Vanilla Coconut Milk) Isopure Banana Powder for making my green smoothies (Surgeon said I can have one of these per day with: 1oz frozen spinach, 1oz frozen blueberries, Peanut Butter Slim Powdered Peanut Butter-Vitacost Brand, So Delicious SF Vanilla Coconut Milk, psyllium husks) Synthrax Nectar Lemon Tea Synthrax Nectar Grapefruit Synthrax Nectar Fuzzy Navel Isopure Zero Cal Clear-Alpine Punch (50/50 with water + SF Grape Koolaid Drops + HEB SF Tangerine Water Drops) Isopure Zero Cal Clear-Grape Frost (50/50 with water + SF Grape Koolaid Drops) Isopure Zero Cal Green Tea (50/50 with fresh brewed green tea + Lemon Wedge) (I've been collecting them for the last 4 months!) What are you doing? Have you started your pre-op liquids yet?

My meals are tuna fish, eggs, carb master yogurt, squash, zucchini and protein shakes. I put berries in my protein shakes. I was 208lbs pre-op now I'm 186lbs 2 weeks 1 day post op. I'm not really hungry like I was the first week but when I do eat I make sure to get half of my protein intake in before eating my carbs. I'm sure once my body stops losing weight I'll add more carbs to put it through a change then take it away again so I can start losing. Right now what I'm doing is working so no need to fix what ain't broken [emoji6] Sent from my SM-G935V using BariatricPal mobile app

I feel for you, your posts echoes similar thoughts and experiences I had. And the first plateau is so hard. Some people do not get through it for months. It’s not a surgical failure or you at fault, it’s how the body adjusts. We are all different and so it will adjust differently than others - this means some plateaus will go on for weeks, even months, others won’t have them for much of their weightloss at all. My advice is don’t weigh in for two weeks, or a week, then weigh in. Make sure you get calcium and iron, hair tends to fall out otherwise. Be sure and drink lots of water. The vomiting is normal IF you eat too fast. One has to really slow it down, chew chew chew. It’s tedious but your body will warn you that you are soon facing restriction BEFORE you get nauseous if you slow it down. I still have this issue if I accidentally don’t chew something thoroughly and eat it too fast. You will only be able to do 2oz max, maybe three if the food is soft ( think yogurt or cottage cheese) it will be 6 months before you eat 4oz steadily and beyond 4oz with ease. You may be tempted to graze as a result of this. I have and sometimes do but catch myself, so try to stick to the eating schedule I have set up for myself. This has helped me oodles. I understand about lack of support. My father was ill, so not many focused on my end, understandably. I think the best thing is to utilize YouTube and these forums, also read articles on goggle. There is a lot of information but at the end of the day you know your body best. Something you read will seem the right course of action for you to take. Wishing you well and the best. I know you will be ecstatic when your weight comes off again. I know! Because my body reacted much like yours. You got this!

This might be a totally different topic, but it's poop related...somewhat. I find this really interesting. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31168511 A woman has dramatically gained weight after a stool transplant from her daughter, doctors report. It is a genuine medical procedure to transplant healthy bacteria into a diseased gut, but US doctors think it may have affected her waistline. She quickly gained 36lb (16kg) and is now classed as obese, the case report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases says. A UK expert said the link between gut bugs and obesity was still unclear. A faecal microbiota transplant - also referred to by some as a "transpoosion" - is like an extreme version of a probiotic yogurt. The aim is to introduce good bacteria into the gut and it was officially backed by the UK health service last year. New treatment It is used when people have stubborn Clostridium difficile infection in their bowels. This can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain and cannot always be treated with antibiotics. The 32-year old woman, who has not been indentified, had an infection that could not be treated with even the most powerful antibiotics. Dr Colleen Kelly, from the Medical School at Brown University, said the option of a faecal transplant was discussed and the woman wanted to use a relative - her daughter. The daughter was overweight at the time and was on her way to becoming obese. The procedure did clear the woman's infection. But Dr Kelly told the BBC News website: "She came back about a year later and complained of tremendous weight gain. "She felt like a switch flipped in her body - to this day she continues to have problems." She started with a Body Mass Index of 26. Sixteen months after the procedure she had a BMI of 33 and three years after it, a BMI of 34.5. Caution Previous research has shown that transplanting gut bacteria from obese people into mice led to the animals gaining weight. Dr Kelly said limited conclusions could be drawn from a single patient, but called the case a warning as "there's not a lot on safety evidence out there". Dr Kelly has now changed her practices and "as a result I'm very careful with all our donors don't use obese people". Dr Andreas Karatzas, from Reading University, said: "You have to bear in mind that this person was saved. "If you run the risk of losing a patient, you don't bother about what could happen 20 years later." However, he said the evidence that gut bacteria affected human waistlines was still inconclusive. "There is some evidence in animals, but we have to be careful - it is a different organism. Just because it happens in animals doesn't mean it happens in humans as well."

Sorry I miss counted my days. I’m 3 weeks and 1 day post op. My appointment is tomorrow where my doc would tell me if solid food is cool or not. So I decided to give it a try a little early since my tummy was tolerating everything else so well. I have to go get some yogurt. I had sugar free pudding and it was gross so I gave it to my grandma.

Mine is very similar to those above. I'm starting on Wednesday... for surgery day of November 15! Unlimited protein shakes Chicken/Beef/Veggie Broth Low-fat cottage cheese/plain Greek yogurt (1/2 cup limit/day) Skim/unsweetened almond/soy/cow's milk Egg whites Lean meats (white fish/chicken breast/turkey) Sugar free syrups/water flavors Sf jello/pudding/instant carnation breakfast Sf Popsicles NO caffeine, carbonation, coffee or tea Herbs, salt and pepper for the meat (No sauces or oils) I'm already anticipating the caffeine withdrawals that will be kicking my butt for the first couple days.... I'm thinking I will be mainly be eating the protein shakes, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, deli turkey, turkey burgers, egg whites and LOTS of sf jello/pudding and Popsicles

I started the mushy stage on day 3, and it included ground meat. We could have yogurt, cottage cheese, ground turkey and chicken, canned meats, pimento cheese, eggs, ricotta cheese, etc. I ate a lot of yogurt, canned chicken and ricotta. Starting day 15, we could have regular texture meats, but no red meat or veggies till after 1 month. I had no issues. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Chicken and steak are tough for 2.5 weeks out (unless blended smooth with broth). Double check your plan on that one. I was eating lots of cottage cheese and yogurt, eggs (cooked very softly), and mashed/moistened beans. Split pea or lentil soup. Oh, and soft white fish.. blended or not.

The pre/post op liquid phase is very difficult, but you will get thru it!! My fiance offered to eat dinner before he came home at night so he would not "bother" me (one reason why I love this man so much), and I said "No". I didn't want him to alter his life in anyway - this is my journey. We have had a few struggles (like pizza night - his favorite food), and ordering when we go out to restaurants, but I have learned to adjust and plan. Like when we take road trips, he runs thru a drive thru - I pack a mini cooler with protein shakes, yogurt and cottage cheese. If you don't, you could end up in trouble eating something that is not good. When he is on the couch eating cheese and crackers (his nightly 8pm snack), he brings me a sugar free popsicle which is one of my "go to's". Re the pizza thing, I eat the toppings, or I eat something else. And cooking is a breeze because we grill allot. When we go out, I drink a protein shake before we go and then have a bite of his food, or order soup. If he has a problem with any of this, he doesn't tell me (and if he did, that's on him). Ooooo the best thing happened when we were going to dinner at a family members house who loves to feed people. I was worried, and my fiance came up with a plan that was genius. I ate before we went , and we each took a plate for the buffet. He put half of the food he wanted on his plate, and I put the other half of what HE wanted on mine. He then ate everything on his, and then started eating off my plate. Hahahaha. Nobody said a thing! Keep in mind that people who do not struggle with weight issues don't get it! He was probably not even aware how hard this is on you.

I actually have nuts here at work. I'm drinking my protein shake for the day along with some yogurt, but I'll take some nuts later. Adding nuts might not be a bad idea. And yes, I'm still missing a meal at least. Maybe even a snack. I have fish at home. Salmon, it will get the kcal and the fat up.

I have oatmeal every morning. No to the raisin though, not a fan. This is my go to. 15g of oatmeal (10g steel cut and 5g rolled) 1/2 cup of water and into the microwave. Then I add 20g of flaxseeds (10 whole and 10 crushed) Then I add 50g of high protein yogurt (Skyr) 10 g of pumpkin seeds Cinnamon Sometimes I add fruit I use whole grain/carb reduced pasta or one made of beans or something like that (It's the texture of means I don't like, not the taste lol) I might make a call to her in a week or two as I try to adjust these things. Thanks for your input, they are greatly appreciated.