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Ugh, I hear you -- I can't do tinned fished anymore, either. I used to love tinned salmon and tuna, but now if it's not sashimi or freshly cooked filets it's a big No Thank You. I have a can of salmon (and a couple of flaked chicken) that I need to drop at the food bank. Thanks for the reminder lol! I think I'll end up binning the rice protein. It wasn't that expensive and because it was in a bulk-baggy I don't think my local FB would take it. I'll call it the cost of learning. :D

Funny how different our taste buds can be after surgery. Rice protein powder is a new one for me but I struggled with the pea protein. So much for its claim it was flavourless. I love peas but this tasted & smelt awful. Plus the texture - blah! I had a huge container of it & was going to throw it out but like you felt it was a waste of ‘food’ (& money). Ended up giving it to some friends of friends who loved it. May be you can find someone to give your rice powder to or donate it to a food bank?? I gave away some tins of tuna I had in my cupboard (gone right off it not that I loved it before). The pest man who came to spray my house yesterday took the two tins I had. Now to find someone to take the tinned salmon.

Hi everyone, I’m very new to forums, but it’s Nice to meet you all. I started this process back in February of this year, but I had been considering it for a while. my sister had the Gastric Sleeve, but my doctor wants me to get the Gastric Bypass, so that’s what I’m going to do. My starting weight was 266, i’m 5’3 with a BMI of 45… my doctor put my goal at 120.. fingers crossed. So insurance is covering it but I have a deductible. I have a surgery date of August 14, 2024. I’m currently on 2 week of the liquid diet. Today being the first day with absolutely no solid foods allowed. I had started preparing with purchasing toddler utensils and measured food containers, and a food scale. I stocked up on Ensure Max Protein, Unflavored protein powder, PB2 (no sugar added peanut butter powder), powdered banana and powdered freeze dried strawberries… all with no sugar added. I also bought Vanilla plant based protein powder. I blend a mixture of whatever flavor I want with 8 oz of skim milk or water. My routine is 2 ensures a day, then a powdered skim milk shake (in my ninja single blender) with whatever flavor, then I have 1 or 2 Progresso soup(s) for dinner (strained so I only get the broth)… the doctor said he didn’t care about the sodium only the sugar. If i need snacks, i drink 4oz of V8 juice original, or I have a sugar free chocolate pudding. i have been slowly buying and stocking baby food. I buy veggies and fruit and some mixed meals, but this is in preparation of the post-op puréed meal portion. I like to be prepared. I bought a 32oz water bottle on Amazon with that doesn’t have a straw (teaches me to sip). I know that I have to get through 2 of those a day minimum. I usually do pretty good. My biggest problem is that I don’t have the energy to get off my behind and use my Bowflex anymore. Sometimes I’ll do Beat saber for cardio but I’m just low on energy. Have to say low carb is rough and it gives me mild headaches every day. I’m worried that I’ll lose weight so fast that I won’t have time to protect the muscles I have because I don’t have the energy to work out. I’m now 6 days away from my surgery, I’m determined but nervous because the Bypass is a big change. I’m not a smoker, but to all of you out there quitting for this, kudos to you!! You can all do it if you set your mind to it.

Hi Possum220! I feel like you are very honest and courageous to ask for help because it’s the true first step. Yes, I have been seriously depressed before and yes I am mortified by regain. My last serious depression was way before WLS but I know that the longer it goes without help, the longer it stays. I’m going to suggest you start your healing journey there because it’s life threatening. Please continue to advocate for yourself and your health in that regard! As regards regain, I have had some success with “Glucose Goddess.” Look her up, she’s on all social media platforms. She is a scientist and mathematician who got into a serious accident and needed to heal herself. She cites all the medical papers that she has researched, peer reviewed, and published. You can by her book, but I’m just watching YouTube to get the basics right now. Eating veg, then protein, then carb has seriously slowed my hunger AND stopped the near daily dumping I was experiencing. I was never diabetic but I think the severe dumping syndrome of WLS was making me the equivalent. I swear getting my blood sugar under control has been a game changer. Many studies report lessening depression and less anxiety. It has helped me with asthma because it reduces inflammation. I have lost four pounds this week, and all I did was change the order of foods I eat. So, depression is like asthma, you need to treat it first. But the Glucose Goddess has practical applications that help with those problems and helps with weight loss too. (By the way, it has helped even though I’m on a new medication that has even more steroids too.) I’m wishing you the best! Keep up with therapy and finding a med that works:) You are not alone. Let us know how you’re doing and what you found that helps.

I was on ozempic for diabetes and weight management before my sleeve surgery on 4/11/24. I'm in the honey moon phase where the surgery as completely eliminated food noise. Ozempic was a dream drug for me I lost a lot of weight before surgery and I will gladly get back on it if in the future cravings come back and weight gain. I see nothing wrong with it!

Seriously, unless you spent an absolute fortune on the brown rice protein powder, just bin it and put it down to experience. Life can be difficult enough with restricted food choices without forcing yourself to eat something you really dislike. Glad the pea protein was a win though! 👍

Does anyone use brown rice protein powder, specifically the unflavoured & unsweetened variety? I bought a small sample from my local bulk health food store, along with a larger amount of pea protein powder. I knew what to expect from the pea protein powder as I've had it before in years past, but I was unprepared for the smell, taste, aftertaste and immense chalky-ness of the brown rice powder. I've tried it in a few different things now (oatmeal, shakes and smoothies), and most of them had to be pitched entirely; I was able to choke down the smoothie I made with it but it was still unpleasant. Online blogs suggested almond milk and unsweetened cocoa powder to combat the chalky texture -- both did nothing for me. I tried PB powder, regular fairlife milk, thickening the smoothies with bananas or avocado, greek yogurt, etc. I still have a little under 500ml left, and I'm tempted to just give up and throw it away. It's one of those vicious thought cycles: I hate to waste food by throwing it away, but I hate to waste other foods by trying to combine them and getting the same result lol. If anyone has a method to using this while masking basically everything about it, I'm all ears. Can you bake with it? I've had mixed results baking with other protein powders in the past and am honestly mildly exhausted just thinking about it. XD (I apologize with harassing you all with my constant protein supplement queries. Egg protein was a miss for me, but pea protein is a morning-time lifesaver for me.)

I took ozempic for about 2 years prior to my surgery, specifically for diabetes II. For me, it worked great and lowering my blood sugars, but while I did notice a small change in appetite it didn't really do much for me on that end. I did notice that it made me react with nausea to any food that was higher in sugar or carbs, which did help as I started to learn the 'punishment' outweighed my desire to eat those foods. Perhaps also speak to your team or GP and work with you or your P'Doc to find a depression medication that works better for you? I know that for me at least, I had absolutely horrible absorption of my SSRIs and anxiety meds since I had my gastric bypass. Part of my particular problem was the timing of supplements, low iron and the effects of dairy / whey were interfering with the absorption of my meds, so I worked with my pharmacist to design a better timing schedule. Within days I saw a difference. Is this your first time on meds for depression / etc? Because not every med is right for everyone, so it may be a matter of finding the right kind of med for you particularly. I've suffered anxiety & depression since I was a teen, and have been on and off meds over the years -- but every single time I would go back on to medication, I usually would have to cycle through 1-3 different meds before we'd find one that worked. Some were too strong, some made me jittery, some did absolutely nothing lol. And as I mentioned, iron. Anemia and iron deficiencies can add or exacerbate depression and anxiety. If it's been a while since your last blood panel, maybe see if they can run another lab to check your iron levels. You don't need anything dragging you down needlessly. ❤️ I can't help with the appetite, but if you ever need someone extra to talk to about depression & all that, please send me a DM.

I agree for the most part. There are definitely some items that are bad or good for me, personally / individually -- ie. food items that trigger physical reactions (foamies, dumping, lactose intolerance, etc) or things that give me bad medical reactions (alcohol and caffeine interfering with my meds, etc). I have to label those items as 'bad' in my head to avoid slipping, and I'll tell other people they're bad for me just because it's a simple way to avoid whatever's being offered without having to get into any long conversation about my particular needs or issues, lol. (It irritates me so much when people don't respect the simplest of boundaries. Like, if you offer me alcohol and I say 'No thanks,' shouldn't that be enough? Do I really have to explain to someone the 'why' in order to get them to stop pressuring? Ugh. I need to get better at responding with 'Why can't you take my no at face value?' etc)

Usually weight loss & eating more nutritious foods boosts your immune system. Maybe you’re a little run down from the recovery & healing, the physical & emotional stress of it all, from the changed diet/lower calories & the initial more rapid weight loss. Low protein can affect healing but, if I remember correctly your protein intake has been okay. How are your iron levels? Anaemia can affect your immune system too. Sorry lancing the abscess was so painful. ☹️

I hope you are both doing awesome, @Onemealplan, @Greekmom4 and @BigDane! @ShoppGirl, you are gonna rock this! I am amazed by your energy, getting all that done. I'm thinking about all of you and sending good vibes. @BigDane, I'm so jealous, you get to go to pureed a lot sooner than I do. I have to be on full liquids for 2 weeks post op. Less than a week to go for me now. Anxious but certain it's the right decision. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, our group has started having our surgeries and pretty soon it will be time to start sharing successes. I appreciate having you all to go through this with, even if it is virtually.

I don’t think food should be labeled as “good” food or “bad” food. Food is fuel and it’s okay to have a treat. If done in moderation, and not everyday this should satisfy.

Low fat Cottage cheese -- you can jazz it up with different savoury or sweet seasonings -- a bit of cinnamon and splenda was a favourite of mine, but so was garlic, dill and a touch of salt. (And honestly, just black pepper was great. I missed pepper.) Refried beans or pureed kidney beans / chick peas. (Or hummus on a lazy day). I mixed my refried beans with a bit of enchilada sauce (choose one with no added sugar). It gave deconstructed bean burrito vibes. Pureed sweet potato instead of regular white potatoes. Again, you can make it a sweet dish with cinnamon, or turn it savoury with a bit of salt, garlic and black pepper. You can do the same with butternut squash. Add a little water / broth to make it a smoother consistency, and throw in a scoop or two of bone broth powder or unflavoured protein powder so you're still getting that protein in. Have you tried any strained or pureed soups? Particularly the cream-of-whatever soups, pureed chowders, etc. I also liked some of the protein soups at the bariatric pal store enough that I still used some of them as sauces 4mo out. The BP Bacon Cheese soup is good (but salty) and the Proti-Diet Chicken soup is not quite a cream soup but not a broth either. (It's salty too. Honestly, I feel like most powdered soups are/were too salty for my tastes but watering them down a little further usually works)

I don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but the diarrhea thing is real! I basically have not had a solid poop in four years. WARNING, discussion of poop ahead, highlight if you want to read it: It ranges from slightly softer than normal to pea soup texture, depending on what I have eaten recently. If I've eaten anything with a lot of fat, there will also be separated oily...gunk...coming out too. Farting has increased as well. From my understanding, your body does not have the chance to fully digest all the food you eat since it "skips" 2/3 of your small intestine. Water, fat, and gas that would normally be re-absorbed during the digestive process makes it all the way through. But, it doesn't really bother me. You know how if you have diarrhea because you're sick or have food poisoning you also feel crampy and nauseated? And you have to stay on the toilet for a long time? It's not like that, at least for me. I poop a normal amount and it's not urgent or painful, it's just runny. Sometimes I notice undigested food more than before surgery. I remember the smell being pretty bad immediately after surgery. In addition to regular stinky poop smell it almost smelled rotten and chemical-like. That doesn't happen any more unless I eat something REALLY stupid (vacation - many sugary cocktails. . . I regret nothing!) Usually it just stinks the normal amount 🙂 END OF POOP TALK

I had a really bad week last week nutritionally. I gained back about half the weight I lost in the last two weeks. I just didn't stick to the milk diet I'm supposed to be on. My surgery date is 7th of October and the bariatric doctor gave a diet he thought would be easy to follow so I can quickly lose weight before surgery. So protein shakes and chicken or beef broth and this is what I'm supposed to have for 12 weeks. Last week, I was sick, I was on my period and a little depressed so I went for comfort food. Starting to panic about trying to hit the weight target the doctor set for me, I thought I would try going to the gym. I've not been to a gym in years and I have memories of PE class and school bullies screaming back to me. But I went in. The staff member was great about showing me around, all the bulky gym buff types that I thought would be bullies because of every high school movie I ever saw didn't even look at me. I think I just assumed that being a fat person I would laughed at judged, but I was no different than anyone else. I was just there to work out just like they were. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. Some of the equipment is intimidating and I have no idea what it does, but starting slowly, I think going in at least twice a week for now is a good starting point.

I'm new here, I have surgery 8/19. I'm on a liquid diet for TWO WEEKS prior to surgery... has anyone else done two weeks? Seems like one week is the usual... and even then it looks like actual food is present in one meal a day. Interested to see if anyone else has this hardcore of pre-op instructions. thanks!!

Me 🙋‍♀️ I always drank cow's milk. My entire life. Never had an issue. After my sleeve, I switched from full fat to 2% but was still fine. HOWEVER, after my revision to bypass, I became COMPLETELY lactose intolerant. I drink almond milk now and use non dairy cheese and nutritional yeast. Anything dairy gives me all kinds of problems now. I developed a few food allergies after my bypass that I never had before. Super weird...

Very happy this week! The London gain of 3.5lbs has gone plus another 6lbs has joined it this week so I’ve hit my 2stones loss target 😊 Hubby has documented this by taking pics and I can definitely see a difference - my backside isn’t as much as a shelf now 😉 I will post pics when I gain more confidence but they are definitely worth doing for your own records, even if you hate and despise your photos being taken. I’m sat here with my feet on a circulation booster, with my feet and calves twitching away. I’ve got it for both me and hubby in the hope that it will help both of us with our circulation and start helping me strengthen my muscles around my knees. We had a chat yesterday and agreed to rejoin our local gym. I know I won’t be able to do cardio like the treadmill etc but I certainly do need to spend some time on the resistance machines and hopefully the free weights. I want to try and get some muscle tone going and avoid masses of sagging skin if I can. I desperately miss going to the gym so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m due at physio next week for knee exercises so we’ve said we will begin 1st Sept (helps with keeping monthly finances straight too) Lots of NSVs this week…can now take my wedding/engagement/eternity rings off when in the bath. That certainly hasn’t happened for a long, long time. I’m finding more clothes to wear when ‘shopping in my wardrobe’. I’ve actually had to buy a BELT for my jeans 😮😮😮 I bought 3 pairs in the sales some time ago. 1pair fit fine, 1 I could just about fasten but not breathe, 1 I couldn’t fasten for love nor money. Fast forward to Saturday and it’s now 1 too big, 1 fasten easily and 1 fasten but can’t really breathe!!! Hopefully a belt will let me get some more wear out of them before they go off to the charity shop pile. It’s our wedding anniversary in September and I’ve set myself a target of wearing a dress that I wore for our wedding anniversary dinner 2 years ago. It’s a lovely dress and I felt fantastic when wearing it so hopefully it will fit again. I would like to lose another 10lbs or so before trying it on so fingers crossed 🤞🤞 Hubby knows what I’m aiming for and is all for it. Need to remember to record my food diary next week, ready for the dietitian appointment the week after. I record everything now but not the moods pre- and post- eating which they need. I’ve already recorded a dietitian diary just before I began my weight loss journey so hopefully she will be able to see the differences. Have a fantastic week everyone 🤩 Onwards and Downwards!

Really appreciate your kind words SemperVeritas. It is good to hear that taking semaglutide was a helpful and positive experience for you. Yes, being obsessed with thinking about food is horrid and is driving me battier. I just want the thoughts to stop. Even now I think that my doctor will say no just because he can. I am still classified as obese (Loathe that word) and doubt that I would lose any more weight but maybe if it can help you it can help me. Kinda scared to try it and scared not having it too. Crossing my fingers for tomorrow - about 12 hours from now. Thanks again.

@BigDane good luck tomorrow! Tomorrow is my clear liquid day before my surgery on Tuesday. Not nervous yet. Started packing, just taking the basics since it is only one night. I went to the grocery yesterday and stocked up on my post-op food. I will start puréed on day 5 and that is where I am more nervous about picking the right foods. How is everyone else doing with preparations for surgery?

I don't remember any specific food that gave me trouble. The advice I got was to try regular foods one at a time slowly so you can see how your body reacts. I have heard people say that they used to love food X but now it makes them sick or they lost their taste for it but that didn't happen to me. I had kind of a weird experience with salads an other raw vegetables - they went straight through me with hardly any digestion. Seriously, the toilet looked like I just overturned a bowl of salad into it. It didn't make me sick or anything, it was just strange. I was never a big salad eater to begin with but now I don't bother at all. During the thick liquids/soft solid stages I remember being frustrated at the limited options. I wasn't going to puree food in a blender or anything like that so I stuck to foods that were naturally the right texture. I ate a lot of scrambled eggs and yogurt during the soft solids stage. Two Good was my go-to brand of yogurt and I still eat it pretty often. It is low carb and they have several flavors. I'd also eat instant mashed potatoes thinned with broth or milks but that is a lot of carbs so maybe wasn't the best idea. I ate mostly soup during the thick liquids stage. Any cream of _____ soup should work OK. If there are chunks of meat or vegetables in it, you can strain them out. Split pea and tomato soup work too although I have never liked tomato soup. You can thin them with extra broth if it is too thick and strain or puree if it includes pieces of solid food. You'll feel a lot of restriction immediately after your surgery. The difference between feeling comfortably full and ready to vomit can be just one bite. You'll get a feel for it but you may mess up a couple times before that. The restriction lessens with time but I still cannot eat anywhere near as much as I could before the surgery. Sometime I catch myself thinking that I could eat a normal sized portion of food but I end up stopping 1/3-1/2 of the way through.

Hi, sorry to hear about your struggles 😔 it can be so tough! I'm 17m post op bypass, and although my team was happy with my loss at one year post op, I wanted to lose more and was really aware of how much I wanted to eat, like I never stopped thinking about food. I started taking compounded semaglutide in April, and the low doses didn't do much for me, but I've recently reached the therapeutic dose, and it has been great! Just this morning I hit a normal BMI, something I thought I could never do. I've been thinking about posting about my experience with it, because it was made a huge difference in both my physical appetite and my thoughts about food. I weighed 157 at my one year post-op, and 144.8 this morning! And most of that has come off just the last two months. Any drawbacks - I have had a few "learning experiences" like I did post-op, but overall it's been fine. If your doctor thinks it might be worth a trial, maybe give it a try. ☺️ I know it's making a big difference for lots of people.

I had my bypass in May 22. Happily and I needed to,\ I have lost a decent amount of weight after the bypass. My diet has been much improved. I go for walks most days and attend a gym once a week. On the down side depression has been kicking my butt and I have recently been hospitalized because of it. I spent a month inside and tried a new medication but it didnt seem to do anything for me so My P'doc said to stop taking it. Ever since then appetite has skyrocketed and it is causing me so much distress which I try to fix by eating. Yes, the cycle continues. So far my weight has not altered much but that wont stay the same forever. My psychiatrist has suggest that I ask my GP to prescribe Ozempic. Yes, I am a diabetic but since the bypass have managed my bsls with exercise and diet. Has anybody added Ozempic to help with their wls journey? Were there any draw backs. WHat else have you tried to get help with food addiction.

This may sound horrible but I like cooked beans with some buckwheat flour (heat-treated), almondbutter, milk, cocoa powder and salt. It is oddly addictive and satisfying while being just simple whole foods!

I bet I will be right there with you in a week, honestly, so please don't feel alone. I DO feel that it is totally ok to be looking forward to *real food* and wonder if your therapist wasn't using that word to prepare you for the fact that maybe food will end up tasting differently once you DO go back to it? I know my taste buds have changed a lot just during this liquid diet phase, and it makes me think of how when I stopped drinking soda my mind would be like 'Ooh a Coke sounds so NICE' but then I'd go to take a sip and it just.. tasted awful. My Chantix has caused the same effect for me regarding cigarettes. Once in a while I get to thinking that I want one, but because of the medicine even if I take a puff it doesn't taste good or satisfying AT ALL. There are some things that I used to not particularly enjoy that I'm now finding I like, though, like hot lemon water, well salted vegetables, and chicken/salmon much more than say - a burger. I'm not sure what is causing my change in preferences, I know in part is is the no-sugar, but it's also just across the board. I even rinse my mouth after the shakes and don't like the drink mix I used to use very much. I agree wholly with what others have posted here - It's fine to enjoy food, we'll just be enjoying it in a different way once we ramp back up to being able to eat it, and any sugary indulgences will have a cost-ratio we'll have to consider when we DO decide to treat ourselves. So glad you posted here, and hope you're doing well! My surgery is the morning of August 5th - I'm having a virgin SADI - a sleeve plus revision style surgery to my intestines all at once as my first WLS.