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Veterans of weight-loss surgery, what kind of plan do you go into Thanksgiving with? Do you count calories, weigh your food or just eat tiny portions of what you want? Do you go out of your way to make WLS-friendly sides and desserts? I just broke a 3 week stall and I don't want to go back to that weight ever again. Any tips and tricks are appreciated!

You all make great points. I can easily ignore and move past people's comments, but at that very moment when it happens it annoys me. haha Also, you all reminded me of family and the holidays! UH OH! I haven't seen most of my family in months! I have probably lost around 80 more LBS since the last time I saw them. So, Christmas will be interesting. My entire family is obese, most of them severely obese. So everyone ALWAYS comments on your weight loss. "What's your secret..blah blah blah" Really, just eating WAY less! \ Good luck to everyone through these trying times!

I agree, it is likely head hunger also. A few other things you can look at is to ensure you are managing your physical hun ger with the sleeve as much as possible. Please consider the following the options: (1) eat solid food that needs chewing, helps to reduce hunger (2) 50% meals are protein based, of a solid form also to help reduce hunger (3) Be well nourished with nutrition have a shake with extra protein powder and a MV for weight loss surgery (4) avoid looking for fullness Hope that helps Helen

Lol, I over prepared too. I made sure to have a mini fridge or cooler available. I did bring my lunchbox with ice packs and chicken just in case there weren’t good choices. That chicken saved me a couple of times when it was lasagna/Spaghetti. (Not a restaurant but family reunion over several days). I stayed in country so I could bring my water bottle and flavor packets, which would have been fine empty for traveling out of the country. The best part was being so active that I was really burning calories! I lost weight and enjoyed every bit of time with my family!

I can relate so much to eating at night. With my old eating habits, it was normal for me to wake up in the middle of the night and eat. I would sometimes eat a whole meal from leftovers. Currently I am 59 days out ( 8 weeks ), and that fat monkey on my shoulder is trying so hard to get me back into old habits. I find myself eating at night again, but thankfully I can't eat much anymore. But still, it's always been a horrible habit of mine. I do try most times to grab something smarter than dinner leftovers, like a banana, or a protein shake. I was surprised to see you were still on pureed food. But I know every doc is different. My doc said post surgery diet was to be 3 days clear liquid, 3 days full liquid, 3 days pureed, then solids as tolerated. I started slow with the solids. At 8 weeks now, there isn't much I haven't eaten ( no junk foods, sweets, or sugary sodas ). But now it's getting scary. I mean, I can only eat so much, but like I heard someone else say, my fat brain wants to eat when I'm not hungry. Eating just because something tastes good. Horrible old habits. I am losing weight ( 33 lbs in 59 days ), but I feel like I can do better. I must somehow convince myself that we should eat to live, not live to eat. I know I am addicted to food and the battlefield is in my brain. It's a daily struggle, but I know I can do this, and so can you !

Hello all, had Gastric Bypass on 11/14 and so far it has been way easier and less painful than expected. The only thing is I put on 10 pounds over night from when I was weighed before surgery and when I got home the next day. I’m SLOWLY losing that water weight… but still 4 pounds higher than when I went in. but I’m walking, drinking well, getting tired of protein shakes… would kill for some grilled salmon or even cottage cheese! fortunately, my appetite is under control so when my son eats his meals, I’m not (too) jealous!

i actually smiled when it was the same weight because i believe this stall means the body is holding onto things while rapidly healing… healing is perfect to me!!!! you are right…. a few days or a week or so I will be back into dropping (unless i get my clearance for doing some strength exercises then i might gain muscle, which is even better to me!! )

this is part two… part one brought me to surgery with my weight loss adventure .. (quick warning, i tried not to be graphic but an infection is referenced) now I am someone who weighs almost every day for several months but i have trained my brain to be chill about the number… just watch for trends because bodies are sometimes heavier for non fat related reasons… i have seen my body go up, down and drop drastically and rise rapidly all while loosing weight as a trend… now i am in my early post op and start with my surgery weight of 351.4 on 11/3/22 sat, 11/5/2022 - day 2 post op after first night home - i dropped to 349.4 - considering swelling and fluids I was satisfied because I thought that I would have been up.. sun, 11/6 - 348.4 - spent lots of time walking in my yard gathering pecans with my picker upper stick for a few days - more than 5 gallons worth mon, 11/7 - 347.6 struggling with fluids, slight pull feeing while sitting and standing but otherwise good! tues, 11/8 - 349.2 - more sore but not really in pain.. i attributed this to walking a bit much the day before and trying to get more fluids… tried to power through and keep being as active as i could… (today i also had bathroom success lol) Wednesday, 11/9 - 349.2 - incision area hurting more and thought that I truly overdid it and took a lazy day… mild temp of barely 99 Thursday 11/10 - 347 - more pain in big incision area and it was warmer, mild fever 99.8 degrees- still blaming myself for pushing myself to be so active post op. took a super lazy day (even made someone get a birthday cake for my son who turned 19) friday 11/11 - 345.4 - something was wrong. pain was so much worse getting up and down and even sometimes moving. temp went to 100.8 in morning and i was feeing off. called dr and waited for call back. incision area looked ok but felt warm and kinda harder than it did.. not much redness… by 1 pm temp spiked to 101.7 even with tylenol. called again to dr and said something was wrong … they called in antibiotics and made appt for monday to see how i would respond. 11/11 - trip to town going to antibiotics- my husband drove .. we went into aldi to pick up a couple items before going to kroger to get meds and another grocery order ( we were feeding guests on saturday playing a game) and i actually have little memory or the store trip just bits and pieces … i told my husband i had a big problem and my pants were wet.... my infection, well, ruptured while in store.. we went to kroger to get antibiotics where i took one in the parking lot then i fell asleep immediately in the car for the ride home (unusual).. when finally hope after another stop i slept through, i groggily made my way in the house, cleaned myself up with hibclens and stumbled into bed without bandaging my still seeping wound and wrapped up shivering … and immediately went back to sleep… my mom called an hour or two later and i answers on my watch.. groggy and not very coherent.. hard to love, hard to talk, slurring words.. she called my husband who was doing another errand and he eventually came home and checked on me .. i was not medicated as he thought and still seeping a lot and he bundled me up and brought me to the er despite my slurring attempts to protest that i was perfectly fine and just wanted to sleep.. the er had a full waiting room, but when the staff talked to me and saw the state of the towel against my incision area - i was not only taken back but in a room immediately… my bad veins were acting up.. 7 different iv attempts and had to get an arterial pull for blood.. multiple bags of fluid, potassium iv, multiple antibiotics, a ct with contrast, .. in other words a long long night.. 11/12 - 7 am my surgeon came to er and i was more coherent than most of the night… i had a large infection and was a little dehydrated … but with the treatment already received and the iv antibiotics combined with oral, he thought i would be ok and i could go home with a bandages wound and see him monday morning. i slept for a few hours when i got home, then woke up sore and still hurting some but better than i had felt in a few days. bandages changed every couple hours due to drainage. when i got home before 9 am i weighed myself out of curiosity and i was 352. it made me laugh because they really did pump me full of fluids!! every day after got better. less pain, discharge stopped monday and slowly the fluids started to come off. i am now 17 days post op and i am down to 335.6 for the second day in a row. might be that famous 3 week stall early. but i am fine with that because it usually means good healing is finally taking place and the scale with catch up eventually. i can move better than pre surgery and 100% better than six months or a year ago. my stamina still sucks but is improving even with the infection (two types of streptococcal bacteria) I am doing good and on my way to the life that i keep telling myself I deserve to live. i want to make plans and do things for the first time in a few years. i am no longer afraid to go to a store because it hurt my back so badly and turned my face from pale white to tomato red due to the physical effort… i can actually go in without the immediate pain! so far even with the setback this is one of the best things i ever did for me

It's great that you are experiencing so many health benefits and that you are content. That is the goal for all of us, or at least most of us. Hopefully, that woman you saw is experiencing health benefits, too. And it varies how much people focus on their looks. If she's happy and healthy, that's great too. A friend of mine was pretty negative when I told her I was going to have gastric sleeve, because she has another friend who had weight loss surgery a few years back, and to my friend that woman looked similar to what you are describing. But, that woman was feeling better and was happy with that, which is the most important part. I'm not anywhere near my goal weight, and I'd be disappointed if my weight loss stopped here. I have been able to stop taking medication for high blood sugar, but I want to be able to stop at least one of my two blood pressure meds and get below obesity weight into the "overweight" category. If I end up 10-20 pounds above ideal weight, that's not a big deal to me. But we all have to find our own goals and our way to health. I'd rather be healthy, and if I will be saggy or whatever I'm not averse to plastic surgery if needed.

The stalls are a bit frustrating. I'm having one too, but I'm not as desperate now as I was during my last stall. I have passed my initial goal or getting under 100 kilos (220 pounds). My next two goals are 93 kilos (205 pounds) because then I will have lost an even 20 kilos from my highest weight, and then 91 kilos (200 pounds) which was what I weighed a decade ago after I had my son. Also, 91 kilos / 200 pounds for my height is the cutoff for obesity according to BMI, so once I'm below that I'm considered overweight but no longer obese. I know BMI is not an exact science, but it still makes a difference to me psychologically. Initially, I wanted to be 91 kilos / 200 pounds at the end of this year, but maybe 93 kilos is a more realistic goal. Still, I'm thinking of taking up more exercise to help me reach my goals. I have 7 weeks to go until January 1st, so I should be able to lose at least 3 kilos, and maybe more. Fingers crossed.

Typically this is not for weight loss... This is to help another issue (GERD) so i dont think BMI would matter in this case... But call your insurance company to verify

I’m not a good reference for weighloss after revision because I had the revision when I was at goal but the preop and stress of surgery led me to lose 10-15lbs. (I worked to regain that weight as my surgeon did not want me to lose any additional weight)

Did you lose weight after revision, (if yes) how much and how long did it take? Thanks so much! Sent from my SM-G996U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Have you ever lost 21 lbs in just over a month? You're absolutely on track. My surgery was also on October 17th. I've lost around 27 lbs. 5'6- starting weight was 227 day of surgery. The absolute worst thing you can. Do to yourself is compare your journey to others. This surgery isn't a quick fix. You will have slow loss some months and seemingly easy months with fast loss. Trust the process. Don't get frustrated abd just focus on what you can control. Nutrition and water. Everything else will follow.

I haven't tried gum but I have used straws a few times with no issues. The cravings are something I understand though and I'm sad to have them. I was looking forward to not being hungry and being happy on my protein diet, but it hasn't been as easy as I hoped. If its just a rare event then it shouldn't hurt anything at all as far as weight loss. The hard part is the mental one after a treat day. You realize you can eat those bad for you foods and then you want them more and more often. If you can handle the mental part and go back to the prescribed diet and stay on it then I think a treat day every once in a while can be fine. I plan on thanksgiving being my treat day and I'll eat the carbs and dessert and just relax for one day. This diet is like a full time job sometimes.

My father never had surgery but suffered from GERD as long as I can remember. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer last year. That’s what motivated me to get this done. Before surgery I was also on pantoprazole twice daily and still taking tums and GasX daily too. I also wear a CPAP and had unbearable aerophagia every morning. That’s ultimately why I chose to go through with it. My sleeve didn’t help me much with weight loss but I lost 70 lbs earlier this year between the nausea and vomiting! As I type this I just woke up with similar but milder symptoms and I’m 10 days post op. I really hope it’s just due to the healing process! Everyone I’ve read about says all symptoms of GERD disappear after revision

the dietitian I did my six-month pre-op diet with had me eating 2000 calories/day and exercising at least 3x a week, I think (well, I'm sure on the calories - I can't remember how often she had me exercising). Between that and the all-liquid two-week diet my surgeon required, I lost 57 lbs (15-20 of that was from the two-week liquid diet)). But then I weighed over 300 lbs, so I would have lost weight on 2000 cal/day no matter what (I was probably eating 3000 calories before that in order to maintain that weight). It wasn't that hard to do. I think i would have struggled on 1200 calories, but then, it's likely I started out much heavier than you.

I had my surgery in the pandemic. It should have been a 4 month wait but ended up being 8. It broke me at times but the information I gained while waiting and reading back pages of this forum really set me up for success. I knew exactly what to expect. In the New year the time will fly for you. You will be so busy getting your house ready [ nesting] and then doing your pre-op diet. I made broths for the freezer and bought a mixture of foods for the early days like instant porridge and a variety of protein yogurts etc. Being older and disabled at the time I didnt have much energy while recovering so was really glad of this prep work.

Yesterday I had my first experience of really going off the rails post surgery. We’re traveling and stopped within 2 miles of my favorite restaurant which we don’t have within hours of my house. So I ate my favorite chicken fingers and a couple hours later half a piece of cheesecake. Not gonna lie they were delicious but I definitely overate and probably hit 2000 calories yesterday. Otherwise I have been pretty much on track, even while traveling. How much do you think this will set me back weight loss-wise?

Had my surgery on 10/24. The first week and a half I was steady losing a pound or two a day. For the last 10 days however my weight has gone up and down by the same 1-2 pounds so I guess I’ve hit the dreaded stall that people experience around the 2-3 week mark. I’m down 13 pounds since my surgery date and 24 pounds since starting the pre op diet. I have noticed my pants have gotten baggier and my face is thinner. I started at 215 pounds with a BMI of 34 so I expected my results to be slower since I was on the “lower” size for this surgery. It’s crazy how everyone’s diets are different with each doctor. As of this week I’m allowed most foods with the exception of beef, pork, rice, Pasta, bread, raw vegetables and nuts. I am mostly eating small amounts of chicken, tuna, eggs, refried Beans, cottage cheese and some fruits. My doctor has told me to prioritize Protein and aim for 60 grams a day. I have to drink 1-2 Protein Shakes to accomplish this as my portions are not big enough to get that from food yet. I was also told no straws which is also seems to vary by doctor. I feel like I’m doing ok mostly. I have been struggling mostly with just getting my fluids in. I am supposed to drink 64 ounces a day of which 20 is plain Water. Because I can only take sips and not drink 30 minutes before or after I eat it can be challenging. It takes me a couple hours usually to drink one cup of water. So that’s my biggest hurdle right now. I’m trying to be better with it and track. Any tips? Otherwise I’m looking forward to breaking through this plateau and seeing more progress. Hopefully in the coming weeks the scale will move again. I’m trying not to obsess over it but 20+ years of yo-yo dieting has given a lot of power to that damn thing 😡

I officially started phase 3 of eating today and I started with some of my favorite mongolian BBQ chicken and rice from my favorite Thai place in a very small portion with the chicken cut up into very small pieces. I also didn't want to miss the McRib (it leaves "forever" the 20th lol) so I got it without a bun and cut it in half and then ate half of it cut up really small. I'm having a really good time progressing on foods. Aside from a hiccup where I got sick and vomited up turkey (I shouldn't have ate it during pureed though, I jumped the gun and messed up because we were doing early Thanksgiving and I thought I'd be fine), everything has been fine for me. But what's really crazy is I am officially down 62 pounds. I can hardly believe it. I'm only a month out from my surgery! Albeit, let me add, I was down about 24 pounds before my surgery so I'm really technically down an extra 38 pounds post-op. But it feels so great because I am lower than the weight I was at the beginning of 2020. I can tell I've lost weight in my face and legs at the minimum, but my mother has made multiple comments about how different I look and how much weight I've lost but I keep finding it hard to believe lol. It's those body image issues -- only really hit home I really am losing when I saw my weight yesterday at the doctor's office on the scale. So excited to be on the soft mechanical phase, cannot wait to eat my Sunday chicken dinner. I miss moist chicken soooo much. Wishing everybody good luck and in case I'm not around by next week, happy Thanksgiving to you!

The constipation doesn’t really last that long - usually just while you’re losing & it lessens as you progress & as you’re eating a broader range of foods & your portions get larger. Sure, I still have the odd day I have no movement but I used to have that before surgery. It could be I didn’t drink much water the day before, my diet was a little off or just my body. Nothing to do with the surgery. Many believe obesity & certain foods can trigger IBS which is likely why obese people with IBS do experience a reduction of symptoms after bariatric surgery: because of the change of diet & their weight loss. Certainly worth eliminating the worst food offenders from your diet to see if that reduces your attacks if you’re not already doing so. And a further, more detailed conversation with your doctors may better answer your questions & concerns..

Just curious if insurance will cover you if they want to do a revision from a sleeve to a bypass. 18 months out no weight gain buy having unbelievable GERD affecting my health.

I had surgery on 10/18 - the day after you. I have lost 19 pounds since day of surgery. My profile is misleading, because it shows my highest weight, which was 245. It doesn't show you that my surgery weight was 220. So, take heart, I've lost less than you.

I dropped 50+ lbs pre-surgery by cutting out all foods containing sugar, flour, white potatoes, rice, and processed foods. These are my trigger foods. I consider myself to be a sugar/food addict. I can never go back to eating these things with abandon. I started using the Baritastic app. I occasionally used liquid protein shakes during that period. My calorie count dropped to around 1000 per day. I attended water exercise classes three days a week, including swimming 1/4 mile each time. I also increased my mileage on my walking tricycle to at least a mile a day. I've lost another 50+ lbs since my RNY>RNY revision surgery. I still strive to avoid my trigger foods. It's harder to resist now and weight loss is slow going, but I'm still dropping a few pounds a month with lengthy stalls.