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I never really had the emotional ups and downs, mostly because at the time I had PCOS, and the influx of estrogen from both my surgeries actually normalized my hormones for a few months each time lol What I DID have, however, is the emotional issues that came with changing my relationship with food. I had NO IDEA that would be a thing lol Changing what you eat, how you eat, when and why you eat, how often you eat is like breaking up with a toxic partner. You've been together for a REALLY long time, and even though you KNOW it's a terrible, unhealthy relationship, it's really all you know and you're so dependent on it you don't think you can function without it. And now you have to figure out how to. You have to completely retrain your brain, learn the difference between true hunger and head hunger (there is an actual, real difference), and you have to learn to read the nutrition labels, track your calories and Protein and carbs, work out, don't cheat (and don't make excuse after excuse and justification after justification for why you went back to the toxic relationship even after you knew it was bad for you, yet still gave in), measure food, track fluids, take HONEST accountability for your actions (which isn't something most of us had been particularly good at) and make adjustments as needed to stay as compliant as possible for the long haul. Contrary to what so many think, there's actually a LOT of work that has to happen after the surgery. The surgery itself is just a tool. It's not a miracle cure. It won't fix all the issues if you don't put in the actual work. Just eating smaller amounts without making any of the necessary changes isn't enough, and that's a hard lesson many learn later on. All of this is such a mind eff, and takes a toll on a person. It's a lot of changes, and a lot of work, thrown at a person all at once. And no matter how ready you think you are, it can still cause so much emotional turmoil, and understandably so. What I, and so many, don't realize is that we all have ED (eating disorders) in order to get to being obese and morbidly obese (or in some cases, super morbidly obese). It's not just anorexia or bulimia. I genuinely didn't know that. We have to retrain our brains to get out of that, and sometimes that requires help, and we have to be ok with getting that help. And because we have to do that, we then get incredibly frustrated and defeated feeling when the weight comes off slower than we thought it would, or we hit stalls (or in my case, stall after stall after stall - which is COMPLETELY normal, by the way, and should be expected). I said all of this to say there's SO many different reasons we can have emotions all over the place. Influx of hormones all at once, changes in relationship with food, changes in routines and increase in the things we don't particularly like doing (or not doing anymore), learning we have to do a lot of work to get and maintain the results we want after the surgery, learning PATIENCE with the rate of weight loss and trusting the process (easier said than done, believe me, I know), realizing that body dysmorphia is REAL and we can and do struggle with seeing ourselves as anything other than our formerly obese selves (I'm 182 pounds and I still see 421 pounds sometimes when I look in the mirror), and of course, hair loss (also COMPLETELY normal, and will eventually stop). You won't go bald, there's nothing to prevent it or stop it, you need to increase your Protein, Biotin doesn't slow it down, and it's a COMPLETELY normal part of the process that many of us don't know about until it happens and then we freak out. So give yourself some grace and just know this is normal. You're doing great, and we're all here for you, just like everyone was here for me

I feel like I am stuck in a repetitive loop with food at the moment - I find one thing I like and it is all I eat 😂 My current obsession is a mix of things in a bowl, including: beetroot, small balls of mozzarella, chicken pieces, cucumber, crème fraîche, olives, sundried tomatoes, and a protein popped corn and pea mix. Sounds gross but for some reason I really can't stop eating it 😂

Great advice from the others. I’ll add track what you are eating now, how much, what & how often. It can help identify where you’re veering off course. It can also help to note your emotions or why you may be eating when you do. (Why do I want this snack? Am I bored, angry, sad, happy, frustrated, etc.) Then start making changes. Make one or two changes every two weeks or so. For example, cut back on portion sizes & up your fluids, then reduce how often you eat (drop a snack) & meet your protein goal, then try switching up your ingredients & cooking styles, etc. It’s easier to adopt & adapt to one or two small changes at a time than making huge changes all at once. Also find a therapist who can support you as you work through your relationship with food. If you didn’t see someone before your surgery, your team should be able to recommend someone who deals with bariatric patients & disordered eating.

Less pre-op diet because in theory less food has been consumed due to having had a prior surgery reducing amount consumed AND less nutrients have been absorbed, doctors don't want their patients going through a major surgery in a weakened condition.

Thank you! It does feel amazing. Yeah, the three months were horrible! I was beyond discouraged and starting to get angry, you go through all this and follow the rules - giving up delicious foods, increase activity- you expect to lose #'s. I expect it to slow down to a trickle (just didn't expect it at 6 months PO) I was prepared for it at around the one year mark. Maybe I'll get an extension since I had to suffer through the three months 😉 and it won't slow for a few months into my year!!

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I will be having hernia repair and vertical gastric sleeve on 8/6/24. SW 295.9 CW 270 GW 150 My food education class is this coming week, and I hope to learn a lot more about what I will be allowed to eat. I do know that I will be on a 2-week pre-op and 2-week post-op liquid diet. I will actually get all my vitamins and protein powders during my class. I am fortunate that my insurance covers the surgery at 100% and I only had a 4 month waiting period from my first doctor visit. I stopped all caffeine, carbonated, and high calorie drinks back in April. My daily water goal of 64oz is pretty hard to reach sometimes, but I do my best. Ironically, I do better on the days I am at work as opposed to at home. Best of luck to those of you giving up smoking.

I'm the same way, one little off step for me is a slippery mountain. Knowing this I am very regimented, I have a schedule/routine for taking my vitamins etc., it becomes muscle memory for me that way. One "just this time" and I start sliding full clip. Unfortunately, it IS a full time job, but as the saying goes the best for your future is to be your own boss - you never get rich working for others. Work towards your health and future. This is how I put myself on a routine: 1. Purchased a "Hidrate Spark" (water bottle that lights up to remind me to drink with an app to track and also remind me) annoying but it helps. 2. Purchased a 4 times a day 7 days a week vitamin container that I have set up with reminders on my phone I put right next to my coffeemaker. I used Velcro to attach it to my phone case. Its always with me. 3. A picture of myself on my frig/cabinets at my heaviest to remind me why. 4. Remove ALL temptations from the house. My husband wants junk food he goes out. Lastly, I hate hate working out so I purchased a weight vest and weight gloves which I wear all the time as I'm cleaning, walking etc. I also, IF I want a "treat" (Yasso Greek yogurt ice cream bar) or a no sugar fudgcicle I do some squats, leg lifts before I treat myself etc.. Just remember its baby steps, if I deny myself all at once I become resentful and angry. So, start with one improvement and do it consistently until you no longer have to remind yourself or you do it regularly then add the next health improvement to your routine. If I can do it, YOU can do it. I come from an entire family of smackers and grazers who are all thin - I recognize its a battle, unfortunately now its a lifetime battle and I finally decided being thin is soooooooo much better than being fat so I strap on my warrior armor and do what I have to do. Ask yourself what YOU want out of life and win the battle - period!

I can only reiterate what others before have said, they have great advice. You did great and you can do it again. My advice for what its worth is try and find a few minutes to plan your food for the coming week, buy it and stick to your purchases. I know its tougher if you are feeding a family who eat foods you are trying not to eat. Use a good food tracker, track and eat your protein. It fills you and does wonders for your body. Find an exercise you can stick with. Keep coming back to this site and update us. We all struggle at some point.

Hi! I had RNY in 2005, gained every pound back on, plus 30. I transferred my food addiction to substances. Alcohol especially. Carby slider foods and wine were a disaster. I have been healed from various medical issues and lost 120 lbs regain, so far. This was done with the Carnivore way of eating. I call it my "healthstyle". I am also now free from addiction. Feel free to message me, if you get this message from such an old post. I hope you're doing well. I hope to hear from you. Yes, the pic on the left was many years after surgery.

It's not that you need hard truth, you just need to face some truths for yourself. There's nothing we can tell you that you don't already know. You know what the bariatric diet is. You know what to eat and what not to. You know how much to eat, how often, and when to stop. You need to get back to basics. Maybe start the bariatric diet over. Do a week on each step of the diet to retrain your stomach and brain on what to do and not do. There's no "pouch shrinking diet" but there's a "retrain yourself how to eat properly again" diet, and it's essentially to start back over with the basics and go from there. Reach back out to the nutritionist from your surgeon's office if you need help or new meal ideas. Go back to using calorie/carb/protein/fat counting apps. Measure out your food again. Log your meals and meal plan. Make sure you're moving your body at least a little every day. Cut out sugar and salt as much as you can. Do all the things you did when you lost the 70 pounds. Do the things you already know to do. There's not really any new tips and tricks. It's lifestyle changes you need to make and stick with. If you didn't do it before, do it now.

Yah ! we are close on our surgery date! I honestly didn’t think I would think so much about the separation of my favorite foods. Almost like a break up lol i hope it’s gets better.

I kind of wish I hadn't had to do 3 weeks of liquid but honestly my appetite for food is dwindling. I noticed yesterday when I walked in to a building, I could smell something food related that honestly smelled amazing and I had this distinct, "Oh, that smells great" but I had no urge to eat it. Small victories!!

Hmm, I don’t like purée anything so I stayed in liquids stage a full 4 weeks. As long as I was on liquids, the BMs were liquid too and would announce themselves with surprise. I got regular and less liquidy with more solid foods and the introduction of magnesium and probiotics at night. My son says the RNY caused me to make the paint peel in the bathroom, (mom eye roll here)There seems to be more unpredictability for relatives and friends with Crohn’s or cancer. I wonder if it’s because of sections removed lower on the intestines? DS and RNY seems to effect the first part of the small intestine.

@BlueParis The music festival looks like a wonderful time! And I'm so glad to hear you're in a good place with how you feel about yourself. It makes such a difference, doesn't it? For me, it was a year ago today that I went to my appointment with my weight management doctor and was advised to consider having surgery. I had just finished a 2-week roadtrip, driving around 7,000km from Boston to Denver and back for a writing conference, with some great stops along the way. And by "just finished" I mean I had pulled into my driveway at about 10am that morning, having been delayed at the Canadian border (because the maps app on the iPhone didn't know the little border crossing it was sending me to closed at 4pm and I had to drive a couple more hours to find an open crossing!) and having to stay an extra night in Vermont because it was getting too late to make it home safely. After two weeks of restaurant meals and junk food snacks, I weighed in at my highest ever. A year later, I've lost 65 lb and am just 1.4 lbs away from no longer being classified as obese. I still have a ways to go, but it feels good to have gotten this far. Recently, I've had more trouble with vomiting, so I'm sticking with liquids for 24 hours to see if I can let my stomach rest. It seems I never know what will set me off. I have an appointment with my nutritionist coming up soon and will talk to her about it. I'm also struggling post-vacation with some sugar and carb cravings, along with having zero desire to do any cooking now that summer weather has arrived.

Don’t think the small amounts you eat in the beginning is how much you’ll eat forever. After surgery your stomach muscle is very tight so it can’t tolerate much. But as it heals, and you start to introduce more foods, it slowly starts to soften (not stretch) & is able to tolerate more. I was told, though I began with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from the puree stage, by about 6 months I’d be up to about a cup. Which was pretty accurate for me. I’m 5 years out & from about 2 years, I was pretty much eating a recommended portion size. Check the nutrition panel of processed pre prepared foods and google recommended portions of other foods or ingredients to give you an idea. Generally about 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables, 2 eggs, a small apple, etc. Some days I can’t/not interested in eating that much, other days it’s the perfect portion. The liver shrink diet is not to actually shrink the liver but the fat around the liver. This is to allow your surgeon to have better vision of & access to your tummy during the surgery. This diet does differ surgeon to surgeon, patient to patient. Generally it’s two weeks of a shake three times a day. However, some are four shakes, others two shakes & one lean protein & steamed vegetables meal. Others are only for a week or a couple of days. Mine was keto for two weeks (I started a couple of days earlier). Some people lose seemingly a lot of weight, others only a few pounds. It’s one of those things linked to how much weight you carry. It can be tough as you may experience withdrawal like symptoms (from stopping/reducing sugar, carbs, caffeine) for about 5 days. Apparently my surgeon’s patients who did the two week all shakes called the first week hell week. While tough, remember it is only for two weeks and the big picture benefits & wins makes it so worth it. All the best with your surgery.

Ive made it to my cute little music festival in the Loire valley. And I really feel happy and at peace for the first time in a long time while being around a lot of new people - I’m not ashamed of my body or of how I move. And I also realised that I’m happy grazing little bits of food and sitting down for a meal with people and not feeling the need to stuff myself but also not feeling like I’m missing out. I wanted to share this with you folks because the last few months have been quite (very) tough at times and you’ve been my sounding board and holding me up. I know my journey is far from over and that the road ahead is a long and winding one, but… I have no doubts that I made the right choice for me. How’s everyone getting on ?

I did i wanted potato candy and a pop. My mom also made me a strawberry rhubarb custard pie. I also made popcorn balls. We had a potluck i was looking forward to but I was the only one that brang food so that sucked i was looking forward to all you can wat lol. I also wanted one more piece of pie after fireworks, but it was after midnight so I refrained.

To me spice is really essential, I can’t have mild food unfortunately but luckily no acidity so far ♥️

Are you feeling head hunger or real hunger? That’s the important question to ask yourself when you think you’re hungry. Generally if you’re craving a specific food, flavour or texture it’s head hunger. Are you feeling, tired, angry, bored, frustrated, sad, etc. Then it’s head hunger. Are you hormonal? Head hunger. Did you eat to sooth & comfort yourself before surgery? Again head hunger. The surgery is stressful. You can be emotional & because of the flush of hormones, hormonal. All triggers for head hunger. Plus your head is telling you this tiny amount of food is no where near enough food for you, you need to eat more. Yep, head hunger. Plus the more you think about food & eating the more you want to eat. For many of us, what we always thought as being hunger signals aren’t signals for real hunger. They’re signals for head hunger but they were the ones we always responded to by eating. Real hunger signals are different. For example I feel restless like something is wrong. I don’t immediately think I’m hungry. Actually I usual argue with myself that I’m not hungry until I realise that logically I could be hungry (missed a meal, only ate a small portion or only a snack for a previous meal, has been several hours since I ate, etc.) Distraction is often the easiest thing to do to overcome head hunger. Go for a walk (as you’re able), read, ring a friend or family member, craft, do a puzzle, sip a warm drink, anything to take your mind off food & eating. Stick to your plan & try not to go off course. This is when your new good habits begin & relationship with foods starts to change. You’ve got this.

Vegetables on a chilli are pretty well cooked so I can’t see a problem. I ate well cooked vegetables in soft food. Threw quite a variety in soups, mince dishes, anything I cooked slowly for at least an hour. If you still are a little worried just do a quick blitz with a stick blender, mash with a fork or potato masher or use a sieve to make sure there isn’t anything too dense or coarse. Leaks are pretty rare but you still need to be careful while you’re healing (about 6 weeks or so). Now if you said you’d eaten raw vegetables in the purée or soft stage I’d be saying: no, stop, don’t.

A small amount of cooked vegetables, chewed thoroughly and eaten once by accident will not cause a leak. Some programs even allow cooked vegetables in the soft foods stage.

Hi guys! So I’m just now allowed soft foods/purees I’m on my third week post op. On my allowed foods list is chili. So I had a little chili and when I went back to look at what’s allowed and what’s not I realized that vegetables are a no no. The chili had cooked onions and tomatoes in it and now I’m terrified I’m going to cause a leak. Any advice? I did chew well and didn’t eat that much, physically can’t lol, but still I’m so scared.

I do 2 capfuls of Miralax every morning. It keeps me regular enough (I go on average of one good poo every other day). I try to incorporate fiber in my food, but honestly, I'm not super great at it. So I started adding Benefiber this last week and it's helped me do an extra 2 poos a week, which is fantastic. I do have some stool softener/laxative combo tablets if my magic combo doesn't work for 3 days in a row. On day 4, that's when I take the caplets.

I love salad. My husband usually barbecues a few times a week and I just ask him to make a couple chicken breasts and I can add whatever to make it a meal. Fruit and Chicken salad or “Market Salad” and low carb ceaser salad wraps are both in the rotation. I haven’t tried fish on salad. I don’t like salmon that much sadly. I know it’s so good for me but I think I will try it with mahii. I really hope that I can tolorate salads post SADI. Someone told me that they cannot post DS. That and the ones that say they can’t do a lot of fruit scare me a little. In terms of healthier food, they are my faves. With the sleeve I didn’t have any foods that gave me issies though and the sleeve part is already done so fingers crossed I will be okay with them. I never thought of looking for keto homey. I eat it so rarely. Thanks for the idea.

Be careful with chips as when you can eat a little more they are a slider food that can get you in trouble. Quest makes some protein chips that are pretty good. I like the ranch ones and my husband loves the loaded taco. They have them at Walmart or target and Amazon.not that I am recommending them this early out but everyone’s plan is different.