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I do have the detailed food plan it’s just that once something works in my stage i stick to it - i don’t try anything else on the approved list for my stage And i was wondering if maybe it’s better to try a new food on the approved list every couple of days … i don’t know if that makes sense Almost like testing tolerance to as much as possible within the plan of course

1). I lost 16 lbs the entire first MONTH, and I went on to lose over 200 lbs. Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month (yes - MONTH). So unless you're an outlier or the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", you are doing very well! 2). sounds like you are experiencing the infamous "Three-week stall" right now - right on time, too! The vast majority of us hit our first major stall within the first month or so after surgery - and it's usually the third week;, hence, the name. If you google the site for the three-week stall, you will find something like 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding). A slight bump-up in weight is not unusual, either. It's almost certainly just water weight. The best thing to do is to continue to stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you remain compliant with your program, the stall will break and you'll be on your way again. It usually takes 1-3 weeks. 3). you won't feel much (if any) restriction or "full" until you move to solid foods. Liquids go right through you, and purees pass through pretty quickly, too. Plus you had nerves cut during surgery, and it takes awhile for them to start to regenerate. You'll feel it fairly soon. However, "full" doesn't always feel the same way for many of us that it did before surgery. I don't feel "full" the same way at all - it's more a discomfort - sort of like pressure - in my chest. Once I start feeling that, I know I'd better stop eating or I'm going to be sorry. Others have even weirder full signals - like a runny nose or sneezing.

Everyone’s liver shrink diet is pretty different. Some have all shakes and others are basically just high protein/ low carb. Did your team give you any paperwork? They usually include a very specific list of foods that you are allowed to eat. Finding a couple of protein shakes you like will be a good start though, those are good for most pre op diets, immediately post surgery and even down the road they are ideal to have on hand for unexpected times. I carry a cooler full of water and at least one protein shake or yogurt drink with me whenever I am out so that if I find myself stuck out and don’t have time or can’t find anything on plan I can just have that. I also have a ziplock with a variety of protein snacks that I bring when I know it will be an unpredictable day. Don’t stock up on too many shakes of the same kind though, your tastes may change a bit after surgery. Especially for sweets stuff. Convenience stores are a good way to try singles of a variety of shakes unless you know someone who will drink the rest of the ones you don’t prefer. One tip if your allowed sugar free popsicles is that the tropical flavors are Amazing. Soooo much better than the traditional flavors I thought.

You tend to experience constipation &/or diarrhoea post surgery. The constipation will often remain a regular occurrence. Initially it’s because of the surgery (blood and digestive irritation from the surgery and then because you’re on the liquid diet & consuming so little & not having much to poop out. Best advice is to try to keep on top of it. Add some soluble fibre to your diet, set a routine for a stool softener or similar. For example I’d take a stool softener (coloxyl)or similar if I hadn’t gone in three days. (Going every 2nd day was pretty common for me especially while losing.) Now 5 years out, I’ll take one if I haven’t gone for 2 or 3 days. (I’m on Creons and they tend to firm things up and slow the progress through the intestines which doesn’t help.) Some people swear by smooth tea, or regular miralax. You may have to try a few things but you’ll discover what works for you in time and it may change as you progress and eat more and a greater variety of food types.

"I mean all the hoops that are required for weight loss surgery, I haven’t done anything like this for any other surgery It really feels like discrimination. How is it that in this day and age they are still getting away with it.?" I wholeheartedly agree. I think about this when I think about skin surgery not being covered by insurance because its "elective" "plastic surgery" yet transitional surgeries are covered and "elective". Both are to help with how we see ourselves, what our inner selves are, our mental health! The differences are one can cause bad rashes, difficulties wearing clothing and getting around/exercising, back pain/skeletal pain from excessive hanging skin weight and is caused by treating a disease. The other involves self perception as well and can cause mental distress, yet is readily covered by insurance and yet involves "healthy body parts." To me it IS discrimination, why cover one without question but not the other? Heck, transitional doesn't even require therapy now. Both are major changes in a life. I always got the impression insurance companies refuse to cover skin surgery because we "brought it on ourselves" opposed to it being an actual symptom from a disease. I have rosacea which is purely a visual thing yet its covered, as is acne, warts etc...all covered. Yes, they're cheaper to cover, but are a disease that's visual that's covered they also won't cause a secondary problems. They will even cover breast reductions for back pain, why not excessive skin for back pain? I personally found no worth to the therapy session, I knew and know what caused my obesity and what I needed to do to get healthier. Some may not. It should be voluntary or required if people start to back slide gaining weight after surgery but to me beforehand was pointless. It would have been more helpful to cover the changes in your life that would be happening. Yes, I was also required to do a group session with ppl who had gone through it or were..but it was a structured topic put on by the dieticians. Perhaps if they offered mentors or group sessions for dealing with life changes..that would be better..ppl who've gone through it, not someone schooled on what its supposed to be like..that would be better opposed to a size two I've never battled with my weight therapist/dietician!

From the research I've done, your lifelong maintenance is less about counting calories and more about eating mindfully while choosing nutrient dense, natural foods. This is one of the best videos I have watched on the subject:

Had a productive visit with my doctor today, and there's some good news as well as a few adjustments to make. She was happy with my weight loss progress so far, but made it clear that it could be better. Her main concern is the calories I'm consuming, so the goal moving forward is to cut down a bit. One key suggestion was to start considering protein snacks as meal replacements, which makes sense to keep things in check. Since these are my "honeymoon months," she emphasized that it’s essential to get this right now to avoid hitting a stall by the 6-month mark. My workouts, on the other hand, are spot-on, so the primary focus will be on tweaking meals—specifically reducing carbs and being mindful of snack choices. On the health front, I’ve started taking iron supplements and will be getting my vitamin levels checked this Sunday. However, one piece of disappointing news: the counselor is no longer available, so if I need support, I’ll have to look for external options. Overall, I'm feeling a mix of being a little down but also more motivated to fine-tune my food intake and cut back on calories. I’m determined to make the most of these critical months and maximize my progress.

Had a productive visit with my doctor today, and there's some good news as well as a few adjustments to make. She was happy with my weight loss progress so far, but made it clear that it could be better. Her main concern is the calories I'm consuming, so the goal moving forward is to cut down a bit. One key suggestion was to start considering protein snacks as meal replacements, which makes sense to keep things in check. Since these are my "honeymoon months," she emphasized that it’s essential to get this right now to avoid hitting a stall by the 6-month mark. My workouts, on the other hand, are spot-on, so the primary focus will be on tweaking meals—specifically reducing carbs and being mindful of snack choices. On the health front, I’ve started taking iron supplements and will be getting my vitamin levels checked this Sunday. However, one piece of disappointing news: the counselor is no longer available, so if I need support, I’ll have to look for external options. Overall, I'm feeling a mix of being a little down but also more motivated to fine-tune my food intake and cut back on calories. I’m determined to make the most of these critical months and maximize my progress.

Hi everyone! Hope those of you that have had your surgery or are having a great recovery and those are you that are waiting to have yours ready for your new journey! I will say it’s been a roller coaster of emotions after surgery . My best advice is do not compare yourself to others! We are all totally different on this journey and everyone will be different and that is from the amount of weight you lose all the way up to the foods that you can tolerate and what you can eat afterwards. My surgery Sisters and I have had different experiences. They were able to have their ice chips right after getting the clearance well as I was struggling to even have half a teaspoon of broth. I am now 11 days postop and I am still on basically a clear liquid diet . It’s not fun. It sucks. I’ve gone through being able to have protein and then my stomach doesn’t tolerate it. I’ve gone through yogurt and then my stomach can’t tolerate it. It’s changing its mind day by day lol. So I’ve been having to try various different things to see what works. For me currently my stomach likes either hot or cold . In this journey you’re pretty much learning from a whole different perspective who the new you is. It’s not been easy. It’s a huge challenge! I’ve also learned the difference between feeling hungry and being mentally hungry. I no longer feel hungry, but I crave food that I was once able to eat. Mainly a huge feeling of nostalgia. I understand that eventually I’ll be able to eat those foods and much smaller portions which is why I had the surgery to begin with, but that feeling is still there. And it is very important to understand the difference between that hunger and that mental hunger , especially in the journey that lies ahead. Some more vices, make sure you take your medication as the doctor prescribes. When I drink anything, I feel a pain in my chest and a pain in my left shoulder. My doctor says that this is normal. However, the big things to watch out for our fever, nausea, vomiting. Your body is going through a lot. I keep having to tell myself that. Don’t expect to pass a bowel movement for a while either . I’m currently taking MiraLAX to help me through it. I don’t expect to have one, especially just being on a liquid diet. My weight hasn’t changed for the past four days. Don’t be shocked at the fact that you’re not dropping like crazy. Like I said, it’s been a heavy journey, very emotional journey, but as always need to just keep my eye on the prize is what I tell myself . This is a journey, not race. Wishing you all a safe recovery and hoping those of you that are getting ready for this journey enjoy !

I'm fairly certain its the other way around. The only thing you actually lose in hot weather is water weight causing dehydration. So make sure you drink more water with perhaps a bit of sodium added to your food! "You won't burn more calories in the heat, but that may be a different story in cold weather. According to the National Institutes of Health, the body works very hard to maintain its internal body temperature in both hot and cold environments. Yet, when it's cold, heat loss occurs and the internal body temperature drops, the hypothalamus (a small region in the brain) increases the body’s metabolism to generate heat. In addition, the muscles involuntarily contract to cause shivering and generate heat. Shivering also burns calories. However, a drop in body temperature or shivering only occurs in extreme and potentially life-threatening circumstances. Living in a cold climate does not necessarily translate to calorie burn." https://www.today.com/health/diet-fitness/burn-calories-heat-rcna157769

Whatever your pre op diet, try to eat relatively healthy a week before that. Don’t go from doing food funerals one day to the liver shrink diet the next because the cravings will be that much worse. For me, carbs make me crave more carbs so i cut them completely the week before while I could still eat any portion of other stuff I wanted so that the pre op diet was a little easier and it wasn’t bad.

The concern I would have (though I am not a dietician) is that slim fast bars and protein shakes are more "food-like substances" than actual food. Processed foods, even "diet" ones, can cause metabolism issues, and this feels almost punishing. Maybe you could try to find more satisfying, healthier options? You might try scrambling 2 eggs blended with some cottage cheese and a big handful of frozen chopped spinach for breakfast with a small serving of fruit, and a big salad of mixed veg topped with rotisserie chicken, black beans, and fresh salsa for lunch. Make sure the meat or chicken is being served with plenty of non-starchy veg, too. And don't ignore a good night's sleep and plenty of hydration. If you take prescription meds, check if any of them have weight gain as a side effect. I do agree that surgery is most likely going to be needed as soon as you can get it sorted because losing and maintaining that amount of weight is almost impossible without the metabolic changes that come with surgery.

As of yesterday, I was back under 200 pounds, so that was an exciting milestone! I have been tracking my food, walking each day, doing a long hike on the weekends, and the weight has been coming off at the expected pace. I am averaging about 1300 calories a day in consumption and my watch says I am averaging about 2300 calories a day of burn, which works out to an average calorie deficit of 1000 per day and I am right on that target of losing 2 pounds per week. I am really pleased that my metabolism seems normal and that my restriction still prevents me from eating too much in a single sitting. I had a long chat with my husband about how "dieting" is so different this time around from when I had lost weight pre-surgery. This is my first time really trying to lose weight since my surgery and it is definitely much easier than it used to be.

@NeonRaven8919Exactly! @AmberFLHe‘s currently on the platform, unsure if the weight loss train is the train he wants at the moment @JennyBeezRomanncy-love-stuff? What’s that then? LOL! @SleeveToBypass2023All my stats are up to date right now. Don’t know which surgery as I haven’t had my appointment with the surgeon yet (NHS - it’s never a rush 🙄) I had thought sleeve initially but, after my first group education session, I’m now thinking bypass, purely because of reducing the hunger hormones which isn’t a factor with the sleeve. However, I will listen to what the medical professionals recommend and make my decision from that. So, I had the conversation with hubby last night and got a lot of things cleared up. It’s not just the WLS that’s concerning him but some other things too like me having knee surgery and not needing him anymore, especially as he has his own disability which cannot be addressed with surgery. He thinks he will be holding me back and I deserve better etc etc. I truly understand where he’s coming from but we’ve been together 22 years, married for 17. His accident happened when we’d been together a couple of years and back surgery made it much worse. We’ve dealt with horrible shitty ex-wives, massively entitled kids, redundancy, depression, illness, disabilities etc. If we can come through all of that and not want to stab one another then I will take that as a win 🤣😂 Life throws things at us when we least expect it, both good and bad. I think we’re OK for now, thankfully, so I can stop eyeing up the pillows in bed, thinking of ways to smother him 😈 Physio was cancelled today due to staff illness. They had a bit of a panic trying to find an appointment for me as I’m supposed to have physio 10-14 days after the steroid injection. As it stands, they found me an appointment for next Monday which will be 19 days afterwards so I will have to see if that’s acceptable. I’m not stressing though as I’m doing the circulation booster and knee programme every day so hopefully that will have a positive impact.

i had my surgery in October 24 (2018). halloween was a non-issue...i did not have any interest in eating anything, let alone candy/chips/chocolate. come Christmas i was about 2 months post. and i truth be told i ate too much. from a regular-sized persons perspective i hardly ate anything at all, but for post-wls me, it was waaaay too much. went to 3 xmas meals in 2 days and i logged 800 cals day 1 and about 1200 day 2. but i barfed both days, so... also had my first (and worst!) dumping episode from a couple sips of a sugary cocktail (i ended up on the bathroom floor and carried upstairs to bed by Mr. where i passed out...good times 🙄) sooooo...mark me down as a cautionary tale. take it easy, eat slowly and small amounts. aside: btw, im 6 yrs out now and food parties and outings have long ago no longer result in nights on the bathroom floor for me. i can eat (taste) anything and everything and be perfectly happy.

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.

Went to my crochet group again today and I didn’t need a nap afterwards. I’m hoping maybe I’m done with the afternoon nap stage. I plan to wake up earlier tomorrow and really try to power through again so I can hopefully get my sleep cycle back to normal. Day by day I get a little closer to my normal. ooh and yesterday was a follow up for the muscle cramps that I got in my calf which went away with the magnesium they gave me but I kept the appt anyways because i start soft food Monday and I had questions. She said that since my pre op appt I have lost 19 pounds so that’s one month exactly and the expected loss for a revision is between 5-10 pounds month so I’m doing good.

@NickelChip You look great! Your face seems to have changed a lot and that tummy is shrinking! Being able to walk long distances without feeling terrible is so nice isn’t it! Sorry to hear you’re struggling with reheated food - how are you reheating? Could you steam things ? I think that may help but if not let’s pray summer and salad season is round the corner!

this is not the first time, but it happened again...and i think it's happened often enough now for me to consider it a "normal" thing: I. Lost. Weight. On. Vacation. it still fascinates me when this happens because the norm prior to wls was to GAIN weight during vacay. Every. Single Time. (even when i was not overweight) Went on vacay 20 days ago, and came back this afternoon. I did not count calories, track food, weigh myself, nor perform a lick of exercise (besides walking) all that time. And lo and behold, i lost 3.1 lbs. which is very unexpected, because me and Mr. basically ate and drank ourselves across a good part of europe, and i fully expected the scale to show a good sized weight gain when i got home (he says HE gained almost 4 lbs). honestly i felt like i ate (and drank) more in the past 3-ish weeks than i ever have since WLS 5+ years ago...but maybe i am mistaken? maybe i should have tracked my food intake after all... anyway, yay! i may just have to fully accept that i got this maintenance thing down pat. i didn't think about calories or portion sizes or whatever...just ate (and drank) what i felt like, in amounts i knew i could handle. yay!

Hey! 👋 I hope your post op went super well! Once you’re out of liquids it’s a whole new world! The feeling of fullness might start kicking in. I’m probably under on protein but my focus is hydration and getting protein from eat of my meals. I’ve add 3oz of protein in the morning after my coconut water before my walk and it’s doing good. My baby stomach just can’t handle water, food and protein shakes all in one day, it’s too much. So my doctors and nutritionist said don’t worry about it stay hydrated then protein. The video was neat! The hospital actually provided it to the doctors and they sent it to me. They recorded all the medical procedures. I’ve found that 3oz works really well for me 2/3 hrs . I weigh everything and I got some new cups.

Hello. I am 6 weeks out and down 41 pounds as of today (which includes a 2 weeks low carb preop diet where I lost 13 pounds). I went from a BMI of 39 to 33 and will be 32 with one more pound loss. I was 235 when I had my sleeve and lost down to 167 but I stalled there for a few months and then started gaining it all back plus 23 pounds. Aside from a few blisters that are slowing my walking down I feel fantastic. I have more energy and motivation then I have had in years. I’m exercising (walking 5-7 miles a day) and making all my meals from scratch. I am also planning to start yoga the week after next when I am 8 weeks. The NP actually said 6 weeks is okay but I’ve never done it so I’m afraid it will be strenuous and I’d rather be safe than sorry. I did have a pretty tough recovery. I was in the hospital for 5 days because they couldn’t get my pain to a level that was manageable with meds they were willing to send me home on. Well once I finally passed gas like 5 times I was fine without any pain meds but it still was a far tougher recovery than my sleeve. Not sure why but with my sleeve I was home and out front the next day and asked my husband to pass me the basketball because I forgot I had surgery and that was with no pain meds. This time they also took my gall bladder out though because it looked bad. I wasn’t expecting it because I never had any symptoms so we didn’t discuss it but the post op pathology came back that I had gall stones so it saved me from another surgery I guess. I suggest discussing some of the things like that which may pop up during your surgery and what your wishes are since they can’t wake you up to ask. I was kinda surprised that mine went ahead and did it but the NP said his thought was that it already looked bad and that the anticipated quick weight loss was going to only make it worse. Anyways, I took it easy for the full 6 weeks this time. My floors have never been so disgusting. I have done laundry because I have the pedestals and dishes and that’s about it. My hubby has freshened up the bathrooms and changed the sheets but other than that it’s all waited for me. I confess that it’s still waiting. I am supposed to be cleaning now but I sat down for lunch and got started on here 😂 My surgeon does not believe in resizing the stomach so my surgery was only on my intestines. This made my recovery in terms of food tolerance go way quicker. I am back to normal food already. I had raw veggies in my spring rolls even and that was fine. Of course ask your team before you do it. I didn’t have any food tolerance issues after my sleeve either though. I have not had any of the diarrhea that they warned me about. They said some of their SADI patients had it for 3 months. One had it so bad it interfered with work. I have been eating very healthy though. I was actually constipated In the beginning and even with the stool softeners I had to do milk of magnesia a couple of times but now I am able to eat a bit more fiber in my diet so I am trying to cut back the stool softeners slowly. if you don’t log your food now I suggest the Baritastic app. You can log EVERYTHING there. You food, weight, measurements, exercise, moods, even your bowel movements and you can also set notifications for your vitamins (although I don’t hear them so I have alarms set as well). I really like looking at the trends and graphs to see how I am progressing. A fitness watch is really good too. I had a much older Apple Watch that I dusted off and it makes it so much more fun to do my walking and stuff because you can see how fast it adds up. I never exercised with my sleeve but I talked on the phone with my friend the first few times and then my husband got me these awesome headphones that don’t go in or over your ear so you can still hear traffic while listening to music. They are called “bone phones”. Now I just put on my music and take off walking. Makes the time go by so much faster. I wear them all day actually. You can listen to music on low and hold a conversation with someone even. I also started posting here and attending the in person support group meetings before my surgery this time so post surgery I have had lots of support. I go to check in with my NP more often than they generally require too because I have pretty severe anxiety and that comes with lots of questions and I just need the reassurance that everything is okay. Don’t forget to take photos and do measurements before you start your preop diet and again before surgery and set reminders in your calendar for once a month or so to keep doing them. And if you want to use that Baritastic app you can also keep track of your protein and water on there so familiarize yourself with it early. I kinda rambled but I tried to cover everything I could think of that may be helpful.

When in doubt, I slam an Ensure with 30g protein plus caffeine. It isn't a substitute for food but it is better than nothing. My problem is often that I don't have much of an appetite; and when I do, it's always for something that isn't readily available in the house. Sure, I can get food delivered from a restaurant but even good restaurants tend to use things like butter and salt, in addition to who knows what else, to provide flavor. I also tend to keep the dishes simple- steak and eggs after a work-out. I love pasta but won't eat much of it- I'll do pasta plus meatballs, heavy on the meatballs, with just a taste of pasta. I don't know about "apps" but you could stick a reminder in your calendar.

I am sooooo anticipating my soft foods beginning on Monday. I have been working on my menu and my grocery cart for a while. This is my menu so far. Monday-Snow Crab with skinny scampi sauce and mashed cauliflower Tuesday-Turkey Meatballs with peppers and onions (low carb marinara) Wednesday-Chili with side of zucchini, butternut squash and onions Thursday-Blackened Salmon with Brussel Sprouts Friday-Turkey Taco Fillings with fresh Pico and fresh Guacamole Saturday-Mahi with Jerk seasoning and green beans Sunday- Black Bean Veggie Burger Patty with carrots Lunches Monday- MUSH overnight oats (with protein powder) Tuesday- Spinach and onion Skinny Omelette Wednesday- Egg Salad Thursday- Greek yogurt with berries (and protein powder) Friday- Tuna Salad Saturday- squash and onion Skinny Omelette Sunday- Chicken Salad

I don't vomit with every meal thankfully. At certain times in the day, a meal goes down fine. At other times, I get a lot of foamies build up, loads of thick saliva when I vomit. Sometimes once I've vomited all the thick saliva, getting food down becomes slightly more tolerable. It's hit and miss as to when this problem occurs. It's less prevalent once I've emptied my bowels and then have a meal. So I can have a proper meal once a day basically, with slight snacking to fill the day.

Both. As long as I do the processing and cooking then its all fair game. I love to eat in vegan restaurants because they have such a depth of plant based knowledge. I really don't understand why you would buy high chemical processed food. If you eat no meat then why do people eat chemical based flavours that mimic bacon, chicken etc ?