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I've had a very up-and-down sort of week, mentally/emotionally (and weight-wise too, I guess). It started in that I'd finally gotten out of a stall, and everything stayed good for 10 days or so? And then a week with absolutely no weightloss. On the back of a stall, it just crushed my spirit. I said fine, by next week it'll be better, stay off the scale... and instead I hopped back on 2 days later to a 1.4lb gain. I think I went into a sort of zombie-state. I was still doing what I needed to (work-wise, diet-wise, exercise-wise) but it was like some kind of emotional shock: I was functioning but apathetic about pretty much everything. My brain and heart just couldn't take it, and shut down. Then the physical side. I'm sure it will surprise nobody here, but when you're behaving kind of like an automaton you don't pay enough attention to things like time, or specifically eating slowly. Cue the foamies and vomitting. I think four times in the past week. Luckily, most of the time I caught it early enough to prevent anything too intense, but yeah. I'd thought I was smart enough / experienced enough at this point to learn from my mistakes, but that one I just kept making. Afterwards, the lingering nausea kept me from eating enough -- so the protein goals were not met for five days in a row. (Until I found Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Pudding which turned things around so I was exceeding my goals) I'm doing better-ish, now? I still feel mildly dissociated, but the past couple days it's been like... life & energy slowly returning and my mood improving. The universe waited for me to be in a better mental place, and all of a sudden knocked 4 lbs off the scale this morning. Sunday, I had a great NSV that I didn't feel hit me until today -- I'm wearing a 1X for the first time in over a decade. (Top and bottom, which is another NSV because ever since my late 20s, my bottom has always required me to go one size up from whatever shirt size I was wearing) But even this NSV, I'm able to acknowledge it and told a couple people about it because I knew they'd be happy for me, but it still just all feels pretty superficial. I only seem to be able to get excited and enthused about other peoples' good news, lol.

I have it with smells. So many things smell like fish or tobacco to me. My dad will make himself a coffee, and I smell cigarettes. He'll be frying up eggs or a hamburger, tobacco. And for some reason, a lot of medicinal scents smell fishy to me: my metformin makes me gag because it smells so strongly of fish -- as does my children's grape-flavoured allergy liquid. 😕 As for taste, I've been lucky enough not to experience that -- although my taste buds are definitely still out of whack / different than pre-op. I can taste chemicals in SO many things now -- even items that I was fine with (twice, just last week) suddenly taste chemically. (I'm looking at you, lemon pudding....)

By about 12 weeks out (3 months) you should have a much easier time hitting your fluid goals. You're doing pretty well. Try getting some nausea meds, drink ginger tea, if needed add a ready made protein shake to your normal diet to not only boost your protein intake but also your fluids (it's a 2 for 1 deal with those).

I am 1 year post-op (exactly today!) In the months after the surgery, I have not had any significant issues with taste or food aversion. There were a couple of changes with foods that I used to love that, now, I could take them or leave them. I travel a lot for business, and when I am away from home eating in restaurants, I have started having experiences where certain foods taste like... seafood. I *hate* seafood in all forms, and always have. Meat is the most frequent problem, especially beef (except ground beef which is fine). Chicken is never a problem. I was just in China for 3 weeks, in many different cities, and everywhere I went, things were tasting fishy, especially meat. It wasn't just that something was prepared with fish sauce - I checked. Over and over and over again in city after city and restaurant after restaurant. (I have traveled to China before and loved the food; this time not so much.) But this wasn't just China - it has happened in other places as well - just not as often as in China. Now that I am back home with my normal food and normal recipes, there is no problem at all, however, at home I eat primarily chicken so maybe I would have an issue with beef tasting like seafood here too. Of course, I will discuss this with my doctor at my 1-year post-op appointment, but I am curious about other people's experiences with taste-related changes.

7th week out and some days harder than others with nausea

It’s not easy for everyone to hit that 64oz goal the first couple of weeks after surgery. I certainly didn’t. You’re about 2/3 of your goal which is okay as long as you are making an effort & are slowly but surely increasing your intake. Don’t forget you can include your shakes, soups & broths in the liquid stage. After that include only the extra liquid you add to a soup or shake, etc. (e.g. say your shake recipe is mix with 250ml of water but you add 300ml so count the extra 50ml). Also keep water by your bed & sip through the night. I sip every time I get in or out of bed (which is often cause a layoff peeing 😁) & can get in another 8 - 10ozs or more. Set a reminder alarm on your phone so you sip every 5+/- mins and always keep water or other liquids close to hard. It eventually becomes a habit. You’ll be hitting that goal easily before you know it

I'm right at 5 months, and over the past few weeks, it has become HARD. In the beginning, I was dropping weight, had zero interest in food, and was totally motivated. But since the beginning of July, I've lost a pound. Actually, I've lost and gained and lost and gained that one pound multiple times. I've started feeling hungry sometimes again, and that's triggering all sorts of bad behaviors like getting up when I'm trying to avoid work (I work from home) and looking in the cupboard for a snack, not to mention craving sweets. It's been a constant fight. Not getting that reward of watching the scale dropping all the time kind of saps the motivation, I think. And the novelty wears off and you start to realize that you're in this for the long haul and maybe you start to rebel a little. You're not alone. You say you're afraid of being judged, but you are judging yourself every time you do things you know you shouldn't do. You said it yourself. You're disgusted by what you're doing, but there's a reason you're doing it, and figuring that out is going to be the key to stopping it and changing. I feel like there is probably a voice you hear in the back of your head telling you that you can't do this. Maybe there's literally someone saying it to you in your life, but most likely it's a voice in your head from a long time ago, one that sounds like you but probably was someone else when you first heard it. For me, it's my grandmother, and to some extent my dad. Never happy, never praising. Expecting perfection and scolding "for your own good" over every little thing. Ridiculing my weight despite being overweight themselves, but also overfeeding me because that's what they knew. Food was the enemy, but also a reward from emotionally stunted caregivers who had no other way to show affection. When you can never fully meet expectations at a young age, you learn quickly that you will always fail. That may be the role you've played in your family. Maybe it's everything, or maybe just one thing, like being overweight. And when you start to succeed, it feels frightening because it challenges everything you have been taught to believe about yourself. If you're not "the fat friend", who are you? Or maybe being "the fat daughter" kept a jealous family member happy because you weren't "competition" that way. There are so many reasons we get into these patterns. But the point is, the patterns feel normal and safe. So you make sure you don't succeed and change too much or for too long. You're used to being disappointing to yourself. You can live with that. But admitting you're capable of succeeding and changing is really scary. Allowing yourself to challenge the roles other people want you to fulfill is the hardest thing you can do. At least that's my experience. As for how to change, my first suggestion is talk to your team. That's why they're there, and they know what's going on because they've seen it before. Face it head on. Nothing they say is going to be any worse than what you are saying, and doing, to yourself. If you can get set up with a therapist, even better. Second, get every source of temptation out of the house. The alcohol. The junk food. Whatever is making you stumble, get rid of it. Do your shopping online from now on, or curbside pickup because it is way easier not to give into temptation that way. You can't binge on what you don't have. But skip the gym. It's really only about 10% of your success, anyway. Focus on water, protein, and vitamins. You don't need the false guilt of the gym to make everything worse. And third, get help from people you trust who are close to you if you can. Accountability is key. If going out to eat is an issue, tell your friends or family that you need their help not letting you go out to eat. Explain why you can't be around snacks, or why you won't be ordering alcohol, and ask for their help. If you trust even one person in your life to tell what is really going on, tell them. You need another voice cheering you on instead of just your own head bringing you down. Bottom line, something about what you are doing right now feels comfortable to you. It's a pattern that you can live with, even if you hate it. Something about what you were doing when you were following the rules was making you uncomfortable. Figure out what and why. You can't change your habits until you change that voice in your head, and until you can love yourself and cheer yourself on instead of being your own worst judge. But you have to believe you're worth it and be willing to do things that scare you in order to get past this fog and get to where you want to be.

Could you find the motivation to even start with a few small steps, like finding a way to get your protein up even by way of including it in water and that way two steps covered in one? Your body needs the protein and if you are not getting enough it could be contributing to your mood/fog. So what if you haven't gone to the gym, I don't go, but I have made an effort to find a couple of fitness things I like to do. I know I could do more but hey I am doing more than I did pre-op so its a win win as far as I am concerned. I am not going to put unrealistic pressure on myself as I know I will fail, maybe that is the same for you? For the alcohol you don't say how much or often you have a drink but if you can't go cold turkey could you even cut back or opt for a lighter drink? I have a drink (or three) when out with friends, its not the end of the world but I am realistic that it will probably impact the weight loss for a few days and I restrict myself to only when out, certainly not at home as that is a bad habit that I am trying to make sure I don't bring back. Could you start writing a daily positivity list/journal of all the positives you are finding from the loss you have had so far? I started to do it to help me with the PTSD I am suffering from my surgery, I note just random things such as; was able to jog to catch bus and not be mortified / was able to get through turnstile without turning sideways / so and so told me I was looking great / sun is shining and I feel energised / had to tighten jeans belt again Small steps could help you out of the funk and get you on track as there was a reason you would have had the surgery and you don't want to get back there. It takes work but you have already made good progress but it will get harder to loose the lbs and you could end up with other health problems if you continue as you are. Does your doctor have a support team that you can reach out to? I think an honest conversation with them is needed and will help you, they can hopefully provide tools to get you in the mindset needed to continue. Don't feel ashamed to talk to them as I am sure you are not the only one how feels like you do.

If this experience taught me anything it was that the human body adapts - i was panicking my first week out of surgery i knew i wasn’t drinking enough broth and water and tea included. But my dietician just said you’ll see your body adapts as long as you keep sipping when you can - you do the best you can listen to your body. The internal swelling is no joke - you can feel perfectly fine on the outside but imagine the healing going on inside. You’ll actually be able to feel it go down a little each day and the restriction won’t be so harsh. I hit none of my hydration or protein goals the first few weeks 🤣 and i felt sooo bad about it but in the end it really isn’t the end of the world as long as you try to the best of your ability

I'm also in the "what to do for the birthday Struggle Club! My surgery is 7th of October and my birthday is tomorrow 25th July. My dr put me on a 12 week milk diet (1.5litres of milk with semi-skimmed milk and 1 salty drink a day) to quickly lose weight before my surgery. So I don't want to jeopardise that and have my usual slices of cake from my favourite bakery. It's also my friend's wedding on Saturday. I can't avoid the wedding are ask people to do something that isn't food related. But I can control my birthday and avoid temptation. I made the decision to go out and get my nails done and go to a comedy club instead! I'm not much of a drinker so the club won't be a temptation and I can't eat while getting my nails done! Next year, I'll be thinner and probably more in the mood to celebrate anyway.

So after my post last week where I was .4 away from my goal, I am not 1.2lb UNDER my goal! So I am working on my macros to see what caloric threshold I should hit to stay around the same. Last week I was eating around 1100-1200calories and I still lost weight. Gonna stay around the 1200-1300 mark. Any input on this aspect would be great! I’m still working out 6 days a week (been an addiction lol) Last week my sisters, mom and I had a spa day, laid by the pool with drinks after our massages and I couldn’t believe the difference in how I looked between the summers! The drink in my hand is coconut mojito mocktail that was delicious but too sugary I had a couple sips because I didn’t want to 💩 everywhere 😂

I read through some other paperwork they gave me and found where it said nothing after midnight (but not on the page about the preop diet), so there is that. It's still just feels crazy to me that I was allowed to eat anything at all. I had a failed lap band in 2010 (11 of the worst days of my life until they removed it) and was on liquids for 2 weeks, and clear only for the second week.

Lots of nerves were cut during your surgery so the messages/signals you used to feel around your eating rather aren’t getting through or are distorted. It’s why it’s so important to stick to the portion sizes and timing for eating/drinking you’ve been given. It takes about 8 weeks to fully recover from the surgery & the nerves are healed. It’s then too that you may start to feel your restriction (a tightness across your upper chest). It’s a good opportunity to become more aware of more subtle signals around having had enough or too much to eat or drink. I still ask myself do I need the next bite or sip or do I just want it & I’m five years out. Also when your signals do come back you may notice they’re different. Sneezing, runny nose, hiccups, etc can all be your new signals for having eaten or drunk enough. A gurgling tummy,or hunger pangs aren’t in most cases a signal you are hungry. They’re usual a signal that your digestive system is working. I don’t know why but the gurgling & growling seems much louder after surgery. Mine are very loud & yes I still get them (it’s happening now). I say I have a poltergeist in my tummy, rumbling, grumbling, squelching & rattling the chains. My younger nieces & nephew think it’s hilarious! All the best with your recovery.

So it takes about 6-8 hrs for food to pass from your tummy through your small intestines to your large intestines. It takes about 36hrs in total for anything you eat to fully leave your body (pooped out). I’m going to presume you’re having gastric bypass which involves surgery to your small intestines (sleeve doesn’t) so not eating for 6 hours before sort of makes sense. However, saying that every surgery I’ve had was nil by mouth from dinner the night before regardless of time of surgery. I know people who are told nothing after midnight, who get up & eat a meal at 11:30pm. I had a pelvic MRI last week & it was nothing for 6 hours before which was odd because the images the MRI took of the pelvic region of course included the large bowel which would have been full of waste which was odd to me. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Check with your surgeon. Only way to be sure.

Never too late to give away or donate from your freezer. Then you’ll have plenty of room to freeze single portions of anything you cook. In a short time you’ll have a variety of meals you can simply defrost & heat. I usually only cook twice a week from scratch, freeze several portions then I ‘shop’ dinner from my freezer. Tonight I’m having pork schnitzel from the batch I cooked last week. Once defrosted it will reheat in 30/40 seconds & I only have to prep vegetables. I use zip lock bags for my single serves: any meat cuts (steak, lamb cutlets, etc.) plus soups, meat balls, bolognese, anything really. I even cook a mini roast, slice it up & freeze individual portions in the bags with gravy. Easy to write on the bag what it is & add a date so you remember when you cooked & froze it.

@SleeveToBypass2023 pretty much covered what you need to change so I won’t repeat that. I will add though that I got to a simlar point a little later than you when I was discouraged I didn’t reach the goal I secretly had in my mind for myself. I had stopped losing and stalled about 18 pounds shy of it for about three months then I started letting bad habits slip in and I started to gain and honestly I never stopped gaining. 3.5 years later here I am pending revision. I was also embarrassed to see my dr or even post on here and that only made things worse. I could’ve nipped it on the budd before I got to this point like you still can. Go back to your team and explain your struggles. See what they have to offer you to help get you back on track. Maybe even talk to a therapist to try to work out why you feel this way. It sounds like you really have only been off track for a little bit and you’re still early enough out that it’s not too late to turn this around. You just have to start taking steps.

For me, the pain wasn't bad. I needed liquid Tylenol for the first 3 days, a few times per day (tip: look for the ADULT formula because the child formula tastes horrible and is thicker, like gel). I had one incision that would give twinges for about a week, but it passed quickly. I did not experience gas pain. I found a weighted heating pad on my abdomen at night was very soothing. I was very tired and found it difficult to focus. If possible, don't tax yourself.I walked frequently, but not far. So I was moving around but not logging a huge number of steps. By week 3, I felt relatively normal. By the end of month 2, I was pretty much back to my old self with the bonus of quite a bit more energy, and I could navigate eating in restaurants without too much trouble (I went on a weekend trip out of town at around 8 weeks post op).

I believe in my heart I may be the only one doing this to myself...or even able to muster up the courage to talk publicly about it. I'm not getting my protein in. I'm not getting my water in. I haven't been taking my vitamins. I haven't been to the gym in over 2 weeks. I eat what I want, to the point of making myself puke with intolerable food. I gave up. I drink alcohol. I'm lazy. NO i'm not looking for pity, i'm genuinely curious to know if anyone else is or has been in my shoes.. I'm almost 5 months post-op, down 40+ pounds. Losing 1-2lbs per week SOMEHOW. If you've been here, how did you get out of this fog? I'm petrified to address this with my doctor in fear of being judged. I'm in the closet with all this. Scared/anxious i'll just regain my weight over the next year. I feel im in concrete and have ABSOLUTELY NO motivation to change habits very disappointed in myself. Disgusted really. Recently went to a gathering and seen myself in pictures and I am way bigger than i thought i was. im just all over the crazy table!

Thank you! Now I know what LSD means in this regards (Lol) Thank you for the encouragement not to go back to smoking! I definitely still have some psychological dependency on it, even after going the four months without thanks to my Chantix! I notice I start to crave a cigarette when I see someone smoking when I'm late to take it and have to watch myself and prompty redirect and go take a Chantix. I did get my insurance confirmation just a few days ago in the mail and took it with my to my pre-op appointment yesterday; I offered it to them but they said they already had it! (Which is a huge relief!) Yeah; I was kind of surprised as well that I have to start the colace with my liquid diet, seems redundant and makes me wonder what that week is going to be like, honestly! I'm forseeing a lot of time spent near or in the bathroom, as it stands >. The nurse yesterday did my EKG the same way, under one breast, and they seemed to have trouble getting a good reading because I had to stay SUPER still. They also had to jab me 5 times to get the blood they needed; I was patient and know my veins can be tricky but ngl - I feel like a human pincushion today and have multiple bruises on my arms. I was simply received when they finally managed to get the needle in a vein! They also were telling me to stop taking my vitamins like, yesterday, and I thought I was supposed to keep up with them until I START the liquid diet, Calling my surgeon's office to get clarification on that today. I'm certainly nervous and excited about how quickly this is FINALLY coming together! I read that eating lots of jell-o keeps up the illusion of fullness and I'm counting on that and the 'strained cream soup' to keep me from feeling famished. Crossing my fingers I don't turn into an angry hungry hyena this next week for the sake of my family! I'm also a bit uneasy about whether I'll be able to keep enough in my system to keep my meds from making me queasy. Wishing us the best of luck!

Congrats on your success so far and it is a big plus in understanding your struggles to be able to work on them. Glad the Euros kept you distracted through the first few weeks. A year out I find that my eyes are still bigger than my stomach and it takes me having to really think about it sometimes to realise I am full. Another win you will be able to add to your list soon is that when you go out for meals you will probably be able to bring enough leftovers home to do a few meals 😀Two weeks ago a work lunch in the local Chinese meant I brought home enough from my one duck & rice dish to do another two lunches, three dinners and even my cat got a bit.

Off to see The Pet Shop Boys! I’m a massive fan and it’s the final week of their world tour with a special 5 nights finale at the ROH. Whilst we’ve had a wander around Covent Garden previously, we’ve never been to the ROH so a whole new experience just for that alone 😊

I am 1 week post op from getting the gastric sleeve and I do not feel full. I was put straight on a soft food diet and only eat 2-3oz of food at a time because that's what i was told however I do not feel full after. I am a stickler for rules so I try and follow to the tee but my stomach is always gurgling as if it is hungry. I try hard to meet my protein and water goals although I am not always successful. Does the gurgling mean I am still hungry or is that just part of the healing process? I am scared that I will suffer from malnutrition (ironic because this was NEVER a concern of mine before lol).

Throwing my anecdotal experience in the ring here, as well! I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) at the end of November 2023. I was a "slower loser" the whole time, and then I hit a major stall about 6 months post-op, just bouncing around the same ~5ish pounds for months. I set up an appointment with my team for July 8th, discussed the issues I was having (mainly just being hungry and therefore eating larger portions), compared the different options, and we settled on trying out Phentermine. I did have to have a mobile heart monitor for 30 days prior to my surgery, as I had these weird heart "flutters" for YEARS and nobody could really figure out what they were (they ended up being PACs, or Premature Atrial Contractions, which apparently almost everyone has at some point and most people can't feel. I'm just unlucky! They are benign if they are not occurring in excess). My team had me do an EKG in-office that day, as well. They asked about any family history of heart issues, sudden death at early ages, etc. With a normal EKG, I was started on half of a 37.5mg tablet for 4 days, to increase to a full tablet after that if there was still residual hunger and I didn't have any major side effects. They said I'd know within those first few days if it was going to cause any issues. I did increase to the full 37.5mg after 4 days, and I've broken the stall (dropped 5lbs since July 8th, and part of that was spent at a music festival with few healthy food options), and I feel generally great! I do also have ADHD and Narcolepsy, so the stimulant properties are helpful for me. I'm feeling satisfied with much smaller portions and not experiencing cravings at all. I did have some mild insomnia the first few days, BUT I am already a night owl with a bit of insomnia due to the Narcolepsy, so it wasn't a big issue. Other comorbid conditions include depression and anxiety, which I am taking medication for, as well. The anxiety has not been exacerbated, which WAS an issue I had with previous stimulant use for Narcolepsy. Cost-wise, it ended up being roughly $7 USD with insurance. For me, trying Phentermine is definitely worth it, and I will follow up with my team later next month to see where I'm at. I had feared I was done losing after only 6 months post-op, and Phentermine has restored my hope that I can keep going to get to a healthier weight. It's important to remember that, while Phentermine will decrease your appetite, it does NOT cause you to burn any more calories than normal unless you also increase your activity. You have to decrease your portions - the Phentermine just makes it easier to do that, if it works as intended. So, your personal experience may vary, but it's worth discussing with your team if you feel stuck! EDITED TO ADD: My team said that I need to take a break from using it daily about once a month (like, not take it for a couple of days), otherwise I'll develop a tolerance and it won't work as well. This is pretty typical for stimulant medications in general.

Same for both of my surgeries. I was on all liquid for a week and nothing after midnight (my 1st surgery was at 8am and my 2nd was at 9am). The only liquid I got was at the hospital and it was in a tiny cup when I had to take a couple of pills they gave me, and swished that little bit of water all around and savored it lol

Small update, in case this is beneficial to anyone else going through the same stall & hunger issues in the future! I met with my Physician's Assistant (we don't see the surgeon post-op in my program - the PA does all the medical legwork) on July 8th since I was stuck in the high 240s for quite a while (roughly 112kg). The PA discussed what I was doing, agreed that I was doing almost everything right, minus somewhat larger portions at meals due to experiencing more hunger. We discussed GLP-1s (Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, etc.), phentermine, topiramate + phentermine, Contrave, and other medication options. Since my insurance would not cover GLP-1s (I do not have diabetes) and they'd all be crazy expensive out-of-pocket, we decided to give the phentermine a try. Note that this is not a good medication to add if you have any history of heart issues - I'm not a doctor, so anything I say is personal anecdote and you should always consult a physician for any changes in your own medications, etc. Phentermine is a stimulant and an anorectic, which means it reduces appetite and can increase energy. It will NOT cause you to burn more calories without increasing activity, so reducing the amount eaten is critical (and increasing activity helps, too). The PA had me do an EKG in-office that day, and since it came out normal, I was prescribed half of a 37.5mg tablet for the first 4 days, to increase to a whole tablet daily if I still had residual hunger and was tolerating the 1/2 tab well. I did end up going up to the full tablet, as I had no side effects (except for some anxiety the one day I had a cup of coffee in the morning...don't combine stimulants!!). The result has been that I've dropped 5lbs in the last 2 weeks, and almost a week of that was spent at an outdoor music festival where the food options were far less than stellar (think "carnival foods" - I tried to stick mostly to all-meat options as much as possible, but I did help my spouse with some cheese curds and funnel cake...). I do have Narcolepsy and ADHD, and the addition of a stimulant has been a bit helpful for those conditions, as well. Another plus was that it cost me roughly $7 USD to fill at my pharmacy with insurance, so it was far more affordable for me than the GLP-1s would have been. My hunger has been curbed quite a bit, and this has helped me feel satisfied eating far smaller portions than I was eating previously. I have a check-in with my PA towards the end of August, and I'm pleased with my progress so far! I had an annual physical with my General Practitioner last week, and my A1C says I'm no longer pre-diabetic 😁