Search the Community

Congratulations on your success so far! I completely empathise with the surreal feeling - it is almost like a weird out-of-body experience! I can answer a couple of your questions, obviously not the one about maintenance as I am only like 7-odd months post bypass now I think! I believe I have lost almost 100lbs now (45kg, 7 stone), and in the initial first 5 months I was really struggling to go to the gym so I wasn't very active. I have started going to the gym now and I am really enjoying it, not seeing as fast-paced weight loss currently, but that could be because of muscle gaining at the gym and normal stalling! I think my biggest challenge/lesson has been listening to my new stomach now. Understanding when it is full, and also looking at food differently - I just see it as fuel now, rather than thinking about it 24/7 which has been hard. It has also been a challenge to actually accept that I am smaller now - I still instinctively reach for my old clothing size in shops (UK 22-24), and am genuinely shocked when it is too big, or when something I see as "tiny" fits me. The changing the mind is a long haul lesson I believe! All the best for you on this journey x

I didn't bring the scales with me and I am glad I didn't as it turned out there was one in the hotel room. I am frustrated though, the day I left for my holidays I reached my target weight (home scales) and when away I checked a couple of times on the hotel one and was still same or a bit less but got home last night and checked my scale this morning and it has me back up 1kg again and therefore above my target. I feel like it is 1kg forward, 2kg back at times. I walked so much over my holiday, D.C. is a very easy city to walk, but did find it hard to hit my protein goals but tried to make sensible choices as much as possible, I had to ask the hotel to only serve me a half portion of pancakes for breakfast 😉. I am hoping my system just has to settle again after plane food etc.

Oatmeal, rolled oats & porridge are the same thing. Just a culturally differently named food. And I eat them every day. I eat traditional oats. Initially after surgery I was advised instant which are a little more processed then I transitioned to traditional. (Check the ingredients on your pack if it’s just oats your fine.) Then add your own flavours. I add yoghurt, collagen powder, dried cranberries, fresh blueberries and yes seeds. Otherwise seeds on yoghurt or in salads are good too. You could sprinkle them on anything you may use breadcrumbs too like a cauliflower gratin or add them to any crumb mix for breaded whatever. Try mixing some in your meatballs or meat loaf for a little crunch. PS. I’ve noticed a few influences being anti oats (probably either being paid to promote an alternative likely a supplement or are pro keto) but they’re fibre & fibre is good for you. It’s filling, helps you poop, can help reduce cholesterol so is good for cardiac health, can help regulate blood sugars, can lower risk of stomach cancer.

Did anyone tell you about the ricotta bake. That’s another thing that is good on purée/soft food. It’s basically lasagna without the noodles. You can bake it in the oven but I just microwaved it. Ricotta, marinara (without chunks) and low fat cheese. Some recipes that you bake call for an egg which may be better but I never tried that one. The refried brand reminded me because I basically lived on them two things for a while.

I think everyone's going to be different in this case. I had RNY bypass and I was farty-as-heck up until maybe the first week of transitioning to soft-solids. I think in my case, part of it was recovery and part of it was my body re-stabilizing itself and getting used to new foods. That said, on days that I have too much sweetener in my system or am trying a new food that doesn't sit as well with me, I certainly get 'windy'. And if there is a single bean in my food, I can guarantee gas. So it may get better, and it may not. You may need a Gas-X type med, or you may just notice it's worse with certain foods. Either way, everyone poops and everyone farts. XD (Just look at other people in an accusatory-way afterwards, shift that blame.)

I think it can be difficult to differentiate between head hunger and actual hunger when food has become an addiction instead of fuel for our bodies. Giving up other addictions, like smoking for example, isn’t the same because you remove the tools of that addiction from your life - you bin ashtrays, throw away lighters, stop buying cigarettes etc. You fight the cravings for just one more cigarette, you get help from different sources, whether emotional or medical. You find that as time goes on that can manage your life perfectly well without smoking. Food differs as we need food to live. We constantly need the thing that had us gaining weight in the first place! We can’t ignore what our bodies need but we have to be more discerning and disciplined about what we put in it. I know, from my own experience, that my ‘full’ button is broken and my hunger ‘tells’ are all screwed up because I’m a food addict. To quote a saying of my late mother-in-law - I can eat a potato more than a pig! I know I have to learn new behaviours and to truly listen to my body instead of using it as a dumping ground for terrible food choices. I know it won’t be a straightforward lesson because if it was, I wouldn’t be obese.

That to funny that the family is enjoying it too. I told you guys it was good. Once we can eat real food we can add veggies and even some chicken or Turkey sausage into it too. I like it with turkey sausage and onions and peppers or chicken with zucchini and onions. I just thought about it and I bet spinach is good too but never tried that one. Thanks for some guidance to get me started on the soft food phase. I am such a stickler for the rules type person that when it comes to something like this I don’t like it when they don’t give me many. I get so scared. I was fine with the sleeve whatever I did worked because I heard fine but I remember it being nerve wracking even back then. I wonder if rotisserie chicken would be okay if you get it right when it’s done. They seem to be pretty moist then. I wouldn’t do it because the next day it’s not moist enough and it’s just me and my hubby so there would be so much left over it would be a waste but if you have a family to feed it may work. Boiling it is a great idea. I had to do that for my dog for a while because her kidneys were bad and she wouldn’t eat. Then we started doing fluids every two days and it was like doggy dialysis and she got better for a while before she passed. Anyways, it was really tender and moist that way. I have also heard from so many people on here that chicken thigh is more moist than breasts.

I dump and my first sensation is feeling loopy, then I see bright spots that don’t go away, they get worse. Then the sweats and shaking starts, and if I haven’t fixed myself with some protein then it turns into vomit/diarrhea town. Others could feel different, but the clue to me is you saying your “skin was crawling.” If it’s food allergy related, it’s very serious. I wish you the best!

I didn’t have significant issues immediately after the surgery. I know a lot of people experience, dumping, nausea, and vomiting. I had one experience of vomiting, and it was simply because I made a bad choice to drink a drink that had too much sugar in it. I really had, other than the inability to eat big portions, no issues at all. Since that was what I was going for to begin with I was pretty happy and felt very fortunate. I followed what I now know to be a pretty typical less fiber, diet as the lettuce and other things seem to not do well. But vegetables that were cooked were fine. About three years ago, I started to experience extreme, explosive diarrhea - at first I thought it was random… Maybe I was sick, or I had eaten something bad. At that point, the occurrences were about a month apart. As this started to occur more often, I started eliminating things from my diet. Last summer, it was every day. I also had cramping and it would continue until my bowel was empty. At that point out of complete necessity I changed everything I wrote down what my habits were, anything that was consistent that I was consuming. I started systematically removing. I had stopped drinking diet sodas about five years ago, and it never occurred to me that artificial sugar could play a role in this however, I did find out that as I added, sugar-free vanilla to my coffee each day, that was playing a huge role. As soon as I started drinking, just black coffee I felt some relief. I thought that maybe I found the solution. It went from every day to every other day basically. So I started cutting more things out. And then I started having more symptoms. My stomach hurt when I ate. It felt like my esophagus hurt. I started having food come back up. I had to eliminate anything with oil in it. Almost everything I enjoy eating in anyway is off the list. Which is fine, I’m 63. I don’t need to enjoy my meals, exactly. However, it makes selecting food very difficult, especially as I travel a lot. I’ve now started adding gas, more cramping, and the symptoms are better one day worse than next. as to what my team says, lol… My gastroenterology appointment is next month. I have been waiting four months for that appointment. My blood work is perfect better than it’s ever been. I’ve had an ultrasound on my abdomen. Everything is fine except for my gallbladder has some sludge in it. I am well aware that my gallbladder perhaps is part of the problem. However, my PCP thinks that I should just lose weight and my gallbladder will be OK. With that, I can’t lose weight. I’ve actually gained during this whole time. Which seems almost impossible as I spend a tremendous amount of time eliminating everything I eatalmost immediately. The other amazing part of this is I feel great other than the diarrhea/other stuff. I go to the gym, I travel every week for work, I am in different environments with different schedules and somehow I have been able to work around my situation. I have had to cut out longer flights, which has made me really sad because I’ve missed several opportunities to go places I’ve wanted to go, but the risk of not being able to being in a bathroom for a half hour is too high. my current list of what I can eat with no issue is toast, sharp cheddar cheese, cooked green beans, chicken noodle soup, and Parmesan cheese crisps. It’s not a diet that anyone really wants to live on lol. Nor is it actually possible to live on.

That's how you learn your new limits, though. Your mind will tell you it's not enough food. Ignore that hater. We don't know her anymore. She a bish that wanna cause drama and chaos. She got us into this mess to begin with. Listen to your body. THAT'S what will lead you to the Promised Land.

I have portion control in my diet. I eat small portions of foods not large portions. I have a high metabolism.

Hey everyone, just wondering how it's going. I'm 6 weeks since surgery and my weight has stalled. I'm down a total of 34 lbs, but almost 1/2 of that was pre-surgery. I was losing quite nicely for the first 5 weeks, but this week is just staying steady and even going up a bit 😥. Is this normal? This week is back to "regular foods" although I'm mostly still on soft foods because I'm not tolerating any thing else yet.

Have a great time if you’re vacation!! I’ll be heading into “regular “ foods but I still will stay on the softer side just in case. Thank you for the tip for the restaurant!!. I think being foward is best. My doctors office gave me a medical card as well that says I can order kids meal (later on of course) so I plan on using that but for now sharing meals. I LOVED cottage cheese. It’s an acquired taste but two days ago I could not stand the smell so my husband ate the cup. I say #1 is eat what you like. If you don’t like it don’t eat it. Maybe yogurt is our thing or protein shakes, find what works for you.

Does anyone use the Baritastic app to track food? I'm wondering if there's a way to copy one day's stuff to the next. I often eat the same thing and putting it all in again is frustrating, but I've not found a way to copy it over.

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.

I was starving one week post-op. My hunger never left, but the signals changed. The hunger I feel is like hollowness in my abdomen, it feels like physical pain rather than craving something that is specific (taste or texture). I did lose my interest in eating between my snacks and meals (and what to eat was not on my mind), but once the clock hit 2 hours past my last meal/snack I felt the pangs. I lost a lot of weight very fast, and my post-op experience felt like I'm starving to death and withering away if that makes sense. The feeling of physical hunger pain is probably my body's way of preserving itself (I guess). Now that I am a bit more stabilized I have many days where I'm just not interested in food, and days where I'm ravenous (especially when I've hit it really hard at the gym).

I think my least favorite part of surgery has to be these Lovenox injections. Twice a day on top of the bruising I already have is rough. I kind of broke down and advanced my diet to full fluids. They had me at clears until Thursday and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve been tolerating everything so far so I had a Fairlife. I was fine. I haven’t been able to find a clear protein that I like. SEEQ is super sweet, Protein20 I only like the orange mango, I bought Isopure and tried mixing it with a flavor packet and it tasted weird. I can’t wait until I can do real food again.

not american, so no thanksgiving pics to share, but here are some thingsn i've prepared/eaten the last week or so (NOTE: i'm currently in an effort to gain weight - the horrors! lol - so my food choices may be a little off-the-bariatirc-norm...) 1) bbq pork and seasoned rice one-pot-rice-cooker-meal. my portion: 266 cals...ate almost all of it 2) homemade chilli topped with cilantro and feta cheese, home focaccia and sliced avocado sprinkled with sumac: 599 calories for whats shown. ate everything except the foccacia (too chewy for me!!...mr ate it instead) 3) more of my homemade chili, some cheddar cheese, more cilantro, and some Tostido's Hint of Lime Tortilla chips (my fave!!!) 276 cals...ate it all! 4) homemade guacamole with the above mentioned focaccia that i slow toasted to make crisps with cheddar & cilantro & sour cream: 370 cals...ate all except 2 the focaccia crisps. 5) homemade crispy pork belly...omg THE. BEST. CRISPY. PORK. BELLY. EV-AH!!! this pic is of the entire slab. i had roughly 1/2 cup volume of it. ate it all!! 250 calories! 6) junky snacks: - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 1 chocolate : 123 calories - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 3 sour keys candies 103 calories yep, ate all it ta-da!

There is nothing wrong with you... First, when we have surgery, a lot of nerves are cut that need time to heal. These are the nerves that tell us we are full, or getting full. So you are not getting accurate feedback from your stomach right now. These cut nerves take several months to heal fully. I noticed a distinct change in my fullness cues around 3 months out. Second--just because you CAN eat that amount doesn't mean you SHOULD (I'm so thankful the regulars here remind us all of this early post-op). You aren't getting accurate messages about your restriction right now, and different foods will cause different feelings of restriction or lack thereof. Try to stick to the small portions your dietician should have gone over with you. You have a lot of sutures holding your healing tummy together, you don't want to stress them. Take your time here, there is no rush. Third--different foods will cause different feelings of fullness. Purees often don't cause fullness, even meat purees. When you get into soft foods you might start to feel restriction when you eat denser proteins. But again, your stomach is still healing, so it may take time to feel your restriction, and some people never feel strong restriction, or don't feel it until they are overly full. This is where it is important to measure out your portions and eat tiny bites, slowly, watching for any signs of fullness. For us post op that may feel very different than it did pre-op. For me, for the first few months, all I would get is violent sneezing, intense hiccups, runny nose, etc... It took a while before I started feeling internal pressure with fullness. Fourth--Hunger is a b***h! Some people lose it, not everyone does. I woke up in recovery STARVING!! I was so mad. 😂I felt like I'd been given a faulty surgery. LOL But it really made me learn to work with my hunger cues and to sit with the discomfort of being hungry for a while. I was very, very hungry the first few weeks because nothing feels like it has enough substance to calm that ravenous hunger. This will ease in time as you progress your diet. For now all you can do is learn to distinguish head hunger from body hunger and learn to deal with the fact that sometimes we feel hungry and that's okay. Lastly, many people can drink water freely post op. You don't list your surgery, but this is very common with gastric bypass patients, though I have seen it with sleeve patients too. Once the internal swelling goes down, many can drink water easily. This is a blessing, since dehydration is the #1 reason bariatric patients end up in the ER post op!

@Singingbarista just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing? Only 2 more days till our surgery date! I’m nervous and excited, you? I’m not sure about anyone else, but this is the 1st day of my 2 week liquid diet (day 12) that I haven’t craved solid food. But I still don’t trust myself to go to the grocery store, I’m having my groceries delivered lol. It’s weird but I didn’t have a Pre-Op appointment… did anyone else not have to do one? I thought it was strange but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to go under the anesthesia.

The finger food plate is a great idea. I love those foods. Idk why I don’t think of them outside of an appetizer for a get together. I had to google auberfines. I know them as eggplant. I have had them at restaurants and annoyed them but always shy away because I’m intimidated by preparing rhem. I guess I need to do some research because that sounds like a good alternative to zucchini lasagna. I have never thought of putting beans into an omelette. It’s sounds different but I will give anything a try once. Thanks for the book suggestion. I should check and see what’s free on kindle unlimited as well. Idk why a whole book of recipes is overwhelming for me but when I come across one thing that sounds good I have the guts To try it. I’m an odd duck sometimes. lol.

I'm having surgery on Thursday, and I'm on a modified liquid diet. According to the nurse and the paperwork, I need to get 70-80g of protein and 64 oz of fluid a day and I'm allowed 1 meal a day (3oz of meat and 1c raw or ¹/2 c cooked veg) all the way up until 6 hours before surgery. This seems odd to me. They are cutting into my intestines. If i have eaten 6 hours before won't there still be food in my guts? I want to have the best outcome possible and am thinking of doing all liquid starting tomorrow night.