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After reading a thread in another forum here, I thought I'd check in and see HOW everyone eats 2+ years post op!! I am 4.5 years post op and currently doing nutritional ketosis but seriously thinking about switching to a more 'bariatric' style eating with higher protein, lower fat and a few more starchy things (like some beans or a bit of squash) every now and again... I have also FINALLY embraced the need to move and get active so have started doing some muscle building. But, in the meantime i'm curious- how are YOU eating these days? Regular diet? Keto? Paleo? Bariatric/low carb? Diabetic diet? Cal controlled? Give your 2 cents!!

At the end of the day, we are ALL different. That's what makes us all so great. Everybody, think of when you were pre-op...what was working great for your friend/cousin/co-worker/neighbor just didn't work for you, right? Thus, part of the reason that most of us ended up in the surgical suite. Here we are again, going around the same argument. What works for one post-op doesn't necessarily work for us all. I WISH I could eat carbs. Boy, do I truly wish I could sit down with some awesome carby thing and love on it, but my body absolutely does not tolerate any form of sugar and almost no carbs now. At 5 years post op I've had to revamp my diet multiple times and am finally in a spot where I feel as good as I can, but I maintain nutritional ketosis. That works for ME. It might not work for you, nor would you want to do it! Additionally, everyone here has different surgeons and different surgical teams who recommend very different maintenance diets to live on. I'm going to just remind everyone that we have all been on the receiving end of eye-rolling, someone somewhere who thought we were 'crazy' for having bariatric surgery, people who thought we didn't have will power or that we were weak. We all remember what that felt like. Please let's not now bring all this negativity to the forums.

I heard about Poo-Pourri on this site. I bought the SPICED APPLE. I remember seeing a SECRET SANTA bottle at the store but didn't recall the scent. When I got home, I called the Poo-pourri people to ask about SECRET SANTA. The company representative answered immediately. It was a surreal conversation talking about poo. I mentioned Bariatric Pal as the place where I heard about their product. I also decided to visit their site. Hilarious! If you can handle scatological humor, you might enjoy this series of stories by women and their poo emergencies. https://www.poopourri.com/blogs/girls-do-poop https://www.poopourri.com

I have never been made to feel so inadequate in my life. I am so disappointed in the way Brian Gary treated me. I received the gastric sleeve surgery from him on 09/12/2017. From the beginning, my very first visit with him was not very pleasant. I should have taken that as the red flag it was and taken my business elsewhere, but against my better judgement I preceded with him as my weight loss doctor. He didn't feel I needed the surgery. I would have rather him tell me he will not perform my surgery and for me to get another doctor. My visit with him on 10/17/18 proved to be the most disrespectful way I have ever been treated by anyone, especially my doctor. I have not lost but about 34 pounds in the year since my surgery and saw on this day I gained 11 of those pounds back. Already feeling bad enough, he made me feel much worse with the remarks he made to me. He told me I failed, there was nothing else he could do for me, maybe I could get on the Medifast diet with Dr. Jernigan and he didn't have to see me anymore. Really! The Medifast diet, after I have put myself through weight loss surgery. Instead of him asking what the problem might be and let's see how we can fix this, he humiliated me. I told him my sleeve has never restricted my food intake the way it should, not even from the very beginning. The hunger was still there and if it were not for the scars on my stomach, I wouldn't think I had weight loss surgery. I asked him if he removed the 75% of my stomach the way he was suppose to, he didn't give a yes or no answer, instead he said your sleeve is the same size as the lady I just saw and she's already lost 80 pounds. Talk about adding insult to injury. He told me people who don't do what they are suppose to do always find excuses. He never once offered to run an endoscopy, barium or any other test to see what might be causing the lack of weight loss I'm experiencing. Sure there are things I could have done better. I am new to this and needed my doctor's help, but instead I got turned away and told I was a failure and he didn't have to see be again. Your weight loss doctor is suppose to be a life time relationship to keep you on track and to make sure you are having no problems, like leaks, nutrient or vitamin deficiencies along with other problems that can come with weight loss surgery. I m having hair loss, bruising and pitching in my stomach, but did not feel comfortable telling him these things, because to me he just didn't care one way or the other. The bariatric group I am a member of could not believe this. These people had their surgery before me, some during the same time as me and others after me and have lost anywhere from 70 to over a 100 pounds. Most of them still can't eat more than a few mouthfuls. When I told him I can take in more food than I should be able to, he said the stomach is a muscle and it stretches. This is not supposed to happen this fast, maybe some years down the road, but not right after you have surgery. My group asked me about my labs with him, I asked what labs? I have never done lab work in his office. I spoke with my insurance company and they have given me the green light to seek another weight loss doctor. I pray all was done right and it is a simple fix. I am not a failure, I feel my sleeve and doctor failed me. I pray he does not make anyone else feel this way.

I eat a lot of fruit relative to other bariatric patients and am not a big meat eater (pre or post gastric bypass) and I do not dump, not once; even the occasional dessert does not cause me any issues. YMMV

Well, as a RNY instead, I do still have my stomach, I instead asked my surgeon to make it largely non-functional. Does this give me a leg up. on sleevers? I'm not certain it does. At 6 weeks if I regret something it is the fact that I never feel full and never satisfied. I take in what I can, stop after designated amounts, try to keep all my counts proper, sufficent fluid, adequate protein,pray that my still meagre liquid diet is providing me sufficent calories to keep me until another day. But my skin is now dry and leathery, my lips are perpetually cracked, I keep ingesting vitamins, minerals, omeprazole, Zofran and Carafate, is it benefiting me or just something to keep me busy? I do not looks forward to losing my hair, although it is probably inevitable. Obesity was slowly killing me, but did I merely trade it. for malabsorption, dehydration and a deficiency diet? Is there any. guarantee I have not jumped from the frying pan into the 🔥? I know of no other bypass veteran in my city of 20,000, I had to travel 50 miles to even find a bariatric surgeon. I have not seen him since shortly after my surgery, I am palmed off on Nurse-Practioners now,nice enough people but are they giving true consul or merely mouthing the company line? Walking the walk? I do try but when you are light-headed it's not very easy. Try to keep my exercise at the level I don't pop tendons, rear ligaments, these muscles and. bones have to last the rest of my life. Have already repalaced a few joints, but they are 85% as good as the natural thing. I do not know if I have buyers remiss but at this point I do question the outlay of my insurances monies for this operation. I now have 7 small scars, was it the right trade-off? I have sacrificed myself but have I improved life, health and my future? At this point, IDK, I just don't know.😪💦😪

My Dear Bari Sisters and Brothers. I’m alive! Hallelujah! But I’ve been through the ringer. The ER visit last Thursday did not help. I was throwing up every 10-15minutes on Friday. It got...bad....Started having numbing of fingers and toes and felt like an Elephant had taken a seat on my chest. Hubby failed 911. Long story short, I wounded up in bad shape at my surgeons hospital and was admitted right away. I was displaying classic acute Stricture symptoms. And I was severely dehydrated. I thought they would just scope and dilate me, and that would be that. But nope! Surgeon was gone for the day and I had to begin a LONG and exhausting wait for Monday to come, and I had not eaten since Wednesday night! Ofcourse they did their favorite thing and put me on Nothing by mouth... It was torture. Thirsty, naucious, the minutes oozed like molasses, waiting, suffering. They tried to make me comfortable but...the wait was excruciating. My highlights were the kids and hubby visiting in the evenings. I hated kids to see me this way. Monday morning finally came and I was SO excited. Relief was surely on the way. So you can imagine how I literally BLEW A FUSE when my surgeon waltzed in at 1:30PM and instead of prioritizing me and putting me out of my misery, asap, he proceeded to to into Surgery to do a Tummy TUCK! Lets just say I got the hospital director involved. Problem is...he owns the whole center, he’s the ultimate CEO, what’s she gonna do...call the boss? GRRRRR.....I was livid! The added stress is that I knew I had a flight to Europe on Thursday (ie. Today!). I was not scoped till 5:30PM Monday, and was in limbo for a while from anesthesia. They kept me Tuesday through evening to make sure I could tolerate liquids, the softs and fed me well before they cut me loose. It tasted like heaven. heck, my shoe would have tasted like heaven at that point. Got home at mid-night Tuesday and had one short Wednesday (in my compromised state of energy), to get the house as in order as I could, work, pack, think through what I need to take to be successful on my first Airplane ride and long haul trip since surgery). Stress was the word, but i prayed my way through it. I even got a USB chargeable blender on Amazon. The kids were so happy to have mama home. My 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter. And then came this morning...and as I was dropping them in school, I had to let them know mama has to go out of town till next Friday. :( I bearly made my flight. I have a whole suitcase of Bariatric stuff. If I had more time I would have documented what all I prepared. But alas, I was RUSHING! I just landed in New Orleans and the first leg of my journey went well. I ate a bit of airport bought humus on the flight. Waited 2mins between bites for good measure! Had two mini pretzels and drank water in between. I am about to board the big Transatlantic flight. Nervous about how I will do. I will always live with the trepidation that a Stricture might return. Cabin pressure and all...but God has not given me the spirit of fear, so I press on. Hope you are all doing great. I have had zero chance to catch up. Please, do say a little prayer for me! Love and hugs, PS: Attached area pics of the lovely flowers kids and hubby brought, my heavenly first meals, and the card my son made for me.

Bypass, I'm your height, started at 355, at least that's when my wake-call came, might have even gotten a shosh higher, that was a year ago. 335 in April-May when after I escaped an asshat surgeon, went to Ohio State University where I was treated with respect, kindness and they were not afraid of my age-72, 330 when I got my date of September 5th, that was July, did liver shrinking diet the month of August, Surgery morning at319, bypass surgery was success, at 6 weeks I am down to 293 (this Am) , I have a natural sluggish BMR, plain diets didn't help me , and I have tried everyone out there and some few have heard up to and including strucured starvation. The b6pass for me is a wonderful tool. Hope to use it clear down to my dream of 175 if I can. And I am losing fat in the dangers places, neck, forearms, but the belly that no before diet touched, its actually not as blubberific, my rump, well I am losing my fat pad there, hurts to sit too long on hard chairs, but guess what? I have renewed energy, I don't want to sit down as much! Oh I had and still a few blips on my road, but still I have more hopes at 293 than I did over 350, and I would not change or regret the surgery I have gone through.

Bariatric therapist is a great idea. I hope you will work through all this and overcome the struggle. Have you thought about marriage counselling to address what going on in the relationship?

Hello all my friends. Sorry I have not keep up on this thread .There no excuse. Talking about vacation,went to the Anarondike Mountains in August for a week with my brother and we hike all over the place. Lost 10 lbs and put them back on when I got home. The reason is I walked miles every day up there . At home I am walking around a mile and half almost everyday but not even close to what I was doing up there. No worry it will come off. I'm feeling Great! Most days except for my left knee. Getting it drained tomarrow. Can,t wait. Lol. I have surpassed my goal weight and still want to lose a little more and deffently need to firm up the skin . I have lost 108lbs so far but put those 10lbs back on and stalled or I would be down 118 lbs . It will come back off .This weight loss has given me my life back. Always wanting to do stuff I hadn't done in years. Best decision I ever made to have this Surgery. This post is a little long but I wish all of you the Best. If you ever need to talk or help let me know I can give you my number. Thanks again to all of you for the support. Your bariatric pal Joe.

hi again. Thought I was doing better, strained veggie soup, creamed st rained soups, half and protein shakes, early afternoon here, had sensation I was interpeting as hunger, made thin maltomeal cereal with a little low-fat 1% milk stirred in A,mistake, 2t notice not T but t, and and I'm upchucking again. 6 weeks 1 day out and this set in at least a month, maybe 5 weeks ago. I'm crying💦how could something so beautiful be gone so sour? A week from tomorrow Dr Noria is scheduled to a repeat EGJ, can I limp along to then? Should I at least check in with a nurse Practioner in Columbus? My,local community hospital, I guess if I got dehyrated enough they know to hang a bag of fluid, but they don't know much about Bariatrics and rny bypass, it would be like a peacock parachutin into a flock of chickens "What. do WE do with YOU?". I guess I was foolish to think Precious Pouch could handle such a foodstuff, but my Surgery Twin sleevers and bypassers, they are starting on soft,food by now. I'm a nice person, should I be punished?

Honestly...you've answered your own question about "why" you haven't lost more. I promise you I know that adding in the wine will dead cold stop you in your tracks and derail you--and if it's true transference/alcoholism--can and will kill you after contributing to massive regain. Please get help?!!! Please. We can't provide the kind of help you need--an addiction specialist and someone very well-versed with bariatrics and food addiction as well. I'm so sorry about your mom and sis. And sorry your doc is an asshat!!

It was suggested that I start a thread on this topic seeing as I do have first hand experience. This is the founder of The Pound of Cure, Dr. Matthew Weiner. The link is to his Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/DrMatthewWeiner My story started about 4 years ago I would say when I chose to seek out BS (Bariatric Surgery). I first reached out to a different clinic in my state. But I ended up never scheduling my surgery through them. THANK GOD! Ok now fast forward to January 2018. I got on Youtube and started watching videos and doing more research. That is where I found my saving grace! LITERALLY! I reached out to his office and scheduled my consultation. From my very first phone call into the office its been nothing but a positive learning motivating life changing experience. Every person I came into contact with made an impact. They are so helpful. My first time meeting Dr. Weiner I really didn't know what to expect with only seeing him on Youtube. But I will tell you that he is the same exact person you see in the videos. It is very easy to talk to him and open up to him about questions or concerns. I had to do 6 months of a pre op diet required by my insurance, so we started right off with ways to start changing my diet and how I really look at food. He is very encouraging and prints out step by step suggestions for your entire process. His idea behind Pound of cure really helped me loose 20 lbs before my surgery. If I was struggling with areas of my diet he had many different suggestions on things I can try. You can tell he really speaks from experience. He would ask me what my trouble areas were and gave me different options to try which I wouldn't have tried before. When eating a pound of veggies a day was first put in play it was quite daunting. I enjoy veggies and I thought I ate enough of them but quickly realized that I just needed to tweak a couple things. I feel like my taste buds have changed a few different times along my journey. Even this past week I have noticed changes. For my surgery with Dr. Weiner. That took place at Oakland Regional Hospital in Southfield MI. Dr. Weiner is part owner of the hospital. EVERYONE there was great. I went home the next day and did great until about 4 days out. My taste buds changed and couldn't take in ANY protein. So he told me about his smoothies and I was able to do that for a while until I could take in more food. I also had problems with my vitamins. The taste was absolutely horrible. So he switched me to the capsules. He listened to my struggles and made one suggestion that helped drastically. He really knows and understands what bariatric patients are going through. This program has changed my mindset on food. I now eat for necessity and fuel for the day. I know everyone has different results from the surgery and their program but I do not feel hunger. I most definitely feel when I am full. I've seen posts that his program leads more towards a vegan lifestyle but not completely. I will say that is true. I had a horrible time with cheese for instance. The crack of all foods right. Well now I no longer eat cheese and if I do I use vegan cheese. He even suggested recipes to make our own. I would never have started eating beans if it wasn't for him. And my new tummy LOVES beans. Those around me don't but hey I have to eat what I can eat. I can most certainly get by with out eating animal protein and I think anyone after surgery could. I know for me I have chosen to not eat animal protein if I don't have to. I've had chicken for dinner for example and that next morning I felt completely different. I just knew right away what it was. You have to eat what makes you feel good. With his program I get by drinking ZERO artificial protein. No shakes, no powder. I cant stomach the taste. Even the unflavored is a lie. It is flavored. Greens and beans give me life I know every program is different and there are those people that strictly abide by their surgeons word and that is fine. That is clearly also what I do. I am not suggesting you do anything different unless your body is telling you that you need to change something. If something isn't working for you WHY NOT seek out alternative options. Only you know your body. Only you know how you feel and what things feel like in your new tummy. Go with your gut. No pun intended I am only speaking my experience and what I went through. If you are in the Michigan area and are looking or someone you know is looking into BS I would say for sure reach out to his office. If you've had complications from a previous BS again I would for sure reach out to his office. He also fixes previous botched surgeries or those with complications.

Hi everyone. I have never had depression in my entire life not even as a big girl. Now 6 wks put of surgery and down from 200 to 168 lbs I am being faced with all sorts of unstable emotions. My relationship with my partner is struggling. He isn't really the affectionate type to begin with but lately he has been distancing even more or so I feel. I feel rejected at times, feel like he comes up with vague excuses for his behavior. All he keeps saying is "your going through major image changes, I dont think I fit in anymore" he claims that I am always needing massive attention from him. But when one is feeling lonely, and rejected how could one not feel needy. This whole thing is just too much for me to handle. Its stressing me out to the point where I **** down my stomach completely. I made an appointment to see the bariatric physiologist tomorrow and I asked him to come with me. We have been together for 6 yrs and living together for 3.5 yrs. I dont know what to do. I feel we are all going through all sorts of changes. I want to be able to take control of my emotions and direct my attention on something else. I hate feeling this way and feel out of control. Any advice is welcome [emoji17] [emoji120] [emoji30] Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

You are going hard for carbs lately. Keep it up. I think that, in the future, we will look back on our current anti-carb obsession with the same derision as we look back on the anti-fat nonsense of the 1990s. It's a fad. It will pass. Nutrition science is in its infancy, and every single nutritionist I've ever met, and most I've followed online for any time, have been dogmatic. There are dogmatic vegetarian/vegan nutritionists, dogmatic anti-carb nutritionists (bariatric teams seem to hire them disproportionately often), dogmatic "three meals/no snacks" nutritionists, dogmatic "eat small amounts all day" nutritionists. More than one nutritionist I've had the misfortune to deal with has been entirely ignorant about the research surrounding BMR changes brought on by diet, probably because their paycheck required them to stay ignorant. They all (all of them I've met and nearly all of them whose websites I visit) cherry-pick their sources, ignoring the things they don't want to integrate into their practice. Nutrition "science," as practiced in client-facing situations, is just survivorship bias writ large. "Well this all works for ME." MEH! ... Hi, I'm CrankyMagpie, and I didn't know I had a rant waiting to get out, but here we are.

The same day I had surgery, I had met and made a friend that went through a revision for the same reason. She was eating solids before I was, but her dr was a different one in our Bariatric group. It took me a about 6 weeks before I got to solid I think. I had nothing but diarrhea during my liquid stage. My dr doesn't want me having fruits because of the added calories. He wants the majority of my calories to come from protein. I've been wanting to add fruits to my meal replaced protein drinks. But I can use fruits in infusd water because I'm not eating them. I'm only 6 months post op though

I think there are a lot of crappy "bariatric medical teams" out there that are offering really God awful advice that is potentially causing harm and endangering people. My medical team thinks so, too. So what do we do about that conundrum?

I am “fortunate” that my port was removed in 2007 after it developed MRSA and that giant incision never healed. This will only be the band. I’ve not had any bad complications that I’m aware of beyond things getting stuck... but it’s been a source of worry for 10 years and completely useless. I self paid for the band in 2006, so I didn’t have Insurance coverage for Bariatric until now. Such a relief.

I had my gastric band put in in 2009 and lost 41 kg (90 lbs) over about 18 months. I then had abdominoplasty in 2012 to get rid of 5 more kg (11 lbs) of skin. Once the surgeon took the fluid out of the band for surgery it was stuffed! I could never get just the right amount of fluid in - 3.5 ml and I couldn't swallow even water, 3.25 ml and I was starving. As a result I ended up gaining back 32 kg slowly over the last 6 years. I finally got fed up of feeling tired and fat and in pain all the time with bad knees, so asked my bariatric surgeon what we could do about it. He suggested revision to RNY, and I trust him implicitly, so said ok. I had my band removed on July 17th and it was alright. I was only in overnight and like Matt he used the same incision points as my original surgery so no new scars (not that anyone looks at my belly anyway ). I did have a lot of post op shoulder tip pain, but that went away very quickly. I'm also very allergic to any kind of tape and developed a terrible blistered rash under the OpSite he used over the incisions. The only other downside was that I was able to eat anything I wanted and in large portions. I gained another 6 kg before my RNY on 26 September. The RNY surgery was super easy. I was admitted at 6:30 am, taken to the OR at 7:30 and back in my room and wide awake at noon. I asked the nurse doing my obs if I could get up to go to the toilet and she said I could so I took myself for a walk around the ward before getting back into bed. I had absolutely no pain with any part of the surgery. He used Dermabond glue instead of bandages or Steri-Strips and it's pretty much all fallen off now. I think the worst part was having the drain removed 2 days post op. I was only in hospital for 2 nights, which suited me fine. I think people recover better at home where they can lie in their own bed, not be woken up every 2 hours for someone to check blood pressure and such. I did go home with a terrible head cold (that I think my partner gave me) and developed shingles on the side of my face and up my nose, but honestly I'm sure that was a side effect of my body having to try to heal itself from the surgery and then the head/chest cold on top. I'm now 3 weeks out from the RNY and could not be more happy with my decision. I'm down 2 dress sizes and the pain in my knees is so much better.

I am sure someone probably posted this before- but if not- Everyone should check out the hidrate spark bottle. I have the second generation and I love this thing. It connects to a phone app, counts your amounts for you- reminds you to drink throughout the day, and even flashes at you as a visual reminder if you aren't looking at your phone. I have been trying mine since I found out I was going to have surgery and I am way ahead in the water that I used to drink. I have a link if you PM for 10 percent off- but please know that I also get a percentage off my next bottle... If you aren't looking to order online, I found mine at Target in the USA- I am not sure about internationally. However this has been an amazing tool to use- and I thought it was worth sharing. Another great tool I bought that I am loving is the Tespo vitamin dispenser - again if you are interested I can send a link that I have to give you 20.00 off the machine or first order for friends. I am using the sleep pods and vitamins pre op and I am really loving sleeping through the night, and the energy pod does actually keep me boosted working. I will admit I haven't tried the bariatric formula yet- as my surgery isn't until 10/29/2018. I just thought I would take the time to share these two items, and let you know I find them pretty valueable. I do believe the only way to get Tespo right now for those who might as is online. Again I do not want to post links here in the forum- but if you PM me - I can send you refferal codes. Otherwise check the products out on your own, and see if they could be a tool for you on your journey! :) Also if anyone else knows of any other cool tools or things to use- please add to this topic. As I would like to find something to help with portions.

Hi Crigney21! I'm also going through the process with Kaiser in Portland. I am currently on step 4. Once my PCP approved me I received an email from the Bariatric department that said I was approved for the program. So far, through step 3, it seems as though unless there is an issue with my labs, the doctor doesn't feel I'm ready, etc. then I am going to have it. Let me know if you want to chat more! I know I was fishing so hard to find someone else who was going through it at Kaiser in Portland because each Kaiser is so different.

I use ProCare Health Bariatric Multi every morning. Not only is the cost great but easy to go down if you can handle swallowing a pill. It is a one a day and my numbers came back great at my 6 month checkup, using it since month 4. It is also available as a 30 day supply for less, I did that at first to try them out. I then take a chew-able calcium later in the day.

I was just wondering who's bariatric (real food stage) instructions were to avoid fruits and beans? I get the people that choose atkins and keto avoid Fruit, beans, whole grains, corn, peas, lentils, peanuts, berries, squash, yams, potatoes, etc [I am wondering if people are having success when they avoid grains, sugar, and processed food, but eat a variety of whole natural foods, including berries, squash, fruit, nuts, and beans?] Four years out - My diet is mostly clean whole foods - proteins, veggies, fruits, nuts, sweet potato, lentils/beans, squash, nuts, dairy. I am not 100% clean. I balance all my foods to fit my calories and macros for the day.

I love eating fruit and nuts and beans - yum, yum! I also like making smoothies or overnight oats for breakfast as I’m often in a hurry in the morning. These things in small portions sizes do not cause me to gain weight, but this may not be the case for everyone. I think what’s important is to figure out what food properly nourishes YOU and doesn’t make you feel like you’re on a diet forever, which will be different for everyone. If there are foods that trigger you to overeat then cut those out, and if you struggle with food addiction or making poor food choices then you should strongly consider therapy and other approaches to get your head right. Bariatric surgery is great for resetting your metabolism and providing an opportunity to maintain long term weight loss, but it won’t prevent you from eating around your new tool.

When trying new foods try one at a time. For example the egg and Greek yogurt. Try the yogurt on its own then the egg, that way if one gives you a problem you'll know which it is. My surgery was performed by Kaiser, here is the link to the Bariatric teams website with info on diet, meal plans and shopping lists and other useful help Kaiser Bariatric After Surgery Page. Hope this helps.