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That's not really an option. It's the NHS so it's just the one appointment through the Bariatric multidisciplinary team. Therapy is really hard to get and the waiting lists are long. Once you get an appointment, you get 12 sessions or about 1 a week for three months.

Yes but apparently in the medical world that is pretty new. I have yet to find a doctor who isn’t a bariatric surgeon who has even heard of it and many surgeons still do not perform it or they are only beginning to.

So not a helpful comment here, but I was also stunned at how much cottage cheese is mentioned/used in the bariatric community! Pre-surgery I was like..."I am going to try it", and I had looked up and saved so many different recipes using it - truth is, I still haven't tried it 🤣

I never In my life heard the Words Cottage Cheese used so much until I entered the Bariatric community. MY GOSH cottage cheese never was what I called a tasty cheesy treat lol. As time went on I see that cottage cheese packs a lot of protein and I have slowly started to enjoy whole Milk cottage cheese. How do you use cottage cheese? What are your recipes? Do you even like cottage cheese? lol it is an aquired taste for sure 😂😂

I have made this a few times and really like it (without the pasta accompaniment) https://motivation.ie/recipes/dinner-recipes/smoked-paprika-goulash-motivation-recipe/ Some other ideas you might like (all of which I have tested and gone back to again and again); https://www.bariatricfoodcoach.com/lasagna-stew/ - I do not do the pre-slow cooker browning https://skinnyfitalicious.com/crockpot-chicken-shawarma/#recipe - Love, make using chicken breast cubes/strips https://bakingqueen74.co.uk/slow-cooker-spicy-bean-stew/ https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-carrot-lentil-soup - I don't do the pre-slow cooker step, just bang it all in the slow cooker. I do keep back one carrot though and add it in after blending but sill with about 30 minutes left on the cook so there are some soft bites, I also add a lot more chili but that is to my taste. https://www.bariatricfoodie.com/crockpot-curry-chicken/ - I skip step 1 https://www.bariatricfoodsource.com/blogs/bariatric-friendly-recipes/pureed-chicken-soup-bariatric-phase-3-soft-food - I just put all in the slow cooker and let it do its magic. I have added chili sometimes or other herbs. https://motivation.ie/recipes/lentil-soup-with-crispy-bacon/ - again I just put all the ingredients (skip the oil & bacon) into the slow cooker.

Sometime shoulder pain can be caused from the air that gets trapped from any surgery. I would probably run it by your surgeon though. Especially if you have already passed gas a few times and didn’t feel any relief. I was in the hospital after my bariatric revision surgery for 5 days because I couldn’t pass gas and the pain was so bad I couldn’t take it without the meds they weren’t going to send me home with so I stayed. Post sleeve I had no pain at all. I asked them to switch me to Tylenol the first time they brought the pain meds and I went home early the next day. The difference was all because of trapped air. I think it varies from person to person how much and where it manages to get stuck too. When I finally did pass gas I knew that I needed to keep it up because I instantly felt some relief. It took like 5 or 6 times and then I finally felt soooooo much better. I went home and took half a pain pill while my hubby went out for Tylenol and I didn’t take another. That gas is no fun.

Egg Drop was my first take out item post-op but I waited till soft food stage to eat it. My program didn't have a puree phase. I did cheat a bit by using a Vitamix and totally liquifying some soups. But as @Arabesque said, wait until your Bariatric team OKs you for the puree stage then either strain or liquefy. I was also concerned about the amount of fat added to Egg Drop from my local Chinese restaurant but it didn't seem to effect me. It tasted wonderful! You can also make your own using some chicken bouillon or broth and dropping an egg into it. GL and congrats on your surgery!

I am asking for your help/advice. I am a physical therapist and I underwent my own bariatric surgery in 2022. I am looking to develop a unique bariatric program that provides exercise programs and support to people undergoing rapid weight loss whether from surgery or from medication. If you guys could answer a few questions for me it would be greatly appreciated and would help me build my practice! 1. Did you exercise before surgery? And what was your biggest challenge? 2. Would you have benefited from a preop physical therapy appointment to develop a customize strength training program that took into consideration your current limitations and orthopedic issues. 3. how were you educated on post operative activity and physical restrictions? Would you have liked a week by week guide on what activities you can return to and when? 4. Were you educated on exercises to maintain muscle mass through your first year postoperatively? 5. What kind of exercises did you do postoperatively in the first year? Did you hire a personal trainer? Join the gym? Search online? 6. Did you develop any new or worsening musculoskeletal pain as you were more mobile and your body composition changed? 7. Let me know if you have any other ideas on how having a physical therapist on your bariatric team would have benefited you both before and after surgery. Thanks so much everyone. I may be piloting this program with a few patients. Email me if you’re interested (I’m licensed to treat in N.C.) contact@localpointpt.com

I’m dealing with some pretty scary medical stuff right now (outside of the bariatric stuff) and I had a long drive home late last night alone and scared of what the results will be from a test I’m doing Monday as well as the test itself which I believe is going to be pretty painful. I drove past McDonalds and even though I have no physical hunger, the emotional hunger was very real and I seriously almost caved. I didn’t stop, though. I went home and ate the chili I asked my husband to pull out of the freezer. This morning I got up and did my YOGA and kept right on trucking. I am going to a group fitness class at the gym I wanted to check out with a friend tomorrow. I won’t be able to do anything for five days after this test so I’m really trying to stick to my routine right up to Monday. I may need a little encouragement to get back into my routine, though. I’m pretty nervous that a five day break is going to make me lose my habits. I have to ask to be sure but I think I will be allowed to do everything again starting back Saturday but I was told I have a Princess pass for 5 days. No exercise, housework, nothing. Not even dishes. I was a little excited about that one.

It’s possible whoever told you this meant short term as in the immediate preop and early post op period. Or meant you can supplement/augment protein needs with shakes in addition to food but your bariatric team will move you through food stages and require you eat actual foods.

Have you seen a bariatric specialist? It sounds like something other than a small pouch to me I am over 6 years out, but I still have a lot of restriction. My capacity for the last 5+ years has held steady at about 4 oz. So a small frozen burrito, a taco bell taco, etc. But that does not restrict the amount I can eat in a day, and certainly not necessary to stay up at night. Is there a reason you can't eat slider foods, calorie dense foods, eat more frequently?

I'm sorry you're going through all this, especially since like most of us you went through surgery to become healthier. As far as the "under 900 calories" at 1 1/2 years out, I'm at at 800 at 15 months out myself. I've even asked about increasing my calories at my 12 month checkup having seen most ppl on these forums discuss that they've been put on 1200 calories a day at this point in the journey and I was told I could maybe add 100 calories but they were very hesitant about it. Now you have me worried. What symptoms are you experiencing? Currently, I have no energy, I feel like I'm dragging my legs and feet... I'm grumpy most of the time and I've started getting nerve or some kind of pain in my right armpit area... My joints ache was just thinking arthritis, I've been very hard on my body with 14 years of gymnastics and being in a physical confrontation job with ppl twice my size..headaches.. . could you if you don't mind share what you've been experiencing? Luckily my co-morbidities have all gone away so far.. Thank you for your post, hopefully I can address this with my GP next month! I hope you start to feel better soon I know this isn't what you signed up for. I take it your bariatric clinic kept you low calorie too?

Sure. She was concerned that I was eating too fast when I told her that I was eating my meals within like 5-10 minutes. She said that I can't do that with the surgery because not only will I be miserable with vomiting and diarrhea and nausea and the like but I likely would undo the gastric sleeve surgery. She said I should aim for eating my meals in 20-30 minutes preferably 30-40. This seems like an impossible goal for me especially when I see her again in just 2 weeks. She also wants me to savor each bite and focus on the food or something like that. I don't really understand it to be completely honest with you. Mostly I just wanted to work on eating slower over the next two weeks so that when I do get the surgery I don't get sick and undo the surgery and "pass" with her so I can get the surgery. I can fake my way out of the mindfulness part of it or just tell her that it won't work for me and if it's a crucial part of the surgery than maybe bariatric surgery isn't the right option for me.

I just got home from the bariatric clinic/nutritionist. The nutritionist didn't clear me for surgery and is going to follow up with me again in a month. Turns out she found out that I haven't been practicing mindful eating and since that can apparently completely reverse the effects of the surgery she's given me homework to practice that. I don't even understand mindfulness and it's NEVER worked for me so I guess I can't get the surgery and I have to try to lose 150 pounds on my own...

Well, I will tell you that after my sleeve, there was nothing that I could not tolerate. I’m pretty early out post revision so I haven’t tried many of those foods with the exception of tacos but I haven’t had any issues with anything so far. I make tacos with ground turkey meat, 2% cheese, and just eat the filling or I have it with low-carb tortillas. Surprisingly the turkey meat and the 2% cheese do not taste much different at all by the time you add the seasoning and them little low-carb tortilla aren’t bad either. Sometimes I just do it as a salad too. You may be surprised to find that you don’t crave those same foods, though. The surgery does some metabolic changes and can change the foods that you enjoy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, pizzas still sounds good to me but all of a sudden grilled fish doesn’t sound bad either so it’s a lot easier to make the healthier choice. It really depends on what your purpose is for the surgery. If you’re only goal was to get rid of your Gerd, then you may not care about getting into a super skinny size in which case eating smaller portions of the foods you enjoyed before shouldn’t be an issue at all. But if your goal is also weight loss and you want to be able to maintain a very low BMI, then you’re going to have to make some sacrifices. In which case, my suggestion would be to search the bariatric websites and even the thread on here for recipes and try some things once you get to soft foods and regular foods. You may be surprised at things that you will enjoy. I make turkey meatballs, and I have those with peppers and onions and sauce which are delicious, turkey tacos are good too, chili with lean meat is pretty reasonable macro wise, white chicken chili is a favorite, I made a Mexican skillet that wasn’t bad macro wise you may enjoy if you like Mexican, I sometimes do the zucchini noodles if I want pasta. They are pretty bland and just pick up the flavor of whatever sauce you use and of course you will want to add some protein. I also found a recipe for spring rolls which some people call summer rolls that are so yummy. They’re not the fried ones but still really good. It’s chicken, avocado and veggies with peanut sauce to dip. These are all in the weight loss phase once I get to maintenance I can add things to jazz them up a bit You can also do chicken or cauliflower crust pizza with chicken and veggies so it has more protein Or cauliflower mac & cheese. Lean beef cheeseburger without the bun, a cheeseburger salad or low carb cheeseburger wrap. There are ways to tweak your favorites. Basically anything I am craving. I just type it in Google with the word healthy in front of it and I try some recipes until I find one I like. Some of it is bland but many things are surprisingly good. One that I still want to try is zucchini lasagna. After doing the ricotta bake on purée stage and loving it, my guess it that it’s good I still make the ricotta bake I just add Turkey sausage and veggies. Ooh and quest protein chips are really good once you can do crunchy. Also, they have an “ice cream” maker that you can control the ingredients I have heard some people talking about on here But the short answer is No, unless you have a specific intolerance, allergy or sensitivity you will not have to give up your favorite foods forever. You will just have to make tradeoffs. How often you can have them will be based on what weight you are looking to maintain. If you are willing to exercise, for instance, you will be able to eat more carbs and maintain at a lower weight.

My Weekly Win: Community...being active In various bariatric communities is very helpful for me and always a Win 🏆! The knowledge, the experiences, the ups and downs, just everything that comes with community! I have also learned a lot from the scholars (physicians, therapist, dietitians, etc. Let's continue to WIN!

Hello and welcome in the forum. There is a whole thread listed as Bariatric grief, its very worth a read. I had mine pre surgery. Anything with noodles was my thing. I had lots of Asian food funerals. I promise, it gets better. I eat everything I feel like except I cook it or it comes from a quality restaurant. I live in a part of the UK with out fast food places and the only one is a Dominos Pizza, I dislike the price £20, so would make it at home if that was my thing. I can eat a good amount of good icecream and some good chocolate, too much and I puke. I can eat a Magnum for instance. I eat Falafel with Tzatziki regularly and thats the first time I ever heard of it being off anyones menu. I bake it rather than fry it. I have had some Pad thai but its not really a thing for me anymore as I can eat so few noodles. I will go for Tom Yum or Tom Kha at our Fav restaurant. I can not eat anything ultra blitzed like Guacamole, shudder ... the puree stage has left a memory on my soul. I tried making it chunky but my brain will not accept it. All those slimming classes did have something to tell me after all. Being skinny is better than a bowl of the very best tasty noodles. Saying that .... if I could eat them I would, but not every meal, every day or week.

Most of the people on here have said it. I do cook most of my food now, hence the name. I think I’m weird because I like to food prep. I weigh myself at least once a week or check how my jeans fit. Then jump back on track (if I’ve wandered) by weighing food, measuring, recording and checking in with my son or a friend to hold myself accountable. I stay in touch with my bariatric group of fellow WLS patients because it’s good positive energy from people working hard to maintain weight loss. I pop on here too, again nice positive energy from folks trying to be supportive and helpful staying healthy!

7 years out this November (I can’t believe it’s been that long!) 1. The surgery did all of the work. I didn’t wake up hungry, I didn’t feel like I could eat more than recommended. I didn’t have any (initial) complications that slowed the weight loss process. 2. I was really strict and followed every rule pre and post op. I was super serious because I absolutely needed this to work. My motivation remains for medical reasons first and aesthetics second. 3. I limited calories from liquids. 4. I am finally ready to admit that I have a narrow palate. I don’t like most food and definitely not most fast food but in a pinch I will eat it *some* things. I cook the vast majority of my meals and most are very boring by foodie standards. 5. I was converted from VSG to RNY at my goal weight (GERD etc) and I’m sure the durability of RNY has made a difference in maintaining. 6. I was given a higher BMI range by my surgeon and thank goodness because getting any lower would have been a real struggle without added benefits. 7. I invested in plastics. I shouldn’t make sense or a difference but I didn’t want to mess up the work I had done plus removed skin and fat cells are gone forever. 8. I address the smallest regains IMMEDIATELY adjusting behavior and intake. I’m not ashamed of it or ignore it, I weigh often to stay accountable to myself. 9. I found what works for me and focused on that, adjusting as needed. I try very, very hard not to compare myself with anyone else. I never attached self worth or morality to weight (gained or lost). I think it helped immensely that no one ever bothered me about weight. I realize it maybe a different story if this wasn’t the case. 10. I check in yearly with my bariatric team.

If you have a phone or some sort of Alexa device try setting a recurring reminder to remind you daily. Or maybe regular alarm clocks have that option now. Don’t overdo it but just get into the habit of doing something. Start with what your physical therapist recommended. They are very knowledgeable and know where you are currently fitness wise. Also, if the physical therapist is too far. See if the bariatric physical therapy specialist could set up your program and do your evaluations but you can go to someone local just to do the exercises. They usually have someone evaluate and change your exercises ever so often and the other people there just help you do those exercises in between. So in other words, The specialist will decide what exercises you need to do and send those records to someone closer for you to do them more often. Not certain if that’s something that they like to do but it couldn’t hurt to ask. You Can break your exercise up too. My watch actually tells me to stand up every hour and I will walk around the house a bit. Before I got it I would do a little extra walking when I went to the restroom or got up to get a drink. It’s just something you do a few times a day so a little extra adds up. You could do your bands then. Or when you eat your meals you could do them. Just divide up how much they want you to do for the day so your not doing too much. It doesn’t matter when or how you do it or where you are starting from any little bit is progress. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend walking too far by yourself if it’s been a while since you have done it though. When I started I would go alone but I did wait until my husband was home from work and I took a phone with me so if I needed to, I could call him to come get me. Even still I just go around the same block over and over so I’m not far from home if my knees start hurting me. Sounds like your team is taking good care of you. I think you will do just fine.

Wow what a coincidence In my early post op bariatric group sessions, A good dietitian who helps bariatric patients Told us to start eating "Full fat items" she went on to state how you will stay fuller longer. She stated how "low fat" and "reduced fat" will have more complex ingredients which is a true statement low fat ingredients list are always funky. Full fat items are straight forward like sour cream may just say Whole Milk, Heavy cream. we were all complaining about still being hungry. She helped us thankfully. Switching to Full fats was everything for me. Keeps me fuller and more energy! Awesome glad you are maintaining 🏆.

I'm going to have physical therapy and a nutritionist that specialize in bariatric surgery after my surgery. I saw the physical therapist once already for a consultation he said that I would be working with him alot after my surgery and that we'd mostly be swimming and stuff. I'm assuming I'd be seeing him once a month but I'm not sure. I'm hoping it's once a month anyway and not more frequent because I have the hospital that has the bariatric program is an hours drive away. We have a hospital in our town but it doesn't have a bariatric program or a maternity ward anymore for that matter. Anyway it will take some motivation to exercise. I often forget to exercise. I'll say I'll do it and then don't do it. I will do the physical therapy exercises at my physical therapy appointments but I often forget and don't do the exercises afterwards at home. The therapist from the bariatric program gave me a rubber band to use to do curls on and my wife hasn't been reminding me to do those nor have i been doing them on my own. The rubber band has been sitting on the coffee table for 8 months. But I'll start doing some walking today I have an appointment after my wife gets off of work. So that will be some walking exercise for today and I can go for a walk tomorrow after she gets home from work. Or I can walk alone when she's at work. I'll just need to remind myself.

I was supposed to have my surgery Dec 28 last year. I had the option of taking a last-minute cancelation the Monday of Thanksgiving week, but when I told my mom (whose help I needed with my kids), she was totally against it. Said I would ruin everyone's holidays if I had a terrible recovery and kinda made it all about everyone else. So I gave up the date, even though it pained me to do it, because I didn't want to be selfish. A couple weeks later, my hospital discontinued their surgical program and canceled my date. I was devastated. I had to rebook with a different program, which was still affiliated with the parent organization of my hospital, but unfamiliar to me. I didn't end up getting my surgery until February. It was very stressful and I was pretty angry with myself for not choosing what I wanted instead of what other people wanted me to do. Having said that, it did all work out for the best in some ways. Apparently, the November surgery date would have been right after the doctors at my old program were told the center was closing, so maybe that would have meant the surgeon wasn't as focused going into my surgery, which could have been dangerous for me. And I would have had to do all my follow up with a different program, which would've been awkward. And I appreciate that I knocked out my deductible in February so have had full coverage of all my tests and appointments all year. I actually have a biopsy I have to get done next month (not related to bariatric surgery) and that won't have any out of pocket costs, so yay for that. On the other hand, my recovery was pretty much text book, so all my mom's worries over me ruining the holidays with a terrible recovery were baseless. I was pretty self sufficient and back to about 80% functioning by the end of the first week. And 8 months post-surgery, the holidays are rolling around again and guess what? I still can't eat more than a tiny plate of turkey breast, a few green beans, and a bite of pumpkin pie. I still won't be baking a million cookies or drinking a pint of egg nog. So, whether it happens this year or next, your family will have to figure out how to navigate around your new normal. If it were me, I would decide based on what makes financial sense (your deductible, etc.), what works for you with time off work, and would probably avoid the two weeks right before Christmas just because you will need some time to recover in peace without holidays adding to your stress. In retrospect, waiting until February wasn't such a big deal, though, so if you do have to wait, it will be okay. Just make sure you do it for yourself and not for everyone else.

As we all know loosing the weight after bariatric surgery can be quick and easy, but I have noticed throughout various bariatric groups, That maintenance seems to be the hardest. What were some of your Keys to success that helped you maintain your goal weight over the years? What was steadfast and True?

As an British-American, I'm going back to the US for Thanksgiving in one month and I pretty much have the same concerns. Food, Food, Food is all it is. Come to find out my stepmother had the sleeve two years ago (she kept it real quiet but judged my mother for having a bypass 15 years ago, but I digress) so having one other bariatric patient at the table could be helpful for portion size recommendations. But Christmas, I'm with Italian friends. Italians (not to generalise, but something I've observed) love to feed people so I'm going to have to practice stern "no thank you".