Search the Community

Mine starts tomorrow, and honestly, it's the part I'm dreading the most. HOW is a fat person supposed to get through a whole week with no food??? lol

Just as a preface, I had the sleeve in Dec. 2016 and dropped about 120 lbs in 6 months, then screwed up and slowly went back up almost to where I started. I had a revision to bypass in Nov. 2021 and have been doing very well, about 80 lbs down so far. Last week was spring break for my kids so we decided to take a vacation, my first since the most recent surgery. We went to Virginia (drove from NY). I was very worried for a few reasons. First, I weigh myself every single day (yes I know some recommend against it, it works for me). I didn't want to bring my scale so it would be a week without monitoring my weight loss (or gain). Second, I rarely eat out and I weigh everything I eat when I make it. I wasn't going to be bringing my food scale and I knew I'd have to eat out more than usual. Finally, we were going to a lot of places where there weren't the healthiest options to eat. So I resolved to try my best not to blow it and see what happened. We stayed at a timeshare resort which had a full kitchen (stove, oven, microwave, utensils, pots/pans, etc) which was fantastic because we were able to go shopping for a lot of stuff to make in the room so I knew exactly what I was eating. I was able to make my usual breakfast (2 scrambled eggs with shredded cheese) almost every morning. I bought a few pre-packaged salads and some other stuff for the room. I only had to actually eat out 4 or 5 times the entire trip, not counting during the drive to and from VA. When we ate out I was able to check the calories for what I was eating to make a healthier choice, and made sure to stop when I was full instead of cleaning my plate. I was able to find something to eat at both Waffle House and Cracker Barrel that wasn't too horrible. Even at Busch Gardens we went to the German area restaurant and I got something called a German Chef Salad that was pretty good and not too heavy or unhealthy. Bonus at Busch Gardens: Last year (pre-surgery) we went to an amusement park and I wasn't able to ride most of the roller coasters because I just couldn't fit - no problem at all this time, got in with room to spare! I stayed away from snacks and desserts (I got Halo Top ice cream for the room to have at night). When we got back I was concerned what the scale might say, but I was down 2 lbs from when we left, so I'll consider that a win! I had a nice NSV before the trip too - I was looking for clothes to bring and found a bunch of shirts I got when I lost all the weight the first time, and they all fit comfortably and looked great. Before the surgery I wore XXL shirts, and even those were getting a little snug, I even had one XXXL I think. Lately I've been wearing XL's which were getting roomy, all the shirts I found were L and fit great, so that was awesome. I also had to buy a new pair of jeans that was 4 sizes smaller and fits great. I found my old bathing suits which were too tight last year, now half are too big and the rest fit OK (almost too big but not quite yet). So it's been a good week, hoping to continue on my path to onederland again! Here's a pic of the family having fun.

I work 7 days a week mostly 12 hr shifts. Nights. So I honestly don't exercise. Work is my exercise. (not making excuses). I'm just wore out from working. I eat a lot of soup, meats, and veggies. My weakness is my coffees I do used fat free creamer now. My eating could be better. I don't have the time to meal prep like I used to. Just very worried.

I just started the pre op diet for two weeks yesterday. It's not too bad. My surgery is the 9th of May.

Congratulations!! So exciting I knooooow. When my sister dropped me off at the hospital and I was walking inside with my pillow and pajama clothes lol I was like this is really happening! manage the pain best you can. Reality sets in in that recovery room really quick. Just remember like Summer said to walk it out. Drink what you can. The first week if you don’t get ALL your liquids that’s ok do what you can the most important thing is to heal, no stress, rest when your body tells you it needs it. A heating pad helped my tummy and drinking hot liquids for the gas. good luck! You’re having surgery on my birthday!

you will hit stalls along your journey. you are possibly in one now where you wont loose weight for a couple weeks or so.

Update- So April 8th was the original post I made. I was 273.4 lbs. I fluctuated between that and 274 up until a week ago. I had to start working out. Getting my food plate together with all my macros on it, but most importantly i had to get my sleeping in order I was only getting 4-5 hours a night, which was horrible for my goals. I’m now at 263, so that’s a 10lb loss in 2 weeks. Still in the slow loser club and happy to be here! I’m expecting my body to stall soon but I do know how to get through it now. It is sooooo mentally important to understand your body is complicated especially mine lol and you’ve got to let it go through what it has to in order to accept your decision to change it’s mechanical or hormonal structure.

Ok my question goes with this, I think. My surgery was 4/4. I was weighing everyday and that was not helping out. So today was the first week I waited a week in between and I just stayed the same weight. Is this normal, has this happened to other people? I didn’t think I would stop losing weight so early. I lost 15 lbs before and 15 lbs after. Does anyone have a similar situation?

I work 7 days a week mostly 12 hr shifts. Nights. So I honestly don't exercise. Work is my exercise. (not making excuses). I'm just wore out from working. I eat a lot of soup, meats, and veggies. My weakness is my coffees I do used fat free creamer now. My eating could be better. I don't have the time to meal prep like I used to. Just very worried.

I am 4 years post op. I started at 227 and my lowest weight has been 103. I've done amazing. These last three months I have gained 14 lbs. I known shouldn't worry but I am. I would like to lose at least 7 of those. We all know the struggle and I fight it everyday still. Any advice on how to drop those few lbs? Can't seem to do it. Thanks so much and many blessings!!

Wow I'm so sorry. My dad passed April 28th last year. 1 week after my birthday, completely unexpected not knowing his heart was at 13% capacity. His death was followed by the loss of 6 more family members within the next 9 months. I leaned on food so much I gained 130lbs. I had my sleeve surgery on my 30th birthday last week and my follow up is this week on my dad's 1st anniversary. Praying for God's strength and comfort as we continue to navigate grief [emoji178] Sent from my SM-G996U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello Feb 2022 group, since we are sharing here I go. I have lost 53 pounds but most of them on the first month, the last month I lost only 10. Almost 3 months PO I cannot eat eggs, bread, pasta or tortillas, I used to love tacos and I have not enjoyed one during the last 3 months. 2 weeks ago I started having salads and I love that I can have a decent amount. I feel full very quickly still half of a cup of solid food sometimes less, I had to travel recently for work and family and during that time it was easy to drink water but now that I am back at home I am struggling again I can do a little more than 32 oz. still pushing it. I am not a fan of protein shakes but try to do some smoothies with fruits and protein dust ( eww) since I know I am not getting all the protein I need from food. I felt bad for a few days and ended up in ER, I got a CT and endoscopy and everything seem to be fine but I am suffering from reflux, I took some pills for it and now I seem to be able to control it with not eating too close to bed time, reclined bed etc. I wish you all to be successful fast or slow however our bodies decide they want to go.

Great to hear everyone! On my end, I've lost 42 lbs. I can pretty much eat everything but I stay away from bread, white sugar/high sugar food/drink, and raw vegetables per my doc's order. I tried alcohol for the first time two weeks ago.. a vodka shot with water and lemon juice while out with friends. Didn't get super drunk really fast or anything, pretty much felt the same as it did before surgery. I do get very nauseous randomly on some days but for no apparent reason. I'm still on the nausea medication. I find that if I'm dehydrated and constipated, it makes me want to throw up. I take extra strength stool softeners every day along with my vitamins too. I've thrown up twice, once Feb, once in March, from eating too fast and getting food stuck in my esophagus. Doc said I can wait for it to pass but I find it so uncomfortable that I just need to throw it up. Definitely getting really good at eating slowly now and have learned my lesson. I just got back from a trip and barely ate anything on the trip or got in my 64 oz each day because I was out doing so much with people. I've been incredibly nauseous for the past 24 hours partially from constipation, my period and what I'm suspecting is dehydration. I am really good at getting in all my protein and water when I'm home but I have so much trouble keeping up with everything once my routine is switched up. I travel a lot so this is something I definitely need to get better at. The dehydration is no joke.

First you shouldnt be weighing yourself daily like that... Everyone can gain or loose a pound or so daily. Also water weight. Also you will end up running into stalls where you wont loose any weight and maybe even gain a tiny tiny bit.

Hey y'all. I got gastric bypass surgery on 3/29 and for the first two weeks I thought everything was going well. I was meeting my goals, losing weight, etc. But then the third week I transitioned to soft foods and it all went downhill. So I decided to eat some swiss cheese with some bologna bits and that was fine! Ate some goldfish as well and was feeling good. I attempted to sneak a French fry or two the following night and I felt like the food was just stuck in my stomach. I felgike every breathe I took I needed to burp but if I would try to, it'd just be foam/mucus. Eventually, I threw up. I had felt this way before occasionally during the pureed phase but just chalked it up to healing from the surgery. Eventually it got to the point where the only thing I could tolerate was my protein shakes. I called my clinic and they advised me to go to the ER. After about 12 hours and a wildly uncomfortable cat scan, they determined I had either inflammation or a stricture and said they'd do an endoscopy soon, but sent me home. Also told me to continue liquids. I called my clinic again today because I haven't heard anything about my endoscopy and now my protein shakes are hard to get down. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday so they told me to wait until then. I don't know what to do. It's so uncomfortable and I dread having to consume anything...but I know I need to. Advice? Thoughts? Words of encouragement? Sent from my LE2125 using BariatricPal mobile app

Over 60 here and I don't look older except that well, I am old already lol. I just look thinner, perhaps more gaunt, tired. I think months of low calorie diets do that in general. I recently went back to having a vial of sculptra in my cheek area which has always helped me. I put it off for a few years. All I needed was one vial as per the dermatologist. After 4 to 5 weeks, I don't have that tired look anymore. Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

Every surgeon is different with the pre op diet... The point is to shrink your liver. My pre op diet was 2 weeks of liquids only. 5 protein shakes a day. Some surgeons allow 1 small meal of lean chicken/fish and some veggies. The length of the pre op diet depends on your BMI. Those of us with higher BMIs tend to get the longer pre op diets while those with lower bmi's get shorter or even no pre op diet.

Every surgeon has their own pre-op requirements. Unfortunately, the ASMBS doesn't have hard & fast guidelines for pre-op diets so they vary greatly from surgeon to surgeon. Most have some elements of calorie restriction, lower carb, and higher protein. Mine was on the more restrictive end, being 2 weeks of liquids only, but others follow a whole foods based plan that allows for multiple meals a day. As others have said, you'll need to get your plan for your surgeon and go from there.

I started taking mine about 3 months before surgery to make it a habit. I am really terrible with meds/vitamins, and I knew it would be necessary post-op (per my surgeon's requirements), so I wanted to make it part of my routine well in advance. That being said, there really is no nutritional/health benefits to it, unless you have a known deficiency. I was instructed to stop taking mine for the 2 weeks prior to surgery, which is very common.

Wow, my surgery was feb 23, 22. I'm down 20 lbs. Before surgery I was losing 1/2 pound a month, so I shouldn't be surprised, I'm very insulin resistant. I can eat like 1/2 a sandwich, or 1/2 a burrito. I can eat more than a few bites. Have not had any feeling of throwing up, nausea or anything like it. Sometimes I wonder if the surgery is working as good for me as others. I can drink a whole cup of tea in the morning, but I sip it slowly. I have fallen off the wagon twice since surgery and had carbs, that stales me out for 2-3 weeks. eating out is a challenge, since we can't have salads yet. Having said that, I am working on emotional eating. This is probably my biggest issue. I can eat perfectly all week, then overdo it one day! It's better than it used to be, but there's still room for improvement. congrats to you that have lost so much! I'm excited for you. I'm working on the next 20 pounds!

I was also told to stop taking vitamins a certain amount of weeks before surgery. But in reality taking bariatric vitamins before surgery is a waste. You will literally just pee most of it out. The body can only absorb so much and the rest goes out in pee.

I have been lucky with the fact that I have NOT had issues eating at all. I also haven't had any sort of aversion to any foods. My frustration with it all comes with the fact that even way before surgery foods that normal dieting people would eat like brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains, fruits, stuff like that, would stall me or make me gain weight. I expressed those fears to the nutritionist before surgery and now after. But she keeps suggesting I add and have those things in my diet and that there is no reason why I shouldn't. I guess I'm just trapped in my old bad ways of thinking and my bad habit of trying to omit them and it gets to my mind at times. I'm always like, it must be nice to be normal and not have to think of every morsel of food you're about to put into your mouth. Or worry over it and how it's gonna make you stall, not lose, gain, etc. My long stall also has me wondering if my PCOS and IR may still be causing me issues when it comes to my hormones and inability to lose due to it. I've been looking into supplements for it but have yet to bite the bullet. The one that seems to come highly recommended by many docs is kind of expensive but I hear great things about it. I am wondering if that coupled with the Rybelsus will help get my hormones and stuff in check IF that is or may be what's stalling me?

I was told I would have to stop taking vitamins a few weeks before surgery. But, why would you want to take them? The only reason to take bariatric vitamins is because you can't absorb vitamins due to a malabsorptive procedure or you can't eat enough of a variety of foods due to a restrictive procedure. otherwise, mostly vitamins just aren't necessary

Your surgery center will let you know what, if any, pre-op diet you will have to follow. Many people have a liquid diet for a week or two before surgery to shrink the liver and make surgery easier and safer. Some doctors don't require this, or require a different type of diet. Make sure you read many times all the information sent to you by your surgery center.

Not yet, I have that appt in a couple weeks just wondering what it is so I can stock up on a few things, Sent from my SM-G996U using BariatricPal mobile app