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You can eat toast & crackers? I would have been jumping for joy. You can have textured food!! On weeks 3 & 4 I was on purées: baby food slop. A lot of what you’re feeling is psychological. As we say, you have to do the head work as you progress. Your head & emotions can really mess with you. We’ve all been there. As @Kris77 said, some of this could be head hunger. Your brain is looking for those other foods because they comfort you & you’re pretty stressed & sad at the moment. It’s an awful cycle. I’m sad I want a piece of cake. I can’t have cake which makes me sad. You’ve had pretty major surgery & your emotions & hormones are all upside down now too which also contributes. As Kris suggested, find something to distract yourself. Often a craving will pass in 30mins or so if you stop focussing on it. Often you think how can this little amount of food fill me up. It can’t satisfy my hunger. But this is your new tummy. It’s 80%+/- smaller now so it doesn’t take much to fill it. You’ll also find as you’re eating more solid food, you’ll start to feel more ‘full’ or you’ve had enough. Liquids go through your tummy quickly & you don’t get that full feeling so you think you haven’t eaten enough & must still be hungry or need more food. You will likely also discover your full & real hunger signals are different than before. Something you probably don’t want to hear is that you may need to reevaluate what you see as ‘good’ food. Is it nutrient dense food that nourishes your body or does it just feed your emotional needs? The nutrient dense ‘healthy’ food on your recommended eating plan is plenty tasty & satisfying. There are many ways to cook it & add herbs & spices for flavour. You’ll even work out out healthier ways to prep some of your favourites. I had spaghetti bolognese, a favourite, in my soft food stage. Cooked the meat sauce for ages & served it with zucchini noodles & Parmesan. Could only eat 1/3 cup but it was damn delicious. Remember to sip & eat slowly. If you feel some discomfort wait until it passes. The discomfort could be from eating too much or too quickly. Put your fork down between bites & your glass down between sips. And wait between eating & drinking. If you do experience, sharp cutting pains across your tummy it can be from too much acid in your tummy. And too much acid or a noisy tummy can make you think you’re hungry when you’re really not. Many surgeons prescribe a PPI after surgery to help combat the extra acid. If you weren’t, ask your doctor for a script. Hope I haven’t scared you. You will get through this. And if you need support or advice, plenty here willing to do so. All the best & sorry for the long post.

It’s ok to have doubts & fears. We’ve all had them in some way during this process. And don’t be afraid to ask questions here. We’ve either experienced the same thing or can offer support or encouragement. My question is would you really want to go back to eating the same way? It lead you, like it did all of us, to being overweight. Will you never eat some of your old food favourites again? Not necessarily. They may become occasional treats just not every day or every week choices. Or you discover alternatives like vegetable pastas, bun free burgers or grilled, steamed, air fried or poached foods versus deep fried. Your portion sizes will be smaller & not those portions that are 2,3 & 4 times a recommended serving size. Of course, there will be restrictions on your food choices to begin. Initially to support your healing, then to support your weight loss & also to support your reeducation about food, nutrients, portion size, your relationship with food, etc. There may be certain foods you struggle with in the long term. Some develop intolerances like to lactose. It’s not that common & there are so many not dairy options about these days you don’t really miss out on anything. There may be foods that don’t sit as well in your tummy but it’s very individual. I still find bread, pasta & rice too heavy & filling & char grilled meats are too dry & coarse. There may be foods you choose to avoid or reduce to maintain your weight in the future. I still enjoy food, the flavour, the texture, etc. I go out to restaurants. I socialise with friends & family. I just make better food choices. I don’t see food & eating as a source of comfort or an emotional support to make me feel better or less bored. Food is the nutrition my body needs to function & to give me the energy to do the things I enjoy doing. All the best.

I had my surgery on the 3rd (2 weeks ago) and right now the diet I was given is scrambled eggs, tuna, toast, crackers, mashed potatoes and some other stuff i will never eat. I have stuck to each weeks diet and even been meeting my 64 oz water intake a day but today its hitting me really hard. I just want a meal. Like good food meal. Its so hard watching people eat all these delicious foods and driving by everything i love and not being able to enjoy any of it. I know, I have 4 weeks until I can taste good food again but I was almost in tears today. And I am ALWAYS hungry. So hungry. Even when I drink any liquids when it goes down it kind of hurts my stomach because it feels so empty. But its not? Is this normal? Anyways, how do yall do it? Any tips?

I'm almost to 4 weeks and haven't noticed any changes. I also never lost my appetite like so many people say they did. I broke down and ate 4 cashews right before I got to soft foods (I chewed them to death), but it actually did help and I went right back to doing what I was supposed to. So many things other people have had happen or deal with (good AND bad) haven't happened to me, that it is easy to feel like I haven't had the surgery. Some days I can follow the schedule and what I should eat and be fine, other days I just feel like I'm starving. Overall, I can tell it's good and better than before though, because I have to eat less.

Oh, yeah. I have things I haven’t worn yet either. A few things in my wardrobe still with the tags on. Partially COVID. Partially being out of the habit of going out. Most recently because the floods here postponed openings. Was supposed to be going to the opening night of a dance film my two nieces were in last week but it’s been delayed until June. It will be too cool to wear the outfit I was intending to wear so the tags will be staying on for a while longer. A contemporary dance performance I was thinking of seeing this week was also postponed. Sigh! I admire you giving a capsule wardrobe a go. My casual wardrobe could be considered a capsule. A few key pieces I rotate. But my better wardrobe is an extravaganza of excess. 😆

Because early on people can have trouble digesting the dry meat, my nutritionist said to not reheat it to eat or to add low/no fat gravy. But I haven't had to really add anything much to meat. I did some grilled chicken nuggets from chick-fil-a and barely dipped them in the ranch. Skinny girl dressings and other 0 cal dressings would also be good if you need something. I have used no sugar added marinara on tortilla to make "pizza" as well. I'm almost 4 weeks out.

I was told by my surgeon to stop all my diabetic medications when I started the 2 week diet before the surgery. My primary care physician said to see him 2 weeks after surgery. I never went back on my diabetic medication. My numbers run from 96 to 120. I am not a diabetic anymore. Hope this helps! Sent from my SM-T227U using BariatricPal mobile app

It’s 4 weeks post surgery for me and I am still having problems meeting my water and protein daily requirements. I feel like my weight loss is slow. I also feel like I’m not in a good place mentally sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself that my body IS a machine that I have to keep running well. If I don’t eat & drink as I should, I will feel all sorts of lethargy and negativity which in turn makes it more difficult to exercise and move. I’m very grateful that I have a wonderful medical support team whom I’m meeting monthly (used to be weekly) but sometimes it’s hard getting out of my head.

My husband has a similar job and stresses out when he takes time off as well. I tell him that it will give them a chance to learn that they can’t do it without you. I’m sure you will go back to a couple messes but they will also appreciate you more. Did your surgery center have you make a list of non scale related things you are looking forward to post surgery. It is especially good to have during the stalls.

Hi to everyone. 🙋🏻‍♀️ New here. I’m almost finished with pre-procedure testing. Stress test is 3/29. Everything else is complete-today I turned in sleep study ‘stuff,’ did upper GI, U/S, and chest x-ray, EKG. All labs done, psych cleared me last week. Cardiologist said that my hoping for a 4/08-ish surgery date is probably very doable. I was thinking gastric sleeve, but today’s upper GI confirmed hiatal hernia (half of my stomach is in my chest 😳…no symptoms…) so I’m thinking my surgeon will say his surgical plan will be repair and RNY. I’m okay with that. I typically lurk on these boards (infertility, pregnancy, twin pregnancy, older moms, homeschooling). I have found the members on every board I’ve been on to be a wealth of information.

Just clocked out of work for the last time. Got final physician approval yesterday and all systems are go for Monday. Pre-op liquid/protein bar diet has not been bad. Not much hunger except late in the day, but been supplementing with some broth and sugar free jello and ice pops. One week off after surgery, followed by one week of computer-based training at work where I'll get to take it easy. Sent from my SM-G973U using BariatricPal mobile app

Just completed a 45 min walk for the second day in a row. I am 2 weeks post op. It's a beautiful spring day and I am amazed at my progress just in one week. Last week at this time there was no way I would have been able to walk for more than 8 minutes or so.

I’m about 8 weeks post op - and while the first few weeks were great, I have been struggling. The mornings are the worst. I feel icky every morning with nauseous tendencies. When I eat any kind of meet I throw it up. For the last week my stomach has been sore. I’m ready to feel normal again. Did anyone else experience anything like this. I am going to the doctor today so hopefully will have some answers. I just really want to hear from the others of you and see what your experience was. I struggle taking any pills too.

I had GERD and a hiatal hernia pre op which is precisely why I choose the bypass over the sleeve (I did not want it to remain the same or get worse). My hiatal hernia was fixed during surgery and although I am only 2 weeks post op, I have had no GERD.

One thing i look forward to is actually finding clothing that fits once i have my surgery. I normally wear the same thing everyday, A white tshirt and basketball type shorts everyday. Last couple days been looking for actual clothes for a event tomorrow (Dress pants, collard shirt) and wow its been impossible... Me being 5'4 and 315lb. and havent worn real clothing like that in years. went to several stores and it was impossible to find anything that fit and i have a closet full of nice nearly brand new clothing that i havent been able to wear since 2016. hoping i get this cardiac clearance for surgery next week and can get this show on the road.

UPDATE: Just wanted to give ANOTHER quick update to my situation. LOL So as you may know I met with my dietician on March 3rd and we discussed my food logs and exercise and how it appeared I was doing everything right. Also told her that the only new different thing that happened back when my stall started was the fact that I halved my Metformin. She didn't seem to think that was the issue. But for sh*ts and giggles I started myself back on my old dose the next day. So guess what, on March 4th I weight in at 243.2. But then two days ago I weighed in at 235.4!!!! Pretty much an 8lb loss in only 12 days!!! Coincidence or what? I did NOTHING else new or different. All I know is that the scale has NOT moved like that in like 5 months!!! I also had my doc appointment today and we discussed what happened and he said if I feel like it's helping my weight move again then to stay on it. Otherwise, if I stall again, we can then discuss some other medicinal options to possibly help me start losing again. Overall he is happy with my progress and tells me to just keep doing what I've been doing. I HOPE the Metformin was the issue all along but I'm not getting too happy just yet. I'll keep updating periodically.

It is the Friday before my surgery, Surgery day is Monday the 21st. Today is my last day of work for a few weeks. I am stressed out about that but happy to get some time off. My job is hectic and stressful and quite demanding. Frankly, no one else can do my job although people will try so there will lots of issues upon my return. I am trying not to worry about it. I am trying to only worry about me for once. I want to go Monday have a easy surgery, and hope to have a smooth recovery. I am looking forward to trying new things and changing a lot of things in my life. I think I am still in disbelief that my day has finally come. I am not nervous or excited, anything really. I am just READY. Thanks for letting me share! 😊

Good morning, started my slimtime 3 week liquid diet this morning.... it’s going to be tough the stuff makes my throat and stomach feel warm. Anyone else have that feeling? We can do this!!!!!

OP is participating in the chit-chat, so I think OP will survive now that OP did get an answer (I'm in this thread originally answering the question) But you're right. It'd be nice if we had a more loose forum for socializing beyond answering if it's normal to have a stall at 3 weeks for the 10000th time.

I am also having surgery on APRIL 12th (sleeve procedure). We have similar body types. I am 5’4” with a starting weight of 223. I lost 12 pounds since my first visit on January 25th, so my surgeon approved only 10 days of the liquid diet (instead of the typical two weeks). Things are moving so fast for me and I’m so thankful.

I had my surgery almost three years ago & have three friend who’ve also had sleeve surgery in the last 2-4 yrs. They haven’t developed Gerd or the lesser reflux. I had mild reflux before my surgery but managed it successfully through my food & drink choices. I only had issues if I made bad choices like too much champagne or too many gin & tonics - the bubbles groan. Yes, I still have reflux though I experience different symptoms but again not that severe. I take a PPI every day now & for about 3 days out of 4 that’s enough. I get some burning in my throat late at night a couple of times a week but it’s not that bad. I would be included in that 30% stat even though I had it before, as many obese people do, & it’s still pretty mild. This is my experience. We’re all different & you can never predict how you will react to the surgery & the changes to your digestive system. I’m one of the 35% who developed gall stones but I could have developed them because of the weight loss, menopause or because I have Gilbert’s. If your existing reflux is severe enough to make you sick when you have an attack, my thought would be that you’re not a candidate for a sleeve. But that’s my opinion & I’m not a medical person. Do your research, ask questions. All surgeries have side effects & there’ll be pros & cons for all of the weight loss surgery options too. Remember, you have the right to ask for which ever surgery you think may be best for you. All the best.

I get enough protein without meat I love No cow protein bars. If you need protein shake supplement Vega yea one I found I like. I am not vegan. I always ate a mix of vegetarian foods and meat but health reasons I slowly stopped eating meat. I did have eggs with a veggie burger (the actual vegetable style burger a way of getting veggies made in a way my gut could handle) Dr. Praeger's Cauliflower Burger and California Burgers have been my go to. I used to put egg on a small veggie burger. They have "Just egg" that is a vegetarian egg substitute that you can make your own scramble or omelette. There are many options not just beans. You can take plant based omegas, Bragg Nutritional yeast, Vitamin K to name three I can think of as top supplements. Protein intake is based on body weight and activity base protein is 0.36 grams Protein per 1lb of body weight. and more based on type of diet and activity level. too much protein actually converts to sugar. I am now working through some issues not related to my surgery. but have reached goal and maintained since my surgery 2019.

OMG! How did you manage to give up clothes shopping? What’s your secret? Did you go cold turkey or just slowly weaned yourself off? Or just couldn’t be bothered? Longest I’ve gone is three weeks which as last month. I did buy a new handbag but a bag shouldn’t count should it?? 😉

Turns out they sold me the wrong vitamins. There was no iron in them. I've been on the new ones for about a week yet. I don't have rushing head syndrome anymore but still fatigued. They said it might take 3 weeks for my levels to go back to normal. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I also paid out of pocket. I then got GERD and an upper endoscopy showed that I had a hiatal hernia. I needed a second surgery. I could either get a Linx device put in, have a hiatal hernia surgery or have a bypass. since these surgeries were now medically necessary to fix an issue they were covered. I had the hiatal hernia surgery and paid about $400 total. Don't let the possibility of a side effect scare you!! Just because the first surgery is not covered does not mean the second won't be. I could have gotten any of the three surgeries covered and went with the one that worked best with my situation. Losing weight over the past 8+ months makes the issues I dealt with more than worth it. Edit: BTW, OTC medication helped alleviate all the acid reflux symptoms. Then, the reflux was gone immediately after the HH surgery.