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I hit a wall with shakes this week. My doc team suggested unflavored protein powder in Gatorade zero. Ugh! No. It was wretched. I found this idea in a bariatric cookbook. Nonfat milk mixed with some nonfat milk powder. It wasn’t gross! I tried a bit then made some more.

I think you need to have a blood test to check your protein levels, vitamins, minerals, sugar, etc. Then you’ll know what your missing in your diet & your surgeon & dietician will be able to best advise you. And as @The Greater Fool said camp out at your surgeon & doctor’s & demand attention until you get answers & a way forward. I agree completely with @catwoman7’s advice around your caloric needs. We’re not all the same & there are too many factors that influence what you need as an individual. The blood test will help inform what your macros goals need to be - whether you need more, less or are consuming enough. I really appreciated the 3 monthly blood tests (& appointments) my surgeon & his colleague requested the last three years (just moved to 6months now). We picked up things like how removing my gall reduced my protein absorption, my vitamin D levels drop a little in winter, I didn’t need to continue to take multivitamins after I reached maintenance (except D in winter). I also agree with the advice to cut out any high fat or high sugar foods out of your diet & see if the dumping improves. Hypoglycaemic episodes gives me similar symptoms to what you’re experiencing though. (I usually eat a couple of berries as the little burst of sugar ease it very quickly.) Maybe your reactive hypoglycaemia needs to be explored further with your doctor too. All the best.

Remember at the beginning you’re not eating much so you really don’t have much to poop out as waste so not going every day is ok. I used to go every second day for the about first 3 months. When you start to eat more, some vegetables, fruit & a little fibre from good carbs, will help you go more regularly. Keep your fluid intake up too. Adding a non swelling fibre supplement like Benefibre, etc. to your diet everyday will help. I only took a stool softener if I reached a third day without any movement. This stopped me getting too bound up & experiencing discomfort. I didn’t take them any more frequently because I didn’t want my body to become reliant of an artificial stimulant to make me poop. Unfortunately, it can be something you will continue to experience the odd occurrence of into the future too.

I’m not sure. Each surgeon may have their own requirements I just had my surgery a week ago on the 27th

I was told to lose 10lbs but I didn’t lose it until my pre-op liquid diet. I actually lost 15lbs in two weeks

yup, they are strict. I had grown to like the Atkins shake - all the same stuff, yadda, yadda, yadda - but only premier or BP pre-op. Fortunately, i found that I love (this week) Premier Peanut Butter/Chocolate.

I had the revision from sleeve to RNY last August due to severe gerd. Have lost all my excess weight and I can finally sleep restfully all night long. No severe gerd. I can't say whether you will screw up again but I assure you, with the RNY, it'll be much harder to slide back into bad habits. I'm in my 10th month and it's been a lovely journey for me so far. I am still elated that I can get full on 2 eggs. Unfortunately, complications can happen with all surgeries. I had a complication with the lap band and the VSG. No fault of my own. RNY is no longer a permanent surgery, but it is a risky procedure to reverse it. The sleeve is considered permanent. As for vitamins, I had a complete bloodwork 2 weeks ago and I was not deficient in any vitamins, minerals or protein. Cholesterol, triglycerides, sugar, all perfect. I only take a vitamin patch by patchaid. It may not work for others but it sure works for me. I hope this helps.

I agree with you 100%. I did the research and coffee also has health benefits, provided you don’t exceed 450 mg. My dietician doesn’t allow caffeine EVER, as in never! I say bullshit to that rule and plan on drinking coffee when I get to the 3rd month. I’m currently on week 7 and drinking decaf coffee occasionally.

Changing macros is always interesting and usually pays off. Some say cut the carbs, others say up them. For example, I upped my carbs to over 100g and dropped another 5 lbs. I have been below my weight loss goal but was stalled for a few weeks. I have been working up to consume the 7-13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, as per my surgeon's diet plan. It's similar to the Longevity diet based on a 30 year recent study.

I also had severe GERD, which some insurance companies consider a comorbidity. I think that BCBS was just being mean and looking for an excuse because my starting weight was on the lower end (223 pounds). I am doing okay on week 7 after surgery. Every day is a struggle to eat the right things and stay away from crackers. I discovered that I can very easily eat Skinny Pop popcorn, Goldfish crackers and Cheez-Its. Now I’m addicted and trying really hard to resist them. They are now banned from the house!

I am on day 13 of 100% liquid Diet. My surgery is this coming Monday 6/6. This is what I been living on for the past 3 weeks (started earlier as a trial) Drinks: 64oz daily of any of the items below Water, sugar free noncarbonated beverage such as Crystal Light, Sugar free fitness beverage such as 0 calorie Propel Fitness Water or G2, Bullion or Broth, Decaffeinated coffee or tea, "Flat" decaffeinated diet soft drinks such as flattened diet ginger ale, Diet Jell-O or Gelatin 20, Tomato or V-8 Juice (NOT splash or Fusion unless DIET), Sugar- Free Popsicle (less than 20 calories each; limit 2-3 per day) Meal Options: 3-5 a day Shakes (Premier, Optifast, Carnation Instant Breakfast etc.) It also gives you guidelines to make your own between 150-250 Calories/serving, 12g of protein per serving minimum, 10-15 grams of sugar per serving Snack: 2-3 per day Yogurt: Nonfat, light, Nonfat or 1% milk, Tomato or Low Fat Cream Soup, Sugar Free Pudding, Greek Yogurt Fat Free I hope this gives you an idea. As per nurse if is not on the list I am not allow to eat it 😐 but it is almost over 😄

I been taking the collagen mix on my shakes for 3 weeks now. I will be adding Biotin to it, any recommendations?

Start taking biotin and collagen to help with the hair loss. That was one too I got from someone else in the vsg community and it’s been working wonders for me. I’m 3 weeks post op and so far my hair is looking better than pre-op. I started taking biotin and collagen about 5-6 before surgery and make sure I mix it into my drinks daily.

Hi Shey, have them check it next week - I hope you have a reputable doctor --- it sounds like it need to be unfilled a bit based on what you are describing. You'll be okay though. Stick to broths, soft foods until you can get back into doctor. I would insist on a check in/barium look! Wish best!

i wasnt given a specific amount to loose. Just simply to follow the pre op diet for my specified time of 2 weeks which i lost 11lb during that time. How long is your pre op diet?

I am flying out for a holiday in a few weeks and have given snacks a great deal of thought. I can eat only a tiny amount at a meal, just a tiny bit more than a boiled egg. So I need in between meal options. In the UK there are lots of stuff to pack into children's lunch boxes. A lot is rubbish food but some is ok. 10 gm Pepperami sticks, Snacking nuts in 20 gm packs, Tiny packs of Melba toast to eat with a tin of tuna salad, 2 Oat biscuits in a packet with a 32 g pack of soft cheese or peanut butter, 65gm packs of snacking olives and 20 gm packets of mixed seeds are some that are on my tick list

When I had my surgery I had a goody bag from the team, it included a Patient ID Card with my name and surgery date. They told me I could show it in restaurants. it is the size of a credit card. It has a note: "SPECIAL MENU REQUEST The above named patient has had Gastric surgery which has reduced his/her stomach capacity to less than 3 ounces. Please allow him/her to order a smaller portion or make a selection from the children's menu." I have not used it but your message reminded me of it. I will put it in my wallet, who knows... it may work.

Hope your doing well, I’m down 86.5lbs to (193lbs) since my late January surgery. I take my vitamins and walk everyday. I also work out 3 days a week. Still some days only consume 700-1000 calories and some days 1600 cals. I feel great!! Very happy with my progress and the decision to get this surgery. I also haven’t had a stall yet.

Ugh, same here. Week two and I lost nothing. I started freaking out because I thought it was too soon! I’m still on the puréed stage. Surgery was May 17th. Still in the back of my head I keep thinking something is wrong because I have had no issues with anything but the surgeon just told me to trust the process so I’m trying to stay positive.

Hey all! Woah, I didn’t mean to make this so long, but I’m a rambler. This is my first post and I'm not sure if it belongs here, but it’s going here lol. I’ve been battling depression and obesity since I was a child. I hit 200lbs when I was 12, and although I was an active dancer in highschool and walked so so so much (my friends and I were mallrats with no cars) and saw a nutritionist in my junior and senior year, I was probably around 215 when I graduated. For a 5’2”, 17 year old girl, that was already morbidly obese and it just went up from there. I was definitely in survival mode for the next few years, on a few antidepressants, working and going to school, just trying to live. The earliest data I have from my FitBit and MyFitnessPal has be at 275lb in 2016, and I know I went up to the 290s in 2017, because 2017 is a blank on my trackers, and knowing me, I was too ashamed to record it. The next I have is 273 in 2018. I went off my antidepressants around the end of 2017, and while I was mentally “white-knuckling” it, I started losing weight. But it was very much a lose 10lbs, gain 15-20 cycle. Then my birth control made it worse. At the beginning of this year, I was stuck in a plateau of 231, and I talked to my doctor about my disordered eating, and she got me a therapist and I got myself a personal trainer. At that doctors appt, I almost asked for a referral for surgery, but chickened out and asked for a therapist and a nutritionist instead. Love my therapist, but the nutritionist wanted me on a 1200 cal diet that didn't mesh with disordered eating at all. An important note here, is that my mother, who has passed, had the RYGB circa 2002. So surgery has always been in the back of my mind. After a series of unfortunate events in March, I lost 10lbs rapidly and realized my bmi (40) was at the cut off for surgery with no comorbidities. At the beginning of April I asked my doctor for a surgery referral. She offered me Wegovy or Saxenda, but I really can’t see myself using injectables for the rest of my life, so she went ahead with the referral. Had the first consultation a little over a week later, did a few zoom classes, completed forms, did the psych eval (actually awful), and today I got an email saying my insurance approved me and my program would contact me soon for a date. My reasoning is that I see my trainer twice a week and my therapist and I are working on my relationship with food, but I’m getting older and I have that historic lose/gain cycle, and my weight has been a source of unhappiness literally my entire life. Surgery isn’t going to fix everything, I know that, I’ve talked to my therapist about that, but she and I agree this would be a great tool for me in conjunction with the other changes I’m making. My trainer, who is a family friend, doesn’t like the idea. But she’s only known me as an adult, she doesn’t see that a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and trying to stay active isn’t cutting it when I’m still carrying an extra 100lbs. A close member of my family wants me to do keto again, because that was my biggest diet win, but that also didn’t mesh with my disordered eating in the long run. Since my consult, I’ve lost about another 6lbs, firmly putting me where I was when I was a teenager, which is a surreal feeling, but it’s being used as proof that I can “do it on my own.” Honestly, my mindset is that I’m eating less in preparation for surgery. There’s been memes shared on instagram stories of people who I know must know I want to get wls done, calling the surgery “body mutilation” and how “surgeons regret performing bariatric surgeries because it's unnatural.” It makes me doubt myself, like is this just my depression wanting to “mutilate” myself, or is this me trying to overcome my depression and finally do something for myself? What was it for my mother? I was too young to ask her these questions and now I can't. This is a very long post to ask; I’m doing the right thing, right? Am I being rational and making sense? I know I can lose the weight, but keeping it off is constantly clawing and if I slip now just a little, the lose/gain cycle could catch up, and I'm so tired of it.

I added vegetables like carrots, tomato (not a vege I know), celery, onion, capsicum, mushrooms, to soups & stews/casseroles from soft food. Just let them simmer away for ages. The first vegetables I ate as a side were shredded cabbage & cauliflower. I microwaved them in a little water & butter. Then I added green beans. I tried other vegetables but they didn’t taste good (even through they were my favourites) for a few weeks. Then it was asparagus, sugar snap peas, broccolini, spinach, etc. I do tend to microwave my vegetables to keep them moist. I didn’t & still don’t do potato as they’re too starchy & tend to sit heavily but I have had a bite or two of roast pumpkin over the years.

Thank you! My meal plan shows around 3oz per meal is where we should be. 2 oz meat and 1oz something else this evening i tried 2oz chicken and 1oz steamed carrots. I got like 1.2 oz chicken down and 1/3 of my carrots just keeping on. Today is better than yesterday though ❤️

I slept propped up in my loveseat because I don't have a recliner. It worked well. I had to do it for about a week before I could sleep in my bed. As for the fluids and protein, that's likely the reason you're feeling off. Also, you may not be getting enough calories. Try to drink protein shakes and protein water, that way you can at least get your fluids and protein in at the same time.

That's not silly at all. I wish I had that must restriction. I'm 4 weeks out, as well, and I can eat 3 ounces of food per meal, which I don't like. But it'll get better. I was told that as time goes on, you can eat more. But our stomachs are still healing, and some take longer than others. Look at the wins you're having when you start feeling down. Remind yourself that you can eat without any issues, remember the weight you're losing, focus on how your body is feeling and moving. This is a good thing, although I know food addiction is a beast. You can do this

My diet is 100% liquid other than a handful of vegetables that I can makes as a soup. It is also three weeks long. At this point, I think I’m going to just do four to five shakes a day and a soup like egg drop or miso.