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That’s great mizzkp. I am 4 weeks out and I’ve lost 25 lbs and over 20 inches. I haven’t lost in a week so I’m a bit frustrated but I’ve heard there’s a 3rd week stall. I am so relieved that the scale is going down as well.

Hi JUNE friends! I get notifications when there are posts and how emotional I was to see all the NEW 2022 Junies posting! Made me reflect on everything that has happened to me in the last year. Recorded my highest weight in NOV 2019 at 305 at 5ft1in at the doctor's office. Cried and talked with her about surgery. She was all for it. Let that sit and fester for another year, what was the rush? I have only been thinking about this for the last TEN years. Finally, Nov 2020, my levels were prediabetic. I was on two high BP meds. I knew I needed to stop this. My insurance sucked and conventional route was not going to happen. MANY MANY insurance companies DO NOT cover bariatric surgeries any more. WHICH is ridiculous since it is the only elective surgery that reverses or ends so many mortal diseases. Why wouldn't they pay? Between HBP and soon to be diabetes, probably need knee replacements, and on and on!! I had to find self pay. I was too nervous to look at Mexico, and found Blossom Bariatrics in Vegas. I started my Pre-Op diet May 25th, 2021. Surgery was June 15th, 2021. Best DECISION I EVER MADE! We have all been there. Should have done it sooner, hmmm-ed and hawed for months and months once my doctor and I talked about it. Then there was covid. The delays never ended. But to all the new people.....TRUST THE PROCESS, LISTEN to your body. It will know what to do. If you do the work, it will follow. I consider myself a SLOW loser. I was not, will not, and won't ever be an exercise lover. I couldn't fathom doing any exercise when I was 305lbs. It was a terrible cycle. I can't walk and move my body because my knees hurt, my back hurt. I didn't walk much when I started this journey but then, after the tiredness subsides, you think wow, my knees don't hurt. I can go for a walk with the dog. Then, I WANT to walk the dog. For me, everything was baby steps. BUT, suddenly the pants are looser. You start to see your face change. Then, those close to you start to notice. Slowly, but SURELY, it comes off. The ONLY WAY to lose this weight is by calorie deficit. It is the ONLY WAY we can all do this. It is NOT EASY. Having surgery is NOT easy. We still have to change the way we eat. We are still have to fight those old habits and desires. I read everything I could, joined this group, and a couple on FB. I read all the advice. I am here to tell you a few of mine. I HATED pictures of any kind. I didn't take many before or after surgery. DO TAKE PICTURES!!! I love seeing people's before and afters and transformations and I just can't go back. and POOP. No one talks about the POOP or lack of it. It was my biggest side effect and still an issue. HAIR LOSS, it happens, just start those biotin pills NOW! SO, sorry for this long post, it was kind of emotional and I needed to just write it all out. You took the first steps. You got this! I still feel like I just did and am in the stages you are. But, as I close in on my first anniversary, I am overwhelmed. I hit the 100 pound lost mark. Then, this week, I hit ONEDERLAND. Lots of milestones all at once. I am anxious to see what my pounds lost will be on June 15th! Trust yourself and the process. There are NO steadfast rules. I hate when I see posts and people are so adamant and actually rude about stuff. In the end, you make the rules. I'm an open book and will answer any questions. You can message me or post. Literally remind yourself, it's ONE day at a time. Best wishes Junies!!

I just got the same letter sand read it a few second ago. I too was wondering what it meant and if it pertained to an EDG I did last week! I guess I was approved! Congratulations!!!!

It depends on how much your Max Out Of Pocket is and how much you have left of it after your deductible. I didn't realize how good my insurance was until I was talking to my mom about her deductible and Max OOP. I meet my deductible and put a big dent into my OOP every year just by doing therapy I feel like. Then add in the extra appointments for pre-surgical clearance and you are knocking away more. I am having unrelated neuro-psych testing done next week and if it doesn't finish out my OOP, then I am assuming I'll get pretty close to it since I only have less than $500 left. It's possible I won't have to pay anything out of pocket for the actual surgery since my maxes are so low. You can call your insurance provider and ask them about your benefits and where you are with your deductible and Out Of Pocket, and also ask the insurance person at the doctor's office for the billing codes as well.

I’m five days out and I want food. Ricotta is allowed mid Stage 2 week, cottage cheese end of week. I just enjoyed those and I can’t have them again until mid and late next week 😢. Tasted so good. Hubby is cooking for himself and things smell good, it’s pleasant. I did sniff the potato salad bowl (want) and made puppy dog eyes at it. Mashed taters would be heaven. Only one more week on this…we can do it!

I’m not an egg person either. Before surgery, my breakfasts would be one of the following: 1. Green yogurt with a little extra protein powder 2. Cottage cheese w/ bits of avocado 3. Sliced avocado and a small Turkey sausage patty 4. Spinach, butternut squash, and some ground Turkey mixed together 5. Apple slices and string cheese 6. Slices of tomato topped with Greek yogurt (plain), dill, and bits of bacon

I did great on the liquid diet, and I could drink away any hunger I felt. But once I started the mushy stage and had actual food, holy moly the hunger came roaring back. I will say I wasn't eating 5 times per day, so that's part of the problem. On the liquid diet, when I got hungry, I would have an extra shake or smoothie. Now, I have timers set to remind me to eat every 3 hours 5 times a day. I was waiting until I was hungry, and by then, omg it was bad. I got some new foods that have been recommended and I set my timers, and I'm drinking more. And hoping it helps. Also, I did start my stage 2 early. I started in 9 days post op, with my surgeon's permission, as long as I went slow. I'm not one to ever say to go against your surgeon's instructions, but maybe in a couple days you could call and see if they will let you start the mushy foods early....Otherwise, just drink extra shakes and smoothies whenever you feel hungry and try to drink the hunger away. Good luck!!!!

So i had my surgery 4 weeks ago and i am self pay. I paid about $18K... Today i checked my insurance and looks like the hospital made a claim for the surgery... My responsibility amount... $40,000. when i saw that i was like WTF is this claim? Oh i am going to be making phone calls tomorrow... lmao. WTF. They trying to double dip. haha.

I know it's not recommended but I weigh myself every single day, it's part of my morning routine now, and I track it in MyFitnessPal so I can keep an eye on the charts. This is really bad but I'll usually weigh myself at night too (I don't track it though), I've gotten good at predicting what I'll weigh in the morning based on my night time weigh-in (I usually drop about 2 lbs. overnight). I know the stalls and fluctuations drive some folks nuts but it works for me.

This thread was a wild ride. I also don't believe OP was trolling, but I think there are more issues going on here than just dealing with the weight loss stuff. If you're still reading this OP, I sincerely recommend you try to speak with a therapist about the issues you've been discussing. If you can find a bariatric therapist, great. Otherwise, any certified therapist should be able to help provide you with a caring ear. You seem to be carrying a lot more weight than just the physical pounds, if you get what I'm saying, and speaking to someone can help lighten the load. Regarding the specific things you've been discussing, a few thoughts. First, as others have mentioned, the procedure you chose is a tool like the other procedures, but it's a tool that statistically results in the least weight lost of the rest. That doesn't mean you can't be extremely successful, just that it might be tougher. You say you don't want to be one of those people weighing every gram of your food on a postage scale. Well, I'm one of those people and I've been lucky enough to have a lot of success so far. That said, I don't necessarily watch every gram, if I'm a little over it's not the end of the world. But most people have absolutely no idea what a portion of food actually weights until they actually weigh it. When I started out I was shocked on how small my 4 oz potions of food were, if I had been eyeballing them I would have had twice as much as I should have. So I would get a cheap scale (you can get them for $10 or less) and start weighing EVERYTHING. You say you don't have time, but it takes practically no time at all. Weighing all my ingredients takes at MOST 3-4 minutes per DAY. You just put stuff on your plate like normal, but first put the plate on the scale. I had some cantaloupe for a snack earlier, and I just put the bowl on the scale and watched the numbers as I filled it and stopped when I hit my limit. It took pretty much the same amount of time that it would have taken to put the cantaloupe in the bowl without using the scale anyway. You also mentioned you weren't interested in a sleeve because you believe the recovery time would be a month. I can only speak for myself but four days after my sleeve I drove 30 miles to visit with family, and I was fine. I took about a week or so off of work and went back with no problems. Everyone is different but from what I've seen posted by others, that's generally the experience most folks have. I'm not saying you need a revision, but don't let the potential recovery time deter you from a procedure if you and your doctor feel it would be appropriate. Best of luck.

Well the nurse said I might go and see the appointments clerk to see if they can reschedule in the next two weeks that way you won't ruin your fluid diet and just do another two weeks and she comes back to say there are no appointments for the next 2 weeks so just continue eating normal. I'm just now waiting to hear from them I'm losing my motivation to be honest. I've lost a month of income in the process jeopardising my position in my job, and who's to pay for all the losses and damage in the process? all they do is send you a message apologising! it's just not good enough.

When i was hungry on the liquid diet after surgery i just had some more shakes to try to fill me up and it worked a bit. but you will make it. That 2 weeks after surgery sucks because that is the strict liquid diet unlike pre op where sometimes you can have a little something extra or different lol

After surgery, wait 2-3 weeks to weigh - I know it’s tempting, but the accumulation of fluids in tissues can freak you out. After that, I weighed once a week and have continued that routine (I’m almost 2 years out).

The snacking is hitting me too. I’m trying to do healthy snacks but it’s so easy to get out of control. I wish I was only to take 3 bites still.

I had my gastric bypass surgery exactly a week ago. I have been doing okay on shakes and sugar-free Jello for the most part. This past week I haven't had any food cravings or experienced hunger until now. Any tips for how to last the next week? I feel like it will be impossible!!!!! All I can think about is eating cream of wheat or mashed potatoes....

Ok so I had my 1st post op appt today, and I was weighed and I actually weigh 358!!!!! WHAAAAAT??!?! And my nurse practioner was SO much more helpful than my dietician. She told me that eating 1-2 tbsp per meal is actually less than they would normally see (she said 3-4 oz is pretty typical). She said my bp is the same now without my meds as it was 3 weeks ago when I was on it!!!! And my blood sugar was 126 without diabetes meds for 3 weeks (3 weeks ago, on both my meds, it was 144). So all in all it was a SUPER good appointment and I'm happy and relieved. She said I'm doing excellent, and that my walking on the treadmill for 20 min twice a day and riding the exercise bike 5 min twice a day (still have a bit of pain in my abdomen from the incision and the muscle, so the bike is much slower going) is really good and giving me the results we want to see. I told her about this board and how amazing it is and she said she would recommend it to her other patients. So all in all, a GREAT day!!!!!

I had mashed potatoes about a week after my surgery without issue. Mashed potatoes are on my list for the purred stage

So I am aware that sugars and high carbs can cause dumping syndrome but what things cause anyone issues? For instance on a whim last night I tried about 6 small bites of mashed potatoes and some carrots. I do not believe the carrots were the issue but I suspect it was the mash potatoes. They werent thick but when I ate them I felt like I took a punch to the gut so I stopped eating them. I am 2 weeks post op. Maybe it was too soon for mash potatoes?? I did try scrambled eggs today with shredded cheddar cheese and I didnt have a problem with them I only had 1 egg. Interested to see what foods cause ppl problems and what they felt like when they had a bad reaction to something

Hi y'all! I'm 3 weeks post op and feeling great! I'm still learning and mastering how to properly eat during my soft foods stage. Currently -- I can't help but wonder: Down the road -- does it still take, or should it still take, 20+ minutes to eat your food? Also, do you not eat and drink at the same time? Sometimes when I am eating my food I feel like I need to take a small sip of water to just help me to get my food down. Prior to surgery, I've always drank my drinks before my meals and during my meals, and I would run through several cups of liquids during a meal...so it's a big adjustment for me to not drink and eat at the same time. I'm trying my hardest to follow the "take 20 minutes to eat" rule as well as the "drink liquids 30 mins after meals" rule. I constantly have my timer out to help me. Do these two "rules" change when you're further along the journey? Also, is there a rule about drinking liquids 30 mins before meals? I haven't found anything like that in my notes and paperwork... Thanks!

Hey not stupid at all, I have a timer that I put to ring 30 minutes after I eat meaning I can go back to sip water. I just used it, I could not make 3 oz of Tilapia and one cup of salad last 30 min, but it was 17 minutes, and a lot of less discomfort after. 👍

During the first couple years, I weighed at monthly follow-ups. This was less by choice as I couldn't fit on home scales. When I got to where I could weigh on a home scale, I did that every time I saw the scale for a couple weeks because of the novelty, then went back to only at monthly follow-ups. When the monthly follow-ups ended I only weighed at my annual physicals. Good luck, Tek

I am 14 weeks PO and I use a small plate and the bowl that they sale in this website store, I find the bowl very helpful to measure what I am eating, I use a baby spoon and fork to try to control my bite, I just can't eat slowly (unless I have company and I am non-stop chatting) eating fast makes me feel bad but I cannot find a way to control it, I feel bad after I did it not while I am doing it. So at least I try to control the bite size.

The snacking has been creeping up too much on me lately as well, chocolate and candies The problem is I am 5 month post OP and lost 55 kilos = 122 pounds, So i feel like im doing great. My goal weigh tis still another 18 kilos away so I need to be careful. For me i need to stay way from smoking week. I smoke 1-2 tiInsert other media mes a week after a long day of work or or on the weekend, and I get the muchies, not a good combo

oh yea, I know that feeling. Mine sat for about 3 years and I have to take it to the repair shop because the brakes were getting stuck. My tires were completely flat too. But in good shape, just had to pump up. That's what we get for being lazy. haha

Great job! I hate walking, like really really hate it. It is so boring to me. I ride my bike though. And, I was cleared for the gym at my 6 week follow up but I haven't started back.