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I am a person who always wants to know the "why" behind a rule (unfortunately!). So, as I've slowly been progressing through my surgeon's plan (still on pureeds for two more weeks, and I'm 7 weeks out), I've started wondering if we will always have to drink protein shakes. I hate them, they taste gross, and the ingredients list is like 5 paragraphs long full of things I can't even say - besides that, they're full of carbs and often high calorie. And if we do have to always drink them, why? Why can't we meet our protein goals through eating real food? For example, an egg and a morningstar breakfast sausage patty is 16 grams of protein and 150 calories. The protein shake I drink is almost 300 calories (bariatric advantage with PB2 over a plant based milk). Also, bone broth, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, tuna are all high protein, low calorie options that taste way better than protein shakes. If a person is able to meet protein goals and still stay around 600 calories a day during weight loss phase, why the shakes? (I don't know if that's feasible, I haven't tried it - I am still drinking the nasty protein). So, I posted the question to the online support group my surgeon keeps on Facebook. I asked if a person can meet their daily protein goal through real food, are protein shakes still required. Man! You would have thought I asked if I could eat a full meat lovers pizza from Papa John's! People launched on me, accused me of eating too much food, told me if I wanted to lose weight and maintain it I HAD to drink protein shakes for life. Then the surgeon came on and publicly shamed me, said I was way off track and wasn't following the plan. What bomb did I set off??? And nobody ever explained WHY the shakes are required??? The previous time before this when I asked a question, almost the same thing happened. I asked if I could drink the Unjury ready made shakes instead of the powder because they taste so much better. People berated me, and told me the ready made shakes were not good for me. Then the surgeon chimed in and said the ready made were not as good because they are protein caseinate instead of whey isolate. Um, the packaging clearly says the Unjury brand is whey protein isolate. So now why are they bad for me? The next day, my surgeon posted a long post about people having this surgery and not taking it seriously. I can't help but think it was in response to my question about protein shakes. I didn't even have Facebook, I deleted it in 2016 when things started to get so nasty online. I only started using it again to join my surgeon's group. I cancelled following the page. I was really ticked off at the responses. I'm so angry I don't even want to continue with my surgeon's office. AND, by the way, I am not way off track, I've lost 41 lbs. in these last 7 weeks, and I'm really happy with that. Started at 235, now 194 (and have been losing about 1 lb a day for the last few days). I know I'm being a baby, I think I just needed to vent. I do like my surgeon when we meet one on one for appointments. Facebook is evil. Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm a guy. Everything your husband fears about surgery is true. Something COULD happen. You COULD change. You COULD find a better guy. He's seen the same WLS horror stories as you. He's had associates at work tell him all the things that he fears happened to a friend of a friend and it was horrible. Another true thing: WLS makes good relationships better and bad relationships worse. By having surgery you are changing the status quo in all your relationships. Relationships will necessarily change as you change when eventually a new status quo is established. Again, some relationships will be better, others worse, and others may not change much at all. So, you have a lot of talking to do. Talk to your husband about his fears and reassure him that nothing extremely bad will happen, that you will not change in any important way. That you love him and have no intention of leaving him. You will have to have this discussion every time his fear (and insecurity) come up because you love him. Tell him of all the things you can do with him when you lose weight. Express all the reasons you are having WLS and how those will impact him in a positive way. Open and honest, again and again. Then you will have to do similar in other relationships whether you tell them about surgery or not, because they have eyes and will notice you losing weight. We all get insecure about change sometimes when we perceive or imagine changes. We all have buttons. This may seem unfair and perhaps it is. But it's how loving, caring, giving relationships work. If you don't care about the relationship you don't need to take the time. "I'm doing this. Get on board or..." works if you don't care about the fallout. Your choice. Good luck, Tek

Given this, I wouldn't worry that you are not losing much. That 27 lbs is where you lost the water weight that most people lose in the "shrink the liver" diet. That's when you see those amounts like 10-12 pounds. The fact that you were able to lose 27 lbs shows you're gonna do just fine!

Have I misunderstood? You've lost 56lb in about two months or just a little under that? I think what you've lost is great. Some professionals or those who deem themselves to be seem to set some unrealistic expectations. Were you happy with your weight loss up to the point in time your dietician told you otherwise? 10kms a day is quite a lot. I assume you are followng your post op guidelines for calories, volumes of food, types of food etc? Protein intake? Liquid intake? And hopefully consuming sufficient to sustain 10kms a day. If so and your are averaging a reasonable weight loss you are doing great. Editied to add: You mention you stopped losing weight? How long since you've lost some weight on the scale? Stalls are not uncommon, most of everyone who has WLS has a stall or more than one, even in the first few weeks.

Hi Peeps, I had my Gastric bypass (RnY) on Aug 17. My stats are as follows. SW: 302 lbs Height: 169 cm. CW: 246 lbs. Total lost: 56 lbs Exercise: Walking 10km daily However, I'm feeling I'm not losing fast enough, my dietitian thinks I should be losing about 4 lbs a week. I'm worried that I'm going to ruin this. Any tips on how to lose faster. Would really appreciate the help. Thank you.

This is the infamous Week 3 Stall that happens to most of us, and will typically last 1-3 weeks. Mine hit one week after surgery and I'm only now just coming out of it. It's definitely frustrating, but completely normal. Your body has just gone through a major trauma and has had its wiring rearranged. It needs to take small "time-outs" to have a think about how the new system is going to work - which is what drives a stall. So stay off the scale, keep doing what you need to do, and your body will get back to losing once it's had a little time to adjust. When you think about what your body has to do, it's really amazing that it only wants a couple of weeks pause! My scale number fluctuated a whole kilogram during my stall, which isn't fat gain so don't worry about that. You'll get back to losing once the stall breaks - and it will. There's thousands of threads on the forum about stalls, so do a search of those if you want to see what good company you're in. Stalls will happen more than once, it's just part of the process.

I’m soo distraught, I’m 9 days post op..just began purred good stage… since then I have been gaining weight. My stats are as follows highest 240… final weight before surgery was 210, during the clear liquid and full liquid stage I lost 7lbs… and was at 203. Since I started the puréed stage about 2 days ago… now I’m weighing 208….I’m following the diet…and only consuming about 400-450 calories a day with my 64oz of liquids a day. Has this happened to anybody!…. I’m freaking out.

A month of steroids for the asthma and I am back on track 🤪 I am on an animal print thing right now, but also love the color tones in this dress. It is from Banana Republic and it is a heavier weight, satiny fabric, so smooth but not terribly flowy due to the weight of the fabric.

I haven't had surgery yet, but I've seen the surgeon, the nutrionists, and had some of the insurance required tests already. I still have a few things to do, but the surgeon said he thinks I should be able to have it in November. So wouldn't you know that the moment I commented on one of the posts here about unsupportive boyfriend MY husband decides that he does not want me to have surgery. First he said he is worried something will happen to me, then he says I can do it by exercise and diet, and then today he said that he met me heavy and he wants me to be like how I was when we first met. Honestly I think he is worried that if I get thin that I will leave him, which I would not leave him but he told me that he will not support me on my decision to have it. He said we will get a divorce. He had already told me that he would not take to me or pick me up from the hospital and that he wouldn't take care of me at home, and I needed to call my sister to come and do it all. It is very odd because we have been together 12 or 13 years, married for ten of those years and he has never been that way with me. He says he loves me but he sure isn't acting like it. I think in the end he will go along with it but for now he has really upset me. His parents said they would help me when it comes time for my surgery. Each time I drink a shake he asks me why I'm still doing that diet. I just tell him it's because it's easier than eating at the moment. I guess I should mention that I've already lost some weight and now he is heavier than me.....not by much but he knows I'm going to keep losing and he is struggling to lose it, but he has started to the gym and hopefully he can lose it and won't feel so insecure. I really do think he will change when it comes to surgery time, but for now I'm just dealing with him nagging me about the diet and exercise. I'm all about exercise, but I'm healing from some tendon surgery so I have to wait until after my physical therapy for my whole body. Has anybody else had a spouse that didn't want to support their surgery in the beginning but changed their mind later?

No I have not tried that. I’ll have to though. I love this site, so many ideas that would never cross my mind. And I hope so. It will make 3 weeks on Friday and same. Have had no more than 600 calories a day and I work out 2-3 times a week depending on my knees and ankle. And still Not a pound lost since the initial weight loss after surgery. I do feel feel relieved knowing this will pass. Lol. Thank you for the encouragement and the advice. I will try that!

I don’t have a pic….but I raided my moms closet and stole some things. 😂 Im only five months out and not done loosing so I don’t want to buy a ton of stuff. So I borrowed. Duluth pants are amazing. I love them. funfact: it’s a size 14. One of my earliest memories of being weight shamed was in elementary school when I came home from camp and I fit into a size 12 instead of a size 14. My aunts went on and on about how if I would just keep loosing weight I could be so pretty. I was in the sixth grade. so: I am now the same size I was in elementary/junior high and I will likely end up smaller than my mom who I have always thought of as “tiny”.

Halloween lol. Love Halloween. I only got sleeves five or six months ago but this is actually the second Halloween I have avoided all candy. Last October I was very much in yhe “must loose weight to have surgery” phase. Has anyone else discovered that sweet things taste really gross after you haven’t had sugar for so long? I had tried a few things since surgery that I used to love and they are just gross. Orange soda? I had a sip of my sons soda to get a pill down (it was an emergency and I was caught unawares) and it tasted like rotten oranges. candies? Yeah way too sweet I had a nibble of something from my kid and I spit it out. Things that have sugar are just way too sweet now and I can’t stand the taste (it doesn’t make me sick at all…. It’s just gross tasting lol) definitely a post surgery positive.

That is so exciting that your stall has let up. I can’t wait. I feel like I’ll be stuck at this weight for a while. But I am ok with that. I’m just grateful I am feeling better than I was before. I am the opposite. I wish I was not but the one thing that always got me was I like sweet drinks. I seriously probably drank most of my calories before the surgery and that was something I had to work on months before the surgery. I hate water. My husband gets on me all the time about how I don’t drink enough of it and now I’m trying so hard to get the recommended water in I just can’t stand it. So that could be my issue as well. And thank you so much 😊 I feel so much better already. Best of luck on your journey! And I’ve definitely had the cramping drinking water. It is horrible.

It's funny, I tried to set 130 as my "redline" weight but my mind and emotions had other ideas. When I hit 127, my anxiety level is such that I immediately start working on getting it back down. So my de facto limit is 127, LOL. I was the same way. My self-imposed "happy weight range" is 115-120. I made a deal with myself that if I ever reach 120 for five days in a row, I have to work to get all the way back to 115. And like you, when I get to like 118, i'm all: Crap! I may as well drop a lb or two now instead of having to lose 5 if/when i reach 120. I've had to do it 3 times in the past 3 years and it gets progressively longer to do (1 wk, then 3 weeks, then 3 months)....so, yeah. During the 3 month long attempt to get back to 115 (albeit, i didn't try very hard), I was seriously considering upping my happy weight range, though. If it happens again, I just might. We'll see. Now, on the other side of things, I don't worry too much if i drop below 115, as when I have, it doesn't last very long (except for the couple months after plastics), and it goes back to 115-ish with zero effort.

It's funny, I tried to set 130 as my "redline" weight but my mind and emotions had other ideas. When I hit 127, my anxiety level is such that I immediately start working on getting it back down. So my de facto limit is 127, LOL.

Hello fellow September surgery buddies, I’m 18 days post op. Eating a little better now that I’m on soft foods. Talked to my dietician yesterday and my biggest gripe is remembering to take tiny bites and eat very slow and chew thoroughly. I forget sometimes and eat too fast and then I have a horrible uncomfortable pain where it feels food is stuck. But anywho my question for anyone really is, is it just me or has anyone else noticed that other drinks go down way easier than water? I have to take the tiniest of sips of water and wait but with tea for example I can sip more easily and without issue. Just thought that was interesting. Lol I had my surgery 24Sep and I was 210 before surgery and am now 197. But I’m pretty sure I’m in the 3 week stall people talk about as I’ve been this weight for a week. But I’m proud of the changes I’m seeing. I took a pic today to compare it and I can tell a slight difference already. There were times I was second guessing the surgery but I can now walk two miles without a lot of pain. I have osteoporosis and arthritis and break bones easily so the 30 + pounds I gained in the last year put a lot of pressure on my joints. I’ve broken an ankle three times and had a broken back. Just some background info, I started at 227 pounds. I was about 222 in the black dress and today at 197.

it takes awhile to figure out maintenance. You have to experiment with calorie ranges to find the one that works for you. I can maintain my weight on 1500-1700 calories per day - a bit more if I'm really active. If I go over range too often, my weight starts heading north - if I'm consistently at the low end or below, I'll lose. That figure is going to be different for everyone though. There are some women who can eat 2000 cal/day -- and others who can only eat 1200. It'll depend on a bunch of factors like age, height, how muscular you are, how active you are, etc. keep in mind that it's very, very common to have a 10-20 lb regain during year 2 or 3. It's just your body settling in to its new, hopefully permanent, weight (and it WILL be permanent as long as you monitor it). I purposely went a little under my goal to account for this, because from everything I'd read, I knew it was likely to happen (it doesn't happen to everyone, but it does for most people) a lot of us set a drop-dead weight ceiling once we reach maintenance - and if and when we reach that drop-dead weight, it's all hands on deck until our weight is comfortably back in our acceptable range. That's going to differ for people, too. My personal ceiling is 160 lbs. Weight fluctuates all the time - up a pound, down two, maybe up three. But once I hit that ceiling, I really crack down until my weight is back down again. I think that's probably what most of us have to do -or something like that, anyway -- to keep from gaining a bunch of weight back. As long as you keep an eye on what you're eating - at least most of the time - and monitor your weight, and take action when you need to - you should be fine.

I lost much less than I thought I would on the pre-op diet. 9 lbs., but given my starting weight I thought more. It's not at all predictive of weight loss post-op, so don't worry.

You've got some hoops to jump through, but don't be nervous. I'm a little less than a month past surgery and I already wish I'd done this 10-15 years ago. You'll need to figure out what your insurance requires in order to cover your surgery. This could be a period of supervised diet, it could be a requirement to lose a certain number of pounds or a percentage of your excess weight, or it could be as easy as just a few consultations and clearances. They usually want to make sure you'll be able to stick to the strict way of eating in the post-op phase. Then the hardest part is the pre-op diet. Most surgeons require some amount of liquid diet before the surgery in order to perform the surgery more safely. Some of us call it the "liver shrinking" diet. It's best if you step down over a few weeks. Replace one meal a day with a protein shake (use this time to audition shakes, though your tastes might change post-op so don't go crazy buying stuff). Then the next week replace two meals a day. Then the week or two that you have to do all liquid, go all in on liquid. Get off alcohol, caffeine and sugar as soon as you can—like now. Just accept you're going to have headaches and plan for them. You won't be able to have these things post-op, at least not immediately (and depending on what surgery you have, sugar may be off-limits period) Have an economy size box of Gas-X (chewable simethicone) for the few days after surgery, because you will want to burp out all the surgical air they inflate you with to be able to operate. Don't overpack for the hospital. You'll be exhausted. But do bring an extra long charging cable for your phone/tablet. Measure yourself—neck, upper arms, bust, gut, waist, hips, thighs, calves—and do it once a week for the first little while after surgery. I hit a stall about three weeks out (this is extremely common) and for the better part of a week I didn't lose any weight. But I lost a surprising amount of circumference, and that made me feel better. You've got this!

It's not easy. Be prepared for pain (really just the first few days) and lots of weird sensations in your body. Be ready to make lots of changes in your life. But so far, I'm still glad I've done it - except that I'm hungry all the time, which isn't usual or common. Your experience won't be the same as anyone else's here. You might tolerate this food but not that one. Your surgeon may permit this but not that. Every plan is different. Try to follow your surgeon's plan for best results. You will lose weight if you follow the rules, but you have to keep following the rules to keep the weight off. That's the hard part. Good luck!

I didnt poop until 10 days after coming home…if you include the days i was in hospital, my first poop showed up in 12 days. Oh, and it was a doozy. *shudder* Being regular was a challenge the first 5-6 months, honestly. Here was what I did to combat it: - benefibre every morning in my protein shake, drank lots of water - if no poop in 3-4 days, took a dose of Milk of Magnesia for 1-2 days. - if no poop 1-2 days after the round of MOM, glycerin suppository time. I got much more regular after weight loss phase when i started eating more (thanks fatty foods, lol). I’m 3 years out now, and i poop every 2-3 days, so thankfully its no longer an issue. P.S. Not sure if you are on them, but pain meds and iron supplements will back you up considerably…so keep that in mind.

It’s rare but some people do not lose weight on the liver shrink diet. Of course those that already lost their water weight lose less but i have heard of the rare occasion of people losing nothing (still their liver was fine to complete the surgery).

like others have said, if you lost a lot of weight prior to this, you may not lose all that much on the liver-shrinking diet. Big drops are usually mostly due to "water weight", and if you lost a lot of weight before this, that "water weight" may be long gone. I wouldn't worry about it. This diet is to shrink your liver a bit so it's easier for the surgeon to get in there - the primary focus of it isn't weight loss. Definitely get your protein in - you need it to stay healthy.

I only lost a few pounds on the liver shrinking diet. But do make sure you're getting enough protein. Did you lose weight prior to the pre-op diet? I lost almost 50 lbs prior to that diet, so I wasn't expecting to lose much, and I didn't. Also, make sure you're weighing yourself at the same time (I like first thing in the morning, nekkid, right after peeing) so you are getting comparable results. And you may have had more sodium prior to the second weigh in, or your period, or been more dehydrated, or any number of things. Don't panic! You will lose more after surgery, as long as you follow the instructions.