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I had a sleeve 7 years ago and am revising to bypass with a surgery date of March 1st. The process after approval for my sleeve was bittersweet. I was working with an elderly man who died suddenly, we were very good friends. He died just a few hours before my final pre-op appointment. My surgeon's final appointments are LONG (2 hours, one with the nurse and one with the surgeon) and as much as I tried to be happy, I just couldn't because I was so sad. This followed me to surgery day too. Here I am, surgery day #2 coming up on March 1st (68 days away!!!). I'm trying my best to enjoy this pre-op period. As a team, they decided I don't have to do the 10 day pre-op diet, but I'm going to do one anyhow. I'm going to do a week of 2 shakes and one lean protein, low carb meal per day, as a way of getting my mind in the game.

The only way a surgeon who I've never seen is going to operate on me is if it's an emergency. Follow your gut and find someone else. My surgeon meets with all her patient's multiple times before surgery. A week before surgery I'll see her for an hour long appointment. I had her do my VSG and she's doing my revision due to GERD. She's still having me do the big hour long appointment.

At 2 months out, they wanted me at 1000 calories. I just had my four-month appointment, and they told me at 6 months, I should be at 1200-1400 calories a day. Once I started hitting 1000/cals consistently (which just happened a few weeks ago) the weight just started falling off again after a serious slow down in the weeks prior.

Today is my 1-month surgiversary! Part of me feels like surgery was just yesterday; another part of me feels like all of the recovery pain was forever ago. I’m a little more than a week into eating soft foods, and so far so good…except peanut butter, which still tastes great but makes me sick. Which makes me sad. I figure I’ll try it again in about a month, which is also when I should get the green light to transition to regular food. Otherwise, though, all is well. I’ve even had nibbles at two restaurants already: two bites of a meatball at one place, and three bites of roasted chicken at another. Tomorrow night I plan to have two or three bites of chicken at a third place, but then the holiday outings will be over and I’ll rely on my own meals until I “graduate” from soft foods. I’ve only lost 14 pounds in the past month. I’ll admit to some moments of feeling frustrated/disappointed that I haven’t lost more yet, but I’ll also admit that I’m not walking as much as I should and I only recently figured out how to start getting enough hydration. But I’ve already gotten some comments about my face being thinner, and my rings and watch are looser, and mostly I’m feeling pretty optimistic!

Has anyone hit a stall? I’m 3 weeks post op and while I’m losing it just seems slow. I’m tracking and trying to meet my protein and water goals. Just want to keep myself motivated and not worry about the scale I guess.

I'm week 2 post-op and my paperwork says to test cottage cheese. I've never had it before and am worried about the bland taste. What can I add to it for flavor but keep it in a smooth consistency besides fruits? I enjoy savory more than sweet. Sent from my SM-F711U using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m 4 weeks post op and am struggling with getting food wet enough to swallow without feeling stuck. If I start with something that is moist, like tuna with mayo, by the time I have chewed it, all the mayo seems to be gone and I’m left with very dry chewed up tuna that is hard to swallow. Lately I have been eating food in a bit of cream soup, like a soft boiled egg in a tbsp of cream soup or broth. Then when I’m ready to swallow, I add a wee bit of the soup to hep it go down. Not sure if this is cheating or not. If I chew less it doesn’t get as dry but it’s too chunky for me. Do I need to go back to chewing school? 😂

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! I am currently in the soft food stages. I handled purees well and got permission to move onto soft foods after a week. We did unfortunately already buy what we could; and I made my small list, but I also have to ration what I have so it gets me through! I have some protein powder left, some eggs, we have some meat, i got permission for toast and crackers, and i think i have a thing of applesauce and a can of soup left! And some milk. So with that I have to make it to January when we get our next round of stamps! No income coming in right now! Tough time for everybody. I thought of posting my cash app in hopes maybe somebody could help, but I would feel horrible doing that! Sent from my SM-N986U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I have a distinct memory of looking at myself in the mirror the week before surgery and saying “ what the heck are you doing?” Just suddenly hitting me that after all the work I was going to remove a healthy organ. But I just kept on trucking ahead and before I knew it the surgery was over. One of my friends asked me recently if I wish I could be “back to normal” now that I lost the excess weight. Not in a million years! I still love my sleeve, and over a year later the novelty of being able to be “full” so easy hasn’t worn off. Change is hard and scary, but it becomes normal over time. This surgery is pretty darn low risk comparatively. And staying morbidly obese is a high risk activity every day!

I had surgery on 11/10/20, but started my weight loss efforts on 7/5/20. If you’ve been here a while I’m sure you’ve seen me lurking about the forums. Stats: SW 339. CW: 165. I am a 5’10 woman in her 40s. I work full time and have young children. My current BMI is 23, I started off with it closer to 50. I knew it was going to take me a while to hit goal- I had 174 lbs to lose. I did all the calculators pre-op that said I would be lucky to get under 200 lbs, but I decided that just wasn’t going to apply to me (haha). My plan was to focus on fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins while ramping up exercise. I eliminated cookies, pastries, and candy but that’s about it. I don’t do low carb, because that isn’t how I’m planning on living the rest of my life. I focus on calorie reduction, which sounds like oh if that’s so easy why did you need surgery? Well cutting calories is possible if you aren’t hungry all the time no matter how much you eat, and if you can fill up on the healthy things without it being like flash paper into a volcano. I honestly did need the surgery, and I’m not going to pretend it did the work for me, but it gave me the help for the work I wanted to be able to do. Six days a week I do a split between running and rowing for a half hour. I’m going to run in a 5k this spring, which has been a dream of mine for years. I exercise on my lunch break every day. Yes, I have some loose skin. It’s nowhere as bad as people make it out to be. I am not exactly planning on running around in a bikini so it’s not like it limits my life at all. It’s not visible in my clothes, not even tight fitting ones. I might get it removed some day, but if I don’t I’ll still be happy. This weight loss has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me. Life is difficult when you are morbidly obese. It’s difficult physically, emotionally, and socially. This weight loss hasn’t fixed every problem in my life, but I didn’t expect for it to. It fixed my weight related problems, and I had a lot of them. This surgery can be life changing, but it’s not a magic bullet. You still have to make huge life changes. But if you feel sabotaged you your own constant hunger, cravings, and binges, this can really be the tool you use to dig yourself out of the seemingly insurmountable weight you need to lose. This isn’t a finish line for me. I am still working on hopefully losing another 15 lbs, and I’m never going back to my old eating habits. I know I signed up for a lifelong change, otherwise I’ll be right back where I started. But finally hitting goal was a nice early Christmas present to myself. Sorry for the essay, but I don’t really have anyone in real life to share with who gets it!

What phase are you in right now? May help us all give better suggestions. I think at 3 weeks post op I was still in the FULL LIQUID stage. Possibly moving into the PUREE stage but I know each person and plan is different which is why I asked what stage you are on. Having said that, in my LIQUID stage I was consuming: Protein drinks, broth/cream soups, sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello and pudding and yogurt. In my PUREE stage I ate things like ricotta bake, refried beans mixed with a lil shredded cheddar and sour cream or a little spicy guacamole, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, etc. Some of these things are just as inexpensive as Ramen and will most likely meet your protein needs better and keep you full longer. But of course if you've already bought what you could and can't spend anymore for now then it is what it is. Just keep some of these other suggestions everyone has given you in mind for when you can make an additional purchase of food in the future. I wish you the best of luck!!

Thank you all so much. This is the kick in the pants I needed. I got some little containers at the market yesterday and have "packed" my meals and snacks for today. I really like the mentality of planning ahead so I can "succeed" in managing hunger. Also, @MiniGastricBypassDude, you called it on the calories. I left my MyFitnessPal calories at 700 (from when I first had surgery) and had never updated them. Of course I got frustrated with myself for "running out of calories" by dinner... and then I stopped tracking. Also, the snacking (just a few raspberries... three chips...) needs to become more disciplined, so I will keep on with my little containers. After the holidays I will schedule a DXA scan. There are a few providers around here that should be able to help (in the $100-200 range, which is doable). Will let you all know how it goes. Appreciate the input!

Another good low-cost high protein option is fat-free refried beans. A can at Target is 85 cents and you can get 4 or 5 servings out of it if you're only a few weeks post-op. I heat up about 3.5 oz in the microwave, then mix in about half ounce of shredded cheese and pour on a little taco sauce and it's delicious. I had that for dinner several days a week for the first couple of weeks post-op.

I lost 1 pound for week 6. I have about 800 calories a day. I tried ground beef for the first time this week and it didn’t give me any problems. I hope everyone is doing well!

3 weeks po vsg* Sent from my SM-N986U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

So, me and my partner are surviving off food stamps, as we have to right now, and we are out for the month. That doesn't allow me much in the way of what to eat. The foods I can eat I have to ration. Im 3 weeks po and in the dreaded 3 week stall. I ate ramen noodles and meat last night, because I had to get something in. Don't come at me for choices, how unhealthy, etc etc, because I know. They sat ok, no pain, kinda feels like they may still be sitting this morning? Not sure. Guess I am just looking for reassurance that I will be ok. Sent from my SM-N986U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I also get hiccups now when I'm full. I can't tell if it's because I've eaten too fast because, well, I think I always eat too fast. I also burp more now, which is funny because I don't drink much soda, which I used to drink a LOT of (my program says you can have carbonated beverages after 4 weeks, so I drink some diet soda, but very slowly).

Sorry what did you mean by that? As in body can sustain on 700 cals/day efficiently? And thanks for the advice, I'll definitely go based on how my body reacts. I am not planning to cut down on any specific food group as long as I can tolerate it. Though I also want to make sure I don't overshoot the calories intake. Let's see, may be I'll have a better idea once I am in my phase 3, which is in about 6 days. Full fluid phase - 2 weeks over and only lost about 3 pounds on it lol. 12 pounds came off from the clear liquid phase. So it's all weird how body reacts to different phases. One more weeks of full fluids and almost 1 month post-Op.

Seriously, don't worry about it. It'll fly off soon, but the first weeks are very ... YMMV. Some lose a pound a day from the get-go, others' bodies hold on to fluids and such for a few weeks. Just focus on your plan for now

I just did mine at Sebastian last week. Biggest advice...walk walk walk right after. That gas pain caught me by surprise! Message me if you need anything!

Not to worry, Msleo88. Many bariatric veterans suggest that you not weigh for at least 3 weeks post-op due to the crazy weights fluctuations caused by fluid. I know it’s hard to resist weighing, but stick to the plan and you’ll see results.

Someone brought home the Rona so most of my meals the past week have been easy or super easy (hence the salad yesterday) or I haven’t eaten much at all because I’m exhausted! Today was no different- chipotle pinto beans and wheat toast. 240 calories total… and then another 140 for 8oz of nog (not overly sweet and I think it said less than 15g carbs per serving).

Oh you're having some big losses here - that's lovely to see, makes the whole thing worthwhile. Meanwhile I am still crawling along - one more pound off this week. I know it's a loss and all that but it means I have lost a total of just 9lbs in 5 weeks. I need to lose at least 100lbs and am hoping that this is just a long 'stall' and I start to see some decent losses soon. I am doing everything according to plan and I'm not really looking for advice at the minute - just checking in with my November buddies, as I like to do. Keep the faith my friends!

Im 1 week Post Op today and my incision all itch like crazy. Sent from my LM-G900 using BariatricPal mobile app

there's no way that's a true weight gain. I would guess you're retaining water or your intestines are full. a lot of people don't lose much the first week because of the IV fluids you get in the hospital. In fact, some people "gain" on that (not really a true gain, though - it's just the fluid). I've heard of people "gaining" as much as 10 lbs in the hospital! It can up to a week for all that fluid to work its way out of your system.