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It's pretty much a case of "your mileage may vary". I was told of all kinds of things that could happen - feeling overly nauseous, hair falling out in clumps, things like that - but I never ran into any of that. And when it comes time to eat food, I generally do not have an issue. That being said, I confess to being a little surprised that six weeks out, you were able to take in that much. Most of what I've been getting from the surgeon or the nutritionist is "take it slow". I'm just over nine weeks post-op myself and still testing the waters (I had potatoes - shredded "hash brown" types - for the first time since the surgery this past weekend, and I managed okay), but what I would suggest would be to dial it back if you're not 100% sure you should be going at the rate you are, regardless of whether or not you can. "One day at a time" and "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon", and all the other one-liners my surgeon's office has given me, heh heh.

I've never heard of eating every 3 hours, I was recommended to eat three meals with two "snacks" in between, which sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I also track calories but for me it's always more about the portion size. I started at about 4 oz, now I do 6 or 7. I try to stay low-cal and low-carb if I can but I don't drive myself crazy about it. Typical day for me is breakfast of two scrambled eggs with 1 oz of shredded cheese (same breakfast since right after my surgery). Before eating usually an 11 oz premier protein drink - if I don't have it first I wait an hour after eating to have it. Usually no snack before lunch because of the protein shake but sometimes either an apple or 6-7 oz of cantaloupe. Lunch is usually a pre-made salad I get from Target, either the chicken caesar (360 cal) or asian fusion (270). Post-lunch snack is usually two sugar free jello puddings (chocolate/vanilla swirl). Dinner I mix up a bit but frequently it's a 4 oz piece of fish plus 3 oz corn, with 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce. Dessert is Halo Top ice cream. I drink Crystal Light sweet tea whenever I can remember to drink. That's pretty much it and it's working pretty well.

My partner will be taking two weeks off of work thankfully! He is trying for 3 but I think that’ll be too much lol. Thanks so much for tips on herbal teas! I will definitely stock up on my favorites. My greatest driving force in all of this is 100% my children! I want to be able to do all of the things and not feel like my body is falling apart after.

Oh, that definitely makes it harder. 😞 I had to force myself to eat for a long time because I just didn't care about food. You may need to do a little trial and error to figure out what works for you. Maybe try counting the 3 hours from what you finish eating for a week, and then try the other way, and see if one works better for you than the other? Just to mix it up. It helped on my program that we could drink up until eating (no 30 min wait), and then did a 30 min wait afterwards. It helped free up more time in the day for getting it all in!

Now, probably more like every three hours from when I started the last meal. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, and mostly because if I don't do this, I can't get to my 1400-1500 calorie daily goal. But, it also doesn't take me 30 min to eat 2 oz of food anymore, so that makes a big difference with regard to the math. In the beginning, it took me 30 min to eat one scrambled egg! That's not the case anymore. For example, I eat breakfast around 6:30, and then have a small snack at 9:30-10 AM, lunch between 12 and 1, another snack at around 3 or 3:30, dinner between 5 and 6, and then another snack around 8:30-9:15. I wouldn't sweat about whether you are eating 3 hours from start time or end time. I'd base it on a) what your body is telling you, and b) what you need to do to reach your goals. Early on, I was never hungry, so I had to just do what I needed to do to get in my protein.

Is it every 3 hours, or 3 hours from your last meal?

yes missing meals and letting yourself get too hungry is bad. So before I go out, I always bring a high protein yogurt and cut up veggies or tuna and crackers and eat on the go. Which also eating on the go after surgery is never a good idea! I hope you just hit a stall and keep loosing until you reach you goal weight!!!

I had my RNY and hernia repair on May 11th. Reflux stopped immediately and I spent one night at the hospital. I started my protein shake as soon as I got home and on May 14th, I woke up with excruciating stomach cramp and diarrhea and thought that I was dying. The doctor on call called me back and told me to lay off the protein shakes and take Imodium. He said it was lactose intolerance and I should only sip water for 24 hours. I had to throw away 6 boxes of premier protein shake and have now switched to fairlife which is lactose and gluten free. I seem to be tolerating this well. At my clinic, it is full liquid for 7 days as soon as you leave the hospital, 1 week of purée, then weeks 3-5 of soft food and you can begin to introduce solid food one at a time after week 5. Pre-surgery was just liquid only 1 day before surgery. I believe that lactose intolerance is usually with bypass patients. I did not have any problems with the sleeve in 2018, but was one of the few who never lose weight after the sleeve; just 45Ibs and very bad reflux.

I was told as long as I was meeting my protein goals, to just eat 3x a day. If I was hungry then eat again. Otherwise, the 6 meals a day are as needed. I currently do a shake for breakfast and then eat 3 other times through the day. I average 600-700 calories a day and 70 or more grams of protein. While maintaining 70 or more oz. of fluids. With all of the drinking and the no drinks 30 min before and after eating, I don't even know how you have time to eat every 3 hours. haha I am 7 weeks out and I can drink very fast now, but in the beginning it took all day to hit my fluids and I was barely hitting the goal. Although the goals got much easier when I got back to a normal diet.

I wasn't allowed to swallow any pills for the first 2 weeks and then only small pills approximately the size of a pea for 6 weeks. Although, they do have teas that might be ok? Should probably just ask your team to be safe.

That’s awesome! Us thyroid warriors have to stick together😊. Don’t worry the scale will move again. I had a stall at 3 weeks and I think I have stalled 3 more times since then. My latest labs show that my tsh has dropped with weight loss so I have been cutting back on my meds. My endo says it’s a good thing because it means my thyroid is doing more of the work on its own and doesn’t need as much help.

I can only answer the question on crushed pills. No, not forever. In fact, I was able to swallow all but two of mine whole as soon as I got home from the hospital. I had to wait about three weeks before I could swallow the remaining two whole.

@Woodstock23 Hi [emoji3059], I'm not too bad thank you. My surgery went well but I'll be honest it's been a tough journey for me so far. I'm now nearly 8 weeks post op and the smell of meat of any kind revolts me. I'm struggling to eat more than a few teaspoons of food and am no where near my protein and water consumption that I should be yet! But saying all that, I know things will get better with time and I do not regret surgery. I have already lost 34lb, I haven't been this weight since I was 23 and I'm 50 this year! [emoji16] My surgeon has told me that I have responded extremely well to the surgery and that the change in my hormones has caused the extreme sensitivity to the taste and smells of meat proteins. Would love any tips you can give me on emotional eating. I still find myself reaching for food and then feel disappointed when I can't have it. I'm trying to distract myself but sometimes I just go to bed to avoid the emotions, which I know isn't ideal. Ask as many questions as you want, I'm more then happy to support you in anyway I can. Good luck for your surgery [emoji3059], it's the beginning of a new you x Sent from my SM-G980F using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm wondering...am I supposed to eat every 3 hours, or 3 hours after my last meal? Because it takes between 30-40 minutes to finish eating, and I am really struggling to eat every 3 hours (3 hours after my meal ends seems more reasonable).

Don't eat past your hunger cues. One of the things that I want to beam into everyone's head is that for a LOT of us, aftercare is pretty horrible. My surgeon's bariatric nutritionist lit into me for eating 800 calories a day 3 months out - I work outdoors and work out for an hour a day. My surgeon actually skipped two check-ins in a row after that. So I went and got a nutrition coach (whom I absolutely LOVE). I could always eat more than they said I'd be able to. But as long as I ate slowly, the restriction kicked in eventually. I lost weight hand over fist (it has since slowed down, but I'm 8 months PO and not far from goal). I wouldn't worry about it. But do watch out for stalls. They happen, they suck, and they shouldn't derail you.

Can I be taking melatonin 1 week post op of a vsg?

Has anyone here had a gastric sleeve and also has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)? I just need to know that someone else safely had it done and didn't have a major multi-systemic reaction to the surgery or in post-op. I'm prone to anaphylaxis but I've had other surgeries (knees and shoulder) since diagnosis and with my surgical team being cautious I made it through surgery without having a major reaction. I previously had a consult with a bariatric surgeon and she said she wouldn't touch me; that it was too risky. But that was maybe three years ago and I'm definitely more stable now than I was then. My pain doctor wants me to get a second opinion so I'm going to meeting with a bariatric surgeon in a few weeks and also meeting with my mast cell doctor. I was just hoping that someone who it has experience with it could reassure me that it can be done safely. Concerns I have: - my diet already has to be restrictive because of the MCAS. I worry about getting enough protein in when I have to avoid tree nuts and all meat products. I can have milk (lactose free) and eggs. - I read that my meds have to be crushed or split post-surgery. Is that for forever? I have some capsules that I take that can't be crushed or broken. I also have liquid medication I take that gets diluted I'm about a cup of water. I use that water to take all of my pills, and there's a fair amount of pills. - exercise is an issue for me. I've anaphylaxed during an easy yoga class before. I've built up to be able to do seven to ten minutes on a seated elliptical or seated stepper. But I'm not going to be running any 5ks anytime soon. Is it still an effective surgery if my workout options afterwards are extremely limited because of my MCAS? - if I'm on meds that have caused weight gain for me, is it possible to still lose weight while being on the med? I can't safely go off of the meds unfortunately. I think I'm just scared to get my hopes up that this surgery could be a safe and effective tool to help me lose weight. I'm 5'4 and 400 lbs. I need help. The likelihood that my surgeon will be familiar with or educated in mast cell diseases is really low and I know that I'll have to do a lot of advocating for myself. If you've made it this far thank you for listening. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ok I had dinner an hour ago (took almost an hour to eat lol) and I gave myself some variety. I had 1 tbsp of hummus (my favorite), 1/2 tbsp of avocado spread, and 1/2 tbsp of no fat refried Beans. And I'm drinking Iced black tea lemonade. OMG. Can I just tell you how amazing my dinner was? I have timers set to eat every 3 hours, but I'm wondering...is it every 3 hours, or 3 hours after your last meal? Because I can't imagine eating again in 2 hours. I'm still very very comfortably not hungry.

*trigger warning if you are scared about gastric bypass this is not a good post to read also it is a long * (admin if I shouldn't have posted this please delete) I debated long and hard about whether or not to talk about my dad and how he died. I never want to scare anyone and tbh his death wasn't so much because of the gastric bypass he had but rather the prejudice and malpractice of his primary care Dr and the hospital he went to for emergency care. My dad came into my life when I was 28yrs old. I didn't know I needed a dad honestly. He started dating my mom and considered me part of the package. He protected her, he protected me...no strings attached totally unconditional regardless if I wanted him to or not he was going to be there for me. Turns out even at 28 I needed a dad. He was 6ft 5", almost 500lbs, tattoos, beard, and a biker. Dad never talked a lot, he preferred actions. If he agreed with something he'd say "No doubt". If he didn't well he'd just shake his head and turn away. He had had 4 heart attacks by the time he had his gastric bypass surgery in 2009, He went down to 190ish lbs. Everything was great. He did everything he was supposed to do. Crushed his meds, no alcohol, watched his food ..he followed all the rules. Fast forward to July 2021. Dad and mom had split a few years back but he was still my dad. Around July 30th, he started having abdominal pain and couldn't go to the bathroom. He did something he hated to do.. he went to the Dr. The Dr filling in for his Dr took one look him..biker with tattoos wearing a leather jacket and on Medicare and immediately ignored him. He told dad if it was so bad go to the emergency room. So dad did. Hospital er looked at dad...biker with tattoos, wearing a leather jacket and on Medicare and assumed..drug seeker! Told him there was nothing wrong with him. They did no test and sent him home. About 2am on July 31, Dad was in horrible pain and call EMS, they weren't part of the hospital he had gone to earlier, in the ambulance they did an ultrasound on the way to their hospital. One of the paramedics picked up his cell phone and called the first number on it...my mom. They told her to meet them at the hospital, it was bad real bad. She and his biological daughter got to the hospital about the same time. Dr told them there was 3 options...1 take him into surgery immediately ..he would most likely died on the operating table 2. try to get him strong enough to have surgery he would most likely never wake up or 3 give him morphine and let him die. They chose option 3 and less than 30mins later he was gone. So what did a simple ultrasound find? Dad's large intestine had twisted so badly that while he ate, food couldn't get past the twist. Imagine making a balloon animal and twisting the balloon then keep blowing up one side.. the inevitable happened. The food side popped filling his body cavity with food and stomach acid. He didn't have to die. Had the Dr listened, they could have found it and done surgery to fix it. The hospital and the Dr, naturally, claimed no responsibility it was obviously the 12yr old gastric bypass that killed him. I wish I could say they were sued til they cried but dad's biological daughter refused. Me, I wanted their heads on a silver platter but I don't look good behind iron bars. My mom isn't very happy that I am having bariatric surgery less than a year after my dad died. She is trying to be supportive but she is scared. I often wonder what advise would he have given me. I got my insurance approval letter in the mail today and said to myself "so this is really going to happen". I swear I heard "No doubt" Sorry this was so long.

Ok I just had dinner (took almost an hour lol) and I gave myself some variety. I had 1 tbsp of hummus (my favorite), 1/2 tbsp of avocado spread, and 1/2 tbsp of no fat refried beans. And I'm drinking Iced black tea lemonade. OMG. Can I just tell you how amazing my dinner was? I have timers set to eat every 3 hours, but I'm wondering...is it every 3 hours, or 3 hours after your last meal? Because I can't imagine eating again in 2 hours lol

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!