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My maximum weight was 303 lbs. I am currently 133lbs. I got my gastric by pass on May 7th 2019 in Pennsylvania. Since then I have had so many issues and I do not know where to turn to anymore. I feel the dr and I have gone through every option there is to go through and it is still not enough. Immediately after surgery I was having issues with eating. I followed all the rules took all the vitamins and meds I was supposed to. Still could not keep food down. I ended up having to take my gallbladder out in Oct of 2019. I was with a horrible person and she left me because of my issues with my stomach. I moved back to my home town of Peoria Il. I had to go on a search to find a new Dr. that would take me as a patient. I found this to be a rather horrible task as some Drs do not like to do that because they don't know all that the previous Dr did with the surgery. I finally found one and he is a great Dr. He has kept me alive. After the gallbladder surg. I was still having issues with keeping food down. This started in February 2020. The only thing i could tolerate was broth. At this point I had to take all my meds in a liquid form. Finally The dr. sent me to a gastrologist for an endoscopy. It was shown that I had some scar tissue covering the entrance to my stomach so they did a dilation. There was also an ulcer found. I was put on 2 diff acid reducing meds to get rid of it along with nausea meds. To prevent a tear they had to do this several times. I had dropped down to 118lbs. very malnourished. My health was becoming a huge concern. One of the times that they went in to dilate the Dr ended up putting a hole in my intestine. I had to have an emergency surgery for repair. I spent 2 weeks in the hosp. When I woke up in recovery i had a wound vac, drains and a feeding tube. i went home with the feeding tube. This is now Sept 2020. My new Gastric bypass dr was trying to get me healthy enough to do a revision to help me tolerate food. I had a revision scheduled for Dec. 2020. Since this was during covid I had to be tested before surgery. Yes I tested positive. The surgery was postponed until Feb. Finally i had my surgery and was hoping that this was going to be the last and all would be good. The feeding tube was removed and I had to start over from scratch with eating. Clear liquid on up. At this point I am weak and thinking the worst that it is all over for me. I kept up the fight and it kept kicking me back. I was able to eat a little better for a few months after surgery. Then it all started over again. Every time I tried to eat i threw up. I called the dr. He said probably more scar tissue and that meant more dilation like before. So that was the plan more endoscopies. There was also another ulcer found. Upped the intake of the acid reducers and still not going away. I just kept dealing with this and eating what I could. I put up with this for a long time. Then in Oct. of 2022 it got really bad again. I was in and out of the ER for pain so many times I lost track. The dr. went in to check things out and the ulcer was back. There was no Rhyme or reason for this to keep coming back. I was referred to a Thoracic Surgeon in 2023. I finally was able to get in to see him. He scheduled me for a surgery to have my vagus nerve removed. (vagus nerves produce the acid in our stomach and mine was producing to much there fore causing the ulcer to never heal. When i came home I was still not able to eat food it made me sick. I wasn't in anymore pain but still could not tolerate food except for soft foods. Then it would be next to nothing. Somedays i could eat a bit more than others. I was released to go back to work on 4*12*24. I have been to the er once again for pain and not keeping food down. I was given a gi cocktail and felt better. I called the Dr and was told when it hurts drink Mylanta. I am now to the present day and have no answers. Please tell me there is solution for this. I cannot do this forever. I don't wish this on anyone but I hope someone else has been through this and can help.

I have bought a few cook books in the past and they are a waste of money to us in the UK. We don't use your measures and don't get your brands. I spent ages converting the few recipes I used and thought sod it. After a few months you are on to real foods and do not need them as you can go back to altering your families meals a little to include ourselves. I have found the food section on here very useful and really expands my food knowledge. The amounts of food eaten and portions left were really good examples for me to aim at. I also bought a plate, I have had 0 meals on it ...... I don't eat enough to fill the sections

Its quite normal to go off foods. I think its the Keto diet that changes the foods tastes. Two years on, I still am unable to stomach cooked salmon, mussels and lamb. Strangely enough, they were my most favourite foods pre surgery. It does get better once real foods are back on your menu, I promise. Just eat what you can now because this stage of having little appetite doesn't last for everyone. What you are doing is great

Hi everyone, so i had gastric sleeve on 23/09/2023. my current routine is usually protein shake in the morning, breakfast/lunch around 12-1 PM, then i go to the gym for my workout and have my BCAA during/post workout, and then my dinner when i get home. However, i got told by many people that i should actually keep my protein shake for later on and not in the morning and instead just have breakfast. What do you guys usually do with arrangements of meals and protein shake and so on?

Don’t feel bad about the acronym, I had to ask about LSD (liver shrink diet) just recently and they even spelled it out in the sentence just before it, 🙄. Ooh yea, NSAIDS that soon after any WLS can really cause issues, even sleeve or SADI. I think I was a year out and had to take them for a vaginal scope thing to look for polyps. I called and they put me in with the NP who said it was okay on rate occasion but I still try to keep it to like once a year at most and even then they say to take it with food and after a PPI. Please don’t go back to smoking. For the sake of yourself post surgery and just your own sake. I did it. I thought I could smoke just one like an idiot and of course that took me right back like I had never quit. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. It was just as hard to quit the second time. I have no clue what I was thinking. That’s interesting you start the colace what. The liquid diet. I start right after surgery I think. I should double check. When do you know for sure that they got all your insurance stuff back and your good to go. Seems like they will want to hear back any-day to leave time for someone else to do start their preop diet and fill the slot if they have to postpone you.

When I had my sleeve my hunger was gone for a while but I remember that there was another member on here back then who experienced it early like you. She got a few tips from others about dealing with the hunger which I can’t remember them all but the one that does stick out was warm liquids. Soups and tea or coffee. Stuff like that. She said it filled her up for a while. I agree with the protein first too though. I have a protein shake for breakfast and it fills me up till lunch. Maybe try some of the clear protein drinks or mix plain protein powder in your food if you don’t like the shakes. Also it could be reflux as mentioned above. Are you on meds for that?

I agree with the others. Your rate of loss is fine. I also agree with the concerns about your eating during this losing period. It seems more like how you may chose to eat when you are in maintenance. When we choose how much & how often we have foods like pizza, chips, sweetened drinks, etc. When we decide what foods we’ll to add back into our new way of eating or ones we’ll avoid. When we look at alternative ingredients, or different cooking methods. I also worry about you changing your way of eating so often, going from one extreme to another. (Not including Ramadan in this.) Are you sure you’re meeting your fluid & protein goals? Are you sure you’re getting in a range of nutrients from nutrient dense foods? This is so important when we are only able to eat smaller portions. We all say & are told to stick to our plans for a reason. You mentioned you had a difficult relationship with food/bad eating habits & these current behaviours do seem a continuation of this. Do you still see your dietician? Your therapist? If not, at the very least I’d seek a reference from your surgeon/team to a therapist who specialises in disordered eating. Many find therapy very helpful in changing these behaviours & their relationship with food & identifying strategies to mange them. All the best. PS - Don’t believe the calorie burn on your Apple Watch. It’s known to be inaccurate & tends to inflate the stats. It only uses your height, weight & age & not your individual metabolic rate, your optimal heart rate, the amount of energy you are putting into the activity, etc. Use it as a guide/approximation only.

Oh and I forgot! Regarding your original sleeve: I know you'll be aware that after my sleeve I had reported being able to eat bigger volumes than I had expected. This was a constant throughout all my food stages. Given my eventual regain do you think there might be a merit to reducing the volume of my sleeve when you do the SADI?

Hello everyone, I was sleeved on Jan 10th. For the past two weeks I have to have chinese takeout in my fridge. I am a college student so I don’t have access to a stove just a microwave (an air fryer really) and fridge. I am pretty content with how much weight i’ve lost. I’m just mourning the loss of my butt. I know it isn’t ideal to always eat chinese food nearly every day but I guess it works for me. I wanted to know if anyone else can relate to being hyper-fixed to a food. My order is usually chicken and broccoli with light sauce and rice or vegetable/chicken lo mein. That’s all I get but because I can eat such small portions, 1 order can last me about a week and a half.

CHEESE. It is the answer to all of life's problems post WLS. Compact, filling, nutritious and portable at room temperature. Further down the line nuts and fruit will be your best friends. If you can avoid processed bars then that might be good. If not, the bars might be better than the available (more processed) alternatives such as fast food. Good luck - I hope you enjoy the field trip!

I just had surgery on 1/4/24 and I am struggling. I never used to be obsessed with food and now it's all I think about. I am so sick of the Protein drinks and jello because everything tastes too sweet for me now. It feels/tastes like I am drinking sweetened condensed milk from the can. I am limited with broths I like, so that's an issue. I couldn't take it anymore, so I broke down and has refried beans yesterday (I'm not supposed to start pureed food until Tuesday). I regret having the surgery, and am resentful about not being to eat the foods I want. I have been on the liver shrinking diet 1 week before Christmas, which was awful watching everyone eat all those delicious Christmas treats, while I just watched. I think between that and the liquid diet post-surgery has broken me. I am emotional and miserable. Am I the only person to feel this way?

I didn't know there were different sizes and no idea what % of mine is gone. After a year I can still feel the restriction, unable to eat too much and rarely hungry though I can take larger sips now. Have gulped a few times totally forgetting there isn't space 😂 Eating now is more of a habit than needing to, had to force myself today to eat some lunch as just wasn't hungry at all but managed 50g cauliflower and 30g hummus. Example of what I can manage; Breakfast is a 125g or 150g yoghurt 99% of the time or sometimes a couple of small protein or banana pancakes as a treat. Lunch is usually homemade soup (150ml) or homemade dinner leftovers or half a shop bought salad (with falafal or chicken) My dinners are again 99% of the time homemade and would still be about 150ml in liquid dishes such as soup/dhals or 4 to 5oz for a bean stew/chicken dish. A while after dinner I will then have something for dessert such as two squares of 85% dark chocolate or a yogurt or a handful of nuts. In between if I can, I try to have a snack mid morning and mid afternoon. like some cottage cheese banana bread, nuts, protein bar etc. Eating out can be super annoying now when I see lots of things on a menu I would like and then realise that in all reality all I can manage is a starter but it does mean my food and dining out bills have dropped so much and if I don't finish it I usually ask to bring it home and it does another meal or three. When I go on holidays in a couple of weeks I have booked dinners out at three Michelin restaurants that have a menu you can chose from so it means for me just one course in each and it will be a bargain compared to having to usually order the 6 or 10 courses.

I was told the same thing too @ShoppGirl. It could be just another one of those some can & some can’t or depends upon what you’re eating (more or less dense food) or how far out you are. Like @ms.sss I can drink fairly close to eating, have the odd sip while eating solids but have to wait a while after to drink again. I still eat soup by drinking most of the broth component first then the solids. lol!

Hi All, First Post I'm female in the UK and nearly 59 years old. I have been a fat toddler, a fat child, a fat teen and a fat adult. I have yo-yo dieted all my life, with each yo-yo lasting for a shorter period and resulting in a new high-point when I would inevitably bounce back. In July '23 I reached a new all time high 24st 9lb (345lb) I was about to start the diet again, about to go through the same loop but just couldn't face it. I made an appointment with a bariatric surgeon, discussed my history and options and agreed that a gastric sleeve was a good fit for me. I was told I was too heavy for their practice and I needed to lose 56lb before I could have the surgery. The surgery was booked for Jan 2nd '24 and I started dieting. As is the practice here I had an assessment with a psychologist who confirmed I was a suitable candidate and a dietician who again confirmed I was a suitable candidate but in the process managed to make me feel like I had already failed, in her words I was "Much heavier than most people who come to us" As she was a gate keeper and I needed her approval to progress I did not complain. That time will come. Following my initial consultation on the 8th Aug I started dieting to get down to the target weight. I have never had difficulty in losing weight I simply cannot maintain any losses. My normal pattern is if it takes me 6 months to lose the weight I will regain it and 10lb in the following 12-18 months. By the day of surgery I had lost 75lb and was already feeling so much better. I considered carrying on with just dieting and not having the surgery but I was already beginning to see my discipline weaken and I knew it would be the same old story. Surgery went well, I had very little pain or discomfort and by and large I cannot complain. I'm currently on the pureed stage of the diet and doing OK managing to keep protein and fluid levels up though I struggle with the fluids some day. I have lost 13lb in the last 21 days but have hit the dreaded 3 week plateau. Early days but I have no regrets - to be without hunger for the first time in my life is such a relief, I feel good and am doing more and more each day. I am already starting to live the life I want and i can see so many more benefits ahead and believe they are attainable and retainable. I wish I knew why I have struggled so much with my weight - there is no one trauma or set of childhood issues I can point at. It is not that I have a compulsion to eat everything in sight there are so many foods I can just ignore, I have no interest in sweet foods of any kind or greasy deep fried foods. But I cannot resist bread, pasta , rice etc and my down fall has always been the second or even third portion of these carbs. For this reason if no other I hope the VSG will not only prevent that behaviour but I also hope it will give me enough time to re gain control before considering a second helping. My parting thought for this post is that as I have gone through my journey thus far the one thing I have found is that my story is not that unusual, my problems are not unique and most importantly that they are not the result of some moral failing or fundamental weakness. There is more to life long obesity than can simply be solved with "diet and exercise" and having finally found medical professionals who believe that is the case I see this year and this journey as a new lease on life that I am going to grab with both hands. Koshk - newbie

I was given the all clear to restart eating solid food at my 6 week appointment yesterday. Hooray! I'm not hungry but I did miss variety in flavor and texture. Tonight I'm making a 15 bean soup because the weather is terrible and it sounded soothing. The doctor did say I'm losing weight at the low end of normal. I need to increase my exercise, which I definitely struggle with. I need to figure out a good way to incorporate exercise every day.

This really is the big fear, isn't it? I mean, I know when my bad habits hit. It's when I'm stressed and short on time. Like this week, where one kid had a major school presentation and the other was both sick AND had rehearsals for dance recital every night. And they need to be fed, and have all their stuff, and did they remember their water bottles, and money for a snack, and where are the dance shoes, and what time is pick up and...oh, wait, have I eaten anything today? And now all the food I bought to be so good and healthy is still frozen and I'm trying to figure out if I should choke down a protein shake or if putting peanut butter on a Ritz cracker can count as protein... This is definitely where those new, good habits need to be built. Because of course I can anticipate the craziness of a week like this ahead of time and prepare for it. I just need to work on actually doing so because a trip through McDonald's is no longer in the offing or I'll end up right back where I was. The modern world is built for convenience, but not for good health.

My surgery was Feb 27th. I began at 217 and now am 177. Your posts describes my roller coaster ride from the beginning. I am working on real food and what causes issues and what doesn’t. I know anything greasy is a no (I now rinse any grease off, if used). I go back to shakes for a day if I have problems to settle things down. As long as I keep the portions very small at a meal, I can eat most things. I bought a Bariatric cookbook. It has some very tasty recipes. I cook them for my husband and even guests. No complaints!

This isn’t uncommon. Our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell changes after surgery while we’re healing & our tummy is very sensitive. It is temporary usually about two months which is about how long it takes you to fully heal from the surgery. Unfortunately though it can make finding foods & drinks we can tolerate challenging. You may find something you easily ate yesterday you can’t face today. Don’t give up on that food. Just avoid it for a few days & then try it again. Some foods seem extra sweet or salty. Textures can be off putting too. Sometimes a food or flavour you didn’t enjoy before tastes delicious during this time. Add to that our loss of appetite &/or interest in eating & it can feel like a nightmare & you’ll never be able to eat again. In a few weeks you’ll find you are enjoying flavours, textures & foods more. If you’re lucky your loss of hunger & interest in eating will last a 6-12 months +/- which helps with your weight loss but they too will pass. Actually after they return you often wish they hadn’t & you still weren’t hungry. I embraced things tasting exceedingly sweet at this time. I gave up sweet foods - never reintroduced them. So no cakes, biscuits, desserts, lollies, flavoured carbonated drinks, etc. except on very odd special occasion. Very little added sugar (<5g a day) & avoid artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives where I can. I ate a lot of soup, yoghurt & extra milky scrambled eggs & extra milky instant rolled oats during purée. During soft foods I ate a lot of minced meat dishes (meat balls, savoury mince bolognese, …) with sauces & slow cooked stews/casseroles. Give your self time to heal & recover & your tummy to be less fussy & sensitive. I used to say my tummy was like a petulant temper throwing 2 year old during that time.

I will say every program is different and every body is different. My plan accounts for snacks of some kind, albeit healthy ones - providing usually around 5 "meals" a day. The main goals are protein and water and typically carbs and fats work themselves out. That being said, I would say to meet with a dietician/nutritionist to provide better guidance. Maybe weighing/tracking out the food is best not just the plate itself. (You may very well be doing that, i'm just throwing that in). It could be also not actually eating enough to fuel the body as it was used to another way of eating for that stretch of time you were off program. The amount of sodium in what you're eating can play a role. A variety of things could be at play. I don't see anything wrong with the foods you have shown, however I see there are a lack of greens of some sort. A bit more fiber could help not only keep you full, but also keep you regular. Don't be afraid of carbs, they aren't all bad, fruits and vegetables add a lot of micronutrients. Just as with all things in moderation. You did not mention what you drink throughout the day - which may or may not also add to the non budging scale. Back to basics should help (but gosh not an all liquid diet) - protein and water goals and the order of protein, veg, then carb as plate priority. Best of luck, friend.

I will be 3 weeks this Thursday, it gets better once you get into soft foods. Take it one day at a time, you will reach the point of yummy food again.

Currently 10 weeks post op Vsg . Haven’t been able to reach my protein goals (can’t tolerate many foods) & just started reaching my water goals. Not sure if this has contributed to my stall but any advice or recommendations on how to break a stall ?

It's weird to see how different some of the advice is from different bariatric doctors/clinics. At 800 calories, your body would think it's starving and you would be hard pressed to lose anything because it would hold onto every calorie. Did they give you any guidelines for Protein grams per day or carbs per day? Right after surgery they had me on 90 grams of protein per day and 30 or less grams of carbs. That put me around 700-900 calories per day. Once I started the soft foods phase they bumped it to 100 G protein and 45 G carb. At my 3 month check in it's still 100 Protein but they raised the carbs to 59. I do workout everyday and I'm constantly wanting to eat/snack on some kind of protein or carb. No garbage snacks, mainly veggies & fruit. I would definitely follow their guidelines. But ask questions about meeting protein and carb goals. You definitely need protein, if they didn't give you a guideline for it you should ask how many grams min/max should you be eating. Every body is different, so the 800 calories maybe something you need. I wish you the best!

I think the hardest part for me, like @RonHall908 said, is having foods be fine one day and nearly lethal the next. I had scrambled eggs several times, no problem. So I ordered scrambled eggs while out one day last week and ended up searching high and low for a discreet place to vomit. I made a batch of tuna salad and split it into two servings. One serving was fine. The next day, nope. I could accept it so much easier if I just knew okay, this item is off the list for good. But having to build up the courage to try again in another week or two after an unpleasant experience is daunting.

This is true on body types, but snacks are what encourage grazing and not eating properly at meals. My 'snack' if you want to call it that are cucumber, broccoli, or at most a measured portion of 2 ounces or less of chicken/turkey/low fat, low carb fish. That's it. Bananas are high carb. I had suggested the weight/measure of food and drinks earlier. That's a hidden way of getting in calories. Total agreement on greens. Fiber ditto that also. Fruit we are warned on, we can have an ounce now (7 months out) but that's it. 2x a day, 2 ounces and only low calorie like berry type of things. The program is pretty tight but very very successful.

Honestly, I think both? It can become a vicious cycle where you can't even find the 'root' problem anymore. For me, how I got to my heaviest weight was due to my problems feeding unto each other (no pun intended). I was overweight for the nth time in my life, and had always struggled with both weight and depression. My anxiety about being judged / out in public kept me homebound (and morphed into agoraphobia). Being homebound and anxious made me more depressed and judgmental about myself, which I punished / soothed with food. I gained more weight, and was more depressed and anxious and made it harder to go out and function in public. Early on in my "mental health" journey, I had a psychiatrist that was determined to find The Root Cause of my depression and anxiety. It wasn't until decades later that more MH professionals seemed to acknowledge (to me, anyway) that sometimes there's no one trigger or root cause-- sometimes its how several smaller issues fall together, like a series of unfortunate events.