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Welcome to the three week stall! It is probably the most discussed problem on this message board. Just keep doing what you know to do (follow your surgeon's dietary guidelines, keep walking) and it will work itself out. It is very frustrating when you are in the middle of it, but when the stall ends, you will lose weight FAST.

Fairlife are good. I use both their chocolate and vanilla. Sip slowly, don't gulp or put too much protein on your stomach too fast. Otherwise you shouldn't have any side effects.

Thank you both for the replies! I feel like my mind was settled and then my husband started down this journey more with me and he says things like “well that doctor said you can gain it all back anyway so what’s the point” or he says “ these changes you have to make after surgery will make you lose weight anyway, just make the changes without surgery”. I honestly know with PCOS and as many diets as I’ve ever been on I think I need the surgery for true long term success. I am a different person now, already after 8 months in. I exercise regularly and have gained so much endurance and cardiovascular fitness doing CrossFit exercises. I do eat better and don’t see the “quick fast diet” mentality in my life anymore. I’ve made changes that I could’ve never imagined. At the end of the day I do fear the outcomes-what if I’m weak and malnourished or sickly? Or have complications? But then I remember I’ve been in this 8 months with only lost 25lbs AND I’ve never lost more than 40 on my own and never kept it off. My husbands rebuttals say but you’ve never changed your life like this before for this long. I think he keeps dragging me back to the fence lol!

I can only speak from my experience. I had several of those "I can do this without surgery" moments throughout my life. I first started down the path of surgery in 2013/14. I was doing the Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet (6 days/wk, eat only beans/meats/veggies, 7th day is cheat day) and having great success. I explained what I was doing to the bariatric surgery coordinator and her response (paraphrased) was, "That's nice, but you won't be able to do that post-surgery." I didn't want to hear that, figuring that I had already lost 40+ pounds this way and cancelled my appointments. I ended up losing roughly 150 pounds on that diet, but gained it all back. Why? It reinforced binge eating habits and didn't set me up for future success. Like a lot of overweight people, I thought my next lifestyle change (clean eating! intermittent fasting! keto!) would be the one that allowed me to lose the weight and keep it off. I finally realized that I was only fooling myself. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to lose weight and keep it off without surgery. You have to commit to eating a certain way for the rest of your life; I have yet to meet someone who did a diet for 6 months, lost the weight, went off the diet and kept the weight off. I reached a mental state where I had two choices: 1) continue living my life as I had been or 2) making a truly radical change, the change most likely to keep the weight off. I chose Option 2, because I owed it to myself, my wife and my kids to be the healthiest person I could be. I do not regret my choice. But while I do not regret my choice, I don't go around telling other people to do it. I don't think I would have succeeded in 2013 the way I have today with the surgery. In 2013, I would have seen it as "I do a surgery, I eat less, I lose weight, winner, winner, smaller chicken dinner." That is a set up for long-term failure. Now, I see it as "I have been given a great chance to live a healthy life and I need to take advantage of it." Until you reach that mental state, you are not ready to succeed with this surgery.

Congrats to all on a fast and uneventful surgery. I'm almost 1 week out. Everyday is different. I'm very low energy but trying to stick with keto diet, at least in the beginning because I lose weight so slow normally. I have some health issues which aren't helping the low energy issue. Sometimes I'm surprised I'm hungry. I heard that generally in the first stages you aren't that hungry. The good news is having 4 oz of protein drink gets rid of the hunger. But its a good thing my refridge and pantry are emptied of anything I shouldn't be eating right now! I suspect I'm much older than a lot of people on this board.

You must be excited. I know I am, but it was a relief getting approved after the 6 month process. My surgeon has a crappy bedside manner (but is the best revision surgeon in the area) and stressed me out at our first meeting in pre-op for the egd, telling me getting insurance to pay for revisions is next to impossible but I can self pay. Single mom here, so no, I can't self pay. Needless to say, after the egd, he had to do more testing due to undigested food still in my pouch after a twelve hr fast, discovered slow motility and he was suddenly singing a different tune. "I will get this approved". I meet with him one last time on the 3rd for my pre-op instructions. I quit smoking for this and am determined to get to goal wait even if it is slower going. I'll be watching and waiting to hear how things go for you!

I hope your time will fly by as fast as it's flown by for me. 2 days for me and 23 for you. Sent from my Z6201V using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh gracious no. I eat all meats (except offal - can’t do that) & seafood. I’m a carnivore. I was eating it from solid foods at week 7 & some in the soft food stage. Only difficulty is if the meat is too dry or too fatty but that’s easy to work around. I followed plan pretty much always until I hit maintenance at 6 months & all meats were allowed. I then made small changes as I developed my own eating plan based on how I wanted to progress & what would compliment my lifestyle. There’s a lot of similarities with my plan though. I eat most things but keep my my sugar intake very low, keep carbs to two serves whole/multi grains (no bread, pasta or rice) & keep fats relatively low. I don’t do fast food at all & rarely have take away (5x in almost 3yrs & carefully choose what I eat). I’ve put on a good kg recently which I’m hoping is because I’ve upped my protein & haven’t reduced other things enough to compensate - it’s a fine balance to ensure I still get in all my other nutrients. (I don’t absorb protein well since my gall was removed last year.)

I wish i could break up with food. I'm almost 2 weeks post RYGBP and i find myself having cravings that ive never had before. Im craving all kinds of unhealthy food like french fries, fast food, pasta, candy, etc. i did not have these cravings pre op and it was always fairly easy to avoid these types of pitfalls. Im not saying i ate perfectly pre op but portion control was my biggest downfall, not necessarily what was being consumed. i haven't lost my taste for anything apparently. I haven't given in and tried all things i want because im still so soon post op but i hope this stops quickly because its really hard to have a protein shake when all i want are french fries. Anybody know of french fry flavored protein shakes? Lol how long did it take for people's taste to change?

I know a very deliberate mechanism of action is that things empty into the small intestine fast. Like a lot faster than with sleeve. Which then makes the brain go "holy moly, all that undigested food THIS far down the intestine? Better send the FULL signals!" I'm never stuffed; had a few barfs here and there from minced meat, but otherwise never really super restricted (edit: but full and satisfied!) I wouldn't know I had it most of the time, it's pretty awesome.

You shouldn’t be committing this far out. Are you eating too fast? Eating too much? Are you dumping by eating too much sugar or high processed white flour foods? Are you drinking while eating? It would be worth seeing your surgeon to discover what’s really going on. Golden rule is eat your protein first then vegetables if you ate able. Some plans say if you still have room some good multi/whole grain carbs but you likely won’t be able to especially if you are getting in your required protein first. 60g of protein a day is the usual goal. A simple google search will reveal the protein content of any meat, seafood, dairy, etc. Weigh your protein so you know how much you’re getting. Bread, rice & pasta are usually not allowed on plans because they are nutritionally poor food choices & are too filling. So a muffin would be a poor food choice & the cream cheese would provide very little protein (less than a gram for a tablespoon). Get in touch with your dietician & ask for some sample menu plans & recommended food lists as well as portion size recommendations,. You may benefit from being given macro & calorie guides as well. Rate of weight loss is individual. Some lose more quickly, others more slowly. You seem to be doing ok but factors like age, gender, starting weight, weight loss history, etc. all influence your rate of loss. But you’re happy with what you’ve achieved, and you should be, that’s the most important thing. Congrats.

I'm two days after you. March 24th. I just had my phone medical consult. I have a one week diet of 2 protein shakes and one meal per day. Reminds me of the Slim Fast commercials.

By 3 months I was taking pretty normal bites of the things that I eat. I try to remember to chew more and eat slowly. I was surprised by how fast I was able to do so.

Thank you all so much! I am moved by the support 💕 I just made a care.com account and found someone. She responded really fast and we spoke. She is OK with picking me up super early and picking me up after surgery. The hospital is a good drive but she does not mind. Today is my say day 1 of liquids surgery is next week! I hope this thread will help others. I'm new here too lol

I still get a lot of gurgling, especially if I eat too fast or drink with a straw because it allows a lot of air to get in there. I never did the puree stage. I did 2-3 weeks liquids, then soft foods, then regular foods. I skipped pureed because I don't care for that texture. I turned out just fine. 😁

Hi Jessnole, Congrats!! I'm a self-pay as well and doing a fast track in Vegas, so my pre-op testing starts two days before my surgery. Hope nothing gets delayed. Are you traveling , or is it local for you?

If you are having trouble eating more than one bite of food, you might want to call your surgery center. It's possible you have a stricture, which can be fixed. You might also be eating too big of a bite, not chewing enough, or eating too fast. I have heard of people having issues from their bras, but I think it was right after surgery (can't remember for sure). I am able to eat more food at 5 months out than I could at 6 weeks out. That's a good thing, but I have to be careful that I don't eat multiple times a day because that could cause weight gain. Hope you feel better soon!

I am now 2 weeks post op and I do still have stomach pain on my right which is where they remove part of your stomach but other than that it doesn’t feel to bad. Right after surgery I was a little sore at all the other incisions but that went away fairly quick. You can over eat and you can eat to fast I actually experienced it yesterday. I was only having broth and I think I just drank to fast and ended up having what is called dumping syndrome. Just remember after surgery listen to ur body pay attention and eat and drink slowly! Good luck on uour surgery!

Hi everyone! I'm new here with a March 15th surgery date. I'm self-pay with Dr. Shillingford in Boca Raton, FL. It's all happening pretty fast after having spent years and years researching. My insurance specifically excludes all bariatric procedures. I'm super nervous but also super excited to begin the next chapter of my life.

I have been able to do Normal sized bites all along. I just chew them better most of the time. Honestly I have caught myself eating fast and it doesn’t bother me but I try to chew better and slow down between bites.

I watch these shows and love to see the outcome but why is it soon as they're on there way to see Dr Now who I think is brilliant do they have to stop at the fast food restaurants within an hour that's the bit what does my head in

Yes, I'm having it done in Vegas with Blossom Bariatrics. I've read that some have a liquid only diet. Blossom has 2 protein shakes and one small meal with emphasis on protein. Mine is a two week diet. I'm doing the fast track so I've never met my surgeon. In fact, I can't choose which surgeon. That did concern me, but I really liked everything else, especially the attention to detail. To be honest, I have had 3 surgeries that I didn't get to choose my surgeon. one emergency c section, one emergency Cholectystectomy (gall bladder) and an emergency Salpingo-Oophorectomy (ovary- fallopian tube). At least this one is laproscopic and planned. No huge scar and unplanned.

I don't think the sore throat is from the tube if you are already a week out; that usually resolves in a day or so. I think what's more likely is that you're taking sips/swallows that are too big or too frequent. I would SLOW DOWN and see if that helps. The burping/hiccupping happens to me when I eat too much or too fast, in addition to the throat pain, which did get better. Let us know how it goes!

The dietician in one of the videos I'm required to watch called it a food funeral. He said the first few days are the worst. I start my diet on 3/10, I think I'll be able to do it. Part of my pattern yo-yo diet was to "shrink my stomach" and stop carb cravings by fasting for at least 24 hours. This was just my psych belief. I've never researched it. But I always began a diet this way. LOL

This is in response to the person whom posted the article, I hope your brother is doing ok and I would like to emphasize I am in no way saying you should attempt what I'm about to tell you however it was a shot in the dark as well and I was lucky enough to save my fiancee from a horrible fate...... My gf/fiancee had a duodenal switch surgery which was very successful inside of 2 years her weight stabize at 160 lbs down from 300lbs. Shortly after her target weight was obtained she started having severe depression with suicidal ideation when she had been a very happy person her entire life. After a 6 day stay in the psych ward she went back to work and soon after developed back pain sever enough to leave her screaming in pain at times she had muscle spasticity, difficulty swollowing breathing, peripheral numbness, muscle wasting in legs and arms. I had to put hand rails in our home so she could get around. Incontinence and difficulty swollowing, breathing, and speaking came next.....after much reading and a near refusal to do any mris by the hospital that did surgery.(I suspected they feared a large lawsuit) The reumatologist and neurologist we were referred to both said they suspected als. I became obsessed with finding a way to heal her save her from what was already horrifying illness. I had a lot of trouble sleeping because her breathing scared me and I just sat and read listening to her shallow strained breathing. I swear I read enough studies and articles to have completed medical school. I accumulated almost 220 pages of hand written notes in 2 weeks time I came up with a plan there are many vitamins and antioxidants said to be imbalanced in the brains of pals the problem is supplemented antioxidants take to long to get into the Central nervous system so once the imbalance is bad enough to cause motor neuron death its like a snow ball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger that can't be stopped by ingestion due too the blood brain barrier making absorption slow and difficult this is made harder by malabsorbative aspect of surgery. I needed to get large doses into the brain and fast. I have read many article how methamphetamine exposure in small amounts stimulates brain cell growth and protects against cns and brain diseases by causing a small amount of damage stimulateing a neuroprotective effect as well as making the blood brain barrier more permeable these are the supplements I used in order of imprtance. I am not a Dr. I have no medical training please don't think I'm saying I truly know why or how thos worked but it did all supplements taken 3x a day with a small smoked dose of approximately 50-100 mg of street grade methamphetamine. N acetyl cysteine 600 mg Alpha lipoic acid Acetyl l carnitine Curcumin with black pepper Magnesium chileate Coq10 Vitamin e Creatine B vitamin complex (especially folic acid) Egcg Dhea Tart cherry extract Zinc pico lineate As well as a gluten free diet and several other listed in linked article. A full dose of bariatric vitamins 3x a day as well here is a link to a article written by a world renowned neurologist going over all these compounds how they could work and why as well as how they help THE USE OF METHAMPHETAMINE TO FERRY LARGE AMOUNTS INTO THE BRAIN IS DANGEROUS...... It's been hard just getting her to take all supplements 3x a day caused conflict but slowly she got better now the only symptoms she has is occasional incontinence and a mild parkinsonism when she sleeps as well as mild spasticity. She is a bit slow but walks fine talks perfectly and breathing is normal as well as respiration normal and blood [pressure went up too normal range.... https://drcgolding.co.za/integrative-approach-motor-neuron-disease/