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I don't drink (never liked the taste) but I've definitely been enjoying food a lot since surgery. I eat a lot less (I am less than 2 months out, so I eat about 2 oz of meat/protein at a time), so that is definitely hard, but I still enjoy the food. Is this process easy. NO WAY! You have to change your relationship with food or it won't work. You can still enjoy food, but if you eat the same crap food you ate that made you obese, you will lose weight then gain it right back, or you will not lose much to begin with. This has been the hardest part for me. I am resisting changing WHAT I eat, because I enjoy rich, sweet, restaurant foods. I don't want to eat simply seasoned, fresh, healthy foods. But I want this process to work, so I'm doing my best. I travel every week for work so some days I buy food from the grocery store and eat roast beef, hummus, prechopped veggies, ff greek yogurt, protein shakes, etc in my hotel room, and yes, it's a bit sad. Sometimes I do go out to restaurants and order something, enjoy my few oz of protein and a tiny bit of veggies, but I feel like it's not healthy enough... If you think you can live your old life eating five course restaurant meals after surgery, sure, you can do that after a few years, but you will gain your weight back. Just like any other weight loss scheme, you have to eat less. Right now, I physically can't eat much at one time, but if I were to graze or eat junk food, my weight loss would slow. And I was counting on not being hungry and I'm starving all the time. And I was counting on my tastes to change so I wouldn't like unhealthy food. Nope! This is hard. Think carefully. I don't regret doing it, but it's the hardest thing I've ever done, and I lost 100 lbs through diet and exercise. This is way harder in many ways.

Hi All I am a chef by profession and feel that though I am going through the same as most (currently in puree stage) I refuse to give up my desire to eat well and be creative. My weight loss is going great and I have been keeping the diet prescribed to me by my physician. I have, however, stretched my creative muscles to incorporate flavors I like into my day. This is one of my more successful ones. I am also trying to eat more vegetarian and vegan and this was a good place for that as I use Just egg and vegetarian sausage. If I had cashew yogurt I would have used that instead. 208 calories / 15 carbs / 12g protein (vegetarian) should yield 1/4 cup. If more only eat what you are prescribed. 1 Morning Star Farm vegetarian Sausage Link 1/2 cup Oat Milk 1 ts Low-fat Greek Yogurt (plain) 1/4 ts rubbed sage 1/4 ts garlic powder 1/4 ts dried chives (optional) Ground black pepper 1 ts corn starch disolved in 1 ts of water 1 egg or 3Tbl. Just Egg Over medium heat. Cut up one sausage link and, in a small pan sprayed with cooking spray, sauté until lightly browned. Add Oat Milk, yogurt, sage, garlic powder and chives if you are using and stir until the yogurt dissolves and the gravy starts to simmer. Let it start to cook down a bit. Stir the cornstarch and water slurry well to make sure it is fully dissolved and add it to the gravy. Bring up the heat and stir till thickened to the consistency you wish. If too thick, add some water. Remove from the pan and put the gravy into a small food processor. Blitz until smooth and the sausage is well incorporated. Make your egg or egg substitute scrambled fine so it meets puree standards and serve with the gravy on top. Though you are using about 1/2 cup of milk and such, out leaving you with approximately 1/4 cup of sausage gravy. This is decadent, has the flavors you want, has a good amount of protein and meets the requirements. Cheers J

I was hoping that my tastes would change after surgery, but they really did not, with the exception of french fries/fried potatoes (tried two different types out of curiosity and they just tasted mealy and gross). I enjoy the protein shakes and artificially sweetened yogurt. I haven't had any real sweets yet, so I guess I'm hoping to break up with those. I'm at my parents' house right now and there are some other guests so my mom bought my favorite cake from the fancy French bakery and I didn't try it. I am afraid that I will like it and I won't stop eating sweets. Also, I had a bit of fear of dumping, even though I had the sleeve. I ate a light and fit greek yogurt watching them eat the cake... it was a little sad.

It has been 7 months since I had my ESG procedure in March. What a weird ride. I guess I'm just posting this to muse on the situation as a whole. Wall of text time! Six Weeks of Suck A six week liquid diet was awful. It went in 2 week chunks and degraded over time. The first two weeks, it was amusing. I got to tell people what was going on! The first entire week I was basically sleeping anyway and took sick days, so it was just me, in bed, playing Pokemon Sword. A weird sort of vacation, really, even if half of it was crippling nausea and whining to my husband. The next two weeks was boring and a bit annoying, but I at least got to sip chicken broth and relish the fact that my food tasted like actual food. (I bought a jar of low fat chicken gravy at the store at one point and sipped it in the car while feeling like some kind of jewel thief having pulled off a heist. It was the best food I have ever eaten.) The last two weeks, I just wanted to strangle the doctors for not letting me eat solid food. Six weeks! People who have literal stomach removal have less time than that! But no, the surgeon said that six weeks was because the sutures are internal, and thus are constantly disturbed, so in a weird twist they take longer to heal than gastric sleeve surgeries. Did I mention basic recovery sucked for the first few days? When I came out of anesthesia, the doctors said I had been under for a long time, because I was just too sleepy to actually wake after I was technically conscious. They kept me until I could walk, which was way longer than they thought. Even walking down the driveway made me so tired I had to lean on someone. Going to the bathroom and back to bed was enough to take a nap afterwards. I had to rotate constantly to stop feeling nauseous or crampy. I emergency-called the doctors for some more anti-nausea meds because the first ones just didn't work well enough. Then, like magic, around day 7, it all stopped and I could get up and do stuff normally. Not being able to lift more than 15 pounds or whatever the limit was, was almost a deal-breaker. I work with heavy machinery a lot, but I saw that problem coming. My long-suffering (but kind) coworkers carried things for me. But at home, do you know how many things weigh 20 lbs? Stuff full of liquid is right out. A gallon of water by itself weighs 9 lbs, heaven help you if you have to carry anything else with it. My husband had to haul our pet food and litter bags, which we buy in 50 pound sacks because we hate having to shop a lot. Even normal grocery shopping bags can approach 15 pounds if you fill them full. When I was still exhausted, I had to get a very confused Target employee to help me carry a single bag out to the car. I'm sure this guy had no idea what was going on, with a 30-something woman shuffling up to him like an old lady and holding out a fairly light bag and asking if he would be wonderful and carry this to her car because she had picked up too much stuff and now her body was saying it was time to sleep right here on the floor if she didn't hand it off. Did I Cheat on the Diet? Yes. 100%. I absolutely cheated. I cheated like a soap opera spouse. Honestly, the lesson I learned was that this really caused no harm whatsoever. Probably a bad lesson, but in the end, it made those last two weeks bearable. The doctor said clear liquids only, but I added in pureed chunky soups, Greek yogurt, and scrambled eggs. I chewed for a long time and made sure everything in my mouth was blenderized into pure liquid, and I still ate incredibly small meals. But really, anything to get me off those fake-ass protein shakes. I didn't tell my team the extent of the cheating, but I never felt any pain, and I still made my calorie and macro counts. The first day I let myself eat tuna from a can was the day angels sang in my ear. I furtively snatched it up at CVS, a tiny can the size of one of those Fancy Feast cat food tins. I snuck it in the car and dumped the can in a recycle bin before my husband could see it and wag his finger. Oh, it was good. What I'm getting at is that I was losing my bananas during the last 2 weeks of that dang liquid diet, and I needed something to eat that felt like real food, or I was going to crack. I think this worked out. Have I Lost Weight? 45 pounds so far. From what I can tell, there is really no way to beat the "1-2 pounds per week" rule. No amount of surgery was going to take my resting metabolic rate of 1800 and somehow get 5 pounds a week out of lowering it to 1000 cal/week. I think all the "omg I lost 10 pounds my first week" is water and glycogen, no matter who you are, unless you're very obese. Water weight will get you early on. If you gain weight or have not lost weight even 3-4 weeks after the procedure, it's probably still water weight. There's no way your body can retain fat on 1000 calories a day unless you have a disease/disorder. You will gain weight abruptly when you start putting food back in your body. I'm shocked at how much food in various parts of digestion weigh. That said, according to the Mayo Clinic, food takes about 36-48 hours from entering, to exit your body. Think about how much you eat in 48 hours. Let's say, for round numbers, you eat a meal weighing 3/4 lb, 3x/day. So that's 2.25 lbs a day. 48 hours is 4 days. Before the meal on day 1 exits on day 4, you've put a total of 9 pounds of stuff into your body. 9 pounds! That's like 4 weeks of weight loss, supposedly gone immediately! But it's not. If, like me, your last weight reference was right before the surgery, you fully blasted those 6 or so pounds of food out of your system with the absolutely awful colonoscopy cleanse they made you drink. You know how much you ate at each meal before surgery, at least ballpark. Add those "phantom" pounds to your hospital weight, and you have your "actual" weight. So my actual weight was really around 260, not 251, because it was 251 with my entire intestinal tract scrubbed to a bile-yellow liquid shine. (Ew.) Basically, expect water weight to cover up early weight loss and food weight to cover up weight loss about 1-2 months in, depending on when you're allowed to eat solids. Frustrating Points I am still not particularly lower in my dress size. I have absolutely lost some inches, but it seems to be coming off relatively evenly, so I'm still a 16-18 in a dress. I'm frustrated, because part of the point of this was to fit into my old college clothes, but I expected to lose a couple of dress sizes in 45 lbs of weight loss. I still have a bunch of clothes sitting around waiting for me to be able to fit them. That said, women's clothing sizes are stupid, and I really don't know what my dress size was when starting. I thought it was 18, but I gained weight over the pandemic, so I have no clue anymore. Awesome Points I can eat what I want. Seriously. The physical size of my stomach limits me from eating a lot, but I can eat single meals, and usually they last me the entire day. I routinely take home leftovers now. But in the end, the food I want isn't fast food and pizza -- though to be fair, I still do eat pizza. I just eat way less of it. I don't have to optimize now, and my body seems to actually obey calorie counts now without getting hungry. I still eat pizza every so often. I still have dessert. I had candy on Halloween. I still don't eat salad. In the end, I feel like this was what I wanted: the ability to eat the food I actually like, socially, while having my body go in a direction I don't hate. I have actual hunger cues now, and I'm not constantly thinking about food. Would I Recommend ESG? I will tout ESG from the tops of mountains now. Some suck early on for a feeling of actual control over my body and a sense that I finally obey physics as I know it? Yes. Yes, please. I should have gotten this years ago. When my parents offered to cover weight loss surgery when I was like 23, I should have said "YES NOW" instead of "ugh why would you offer that?".

Lentil pasta and bread are pretty much carbs. I have read a lot about those not being easy to eat for many people after surgery. Also, you might be eating too quickly? Not sure, since I've never watched you eat 🤓 Meal prepping is great. When I was working at home I did that. Now that I'm on the road it's actually a lot harder to eat healthy. I agree with @SleeverSk that you might consider having a protein shake (or a low sugar yogurt) in the morning if you're feeling nauseous. Also, could your multivitamin be making you sick in the morning? I take mine at night and if it's been too long since dinner, I get really nauseous. I'm going to try taking it with dinner. Some things that have been very easy for me to eat (I'm 8 weeks out) are ground turkey/chicken, deli meat, tuna fish with Miracle Whip (you could use mayo, same thing), trout and other fish, and refried beans. I had a really hard time with lettuce but most other veggies have been fine. I hope it gets better.

my first Thanksgiving post-op I brought pumpkin-flavored Greek yogurt with me to eat while everyone else was having pumpkin pie. You could even put a dollop of light or sugar free Cool Whip on it. To be honest, I think I enjoyed that as much as I would have the pumpkin pie!

Hey July Surgery People! This thread has been very quiet lately. I think we need another status check & update now that we are all at least 3 months post op. I'd love to hear how everyone is doing. Hoping you're getting closer to where you want to be and seeing results! Getting a little bored with the foods I've been eating lately. I switched from Oikos triple zero yogurt to light & fit's higher protein yogurt, as I needed some new flavors. Often have P3 snacks for lunch or protein shake. Enjoying salads again. Most foods go down easily. Share your favorite foods, tips, or advice! ------- Surgery Status: Post Op (a little over 3 months) Phase: modified regular diet Highest known weight: 291 Starting weight: 280 Current Weight: 221 (-59) Inch loss: (have to measure & calculate) NSV: finally needing new clothes & fitting into sizes that I haven't for a long time. I had some clothes that I never wore, because they say a certain size, but must be smaller (Looking at you Gap & Levi's!!, unless it is just my shape)😄, and they finally fit. Current Favorite foods: cashews, almonds, P3, light & fit yogurt, chicken, protein waffles, oatmeal, farina, turkey, shrimp, fish, salad

I found that the Greek yogurt has been a life saver! I stir in just a dribble of my sugar free coffee syrups (Skinny syrup vanilla caramel flavor) and it tastes really good and fills me up.

I don’t travel for work, but travel a lot for fun. I’ve usually tried to stick with a routine for breakfast, lunch and snacks. I always do a protein shake mixed with cold brew coffee for breakfast, that’s easy enough to do on the road. Lunches, while maybe not the healthiest, have still fit in plan-things like yogurt, nuts, and jerky. For dinner I do my research by looking up menus before I go out and find something that fits in plan. Appetizers often fit the bill, and the portions are small. I also try to incorporate lots of walking on trips and keep up my water intake.

I use pro-care health one a day with 45mg iron. It's ONE PILL A DAY. I wasn't going to be messing around with ten different pills on top of all the other pills I take. It's specially formulated for bariatric use, so it already has the B12 and everything else. I am supposed to take calcium too, but usually I get enough calcium from the protein drink, cheese, and yogurt. I haven't had labs done yet, so I can't say for sure if my levels are good, but my clinic recommended this brand and so do other bariatric nutritionists.

I was exactly in your shoes two and a half years ago. I researched both surgeries and I had decided on the bypass because I read that bypass patients tend to lose more of their excess weight. But the bypass turned out to be medically contraindicated for me and I had to have the sleeve. Like you, I was never one to eat large volumes of food, so I wasn't sure the sleeve would be effective. But it was. I was one of the lucky ones who completely lost my appetite for the first year so it was possible for me to eat 600-800 calories a day for months. As my appetite slowly returned in year 2, my calories increased to 800-900. My weight loss slowed down but it continued and almost two years from my surgery date, I hit my goal of 130 pounds for a normal BMI. I continued losing and at this point my weight stays between 120 and 125. When I see it creep up to 127, I find myself immediately cutting back until I get it back down to under 122. It wasn't just the restriction of the sleeve that helped me lose. The surgery changed my relationship with food (I'm guessing due to the hormonal changes from having most of your stomach removed). Even today, my appetite is about 65% of what it was presurgery and I don't have unmanageable cravings. I still like sweets but I eat mostly sugar-free things like popsicles and pudding, yogurt, etc. Once in a while I'll have a treat of some kind, like cake or pie or Bailey's Irish Cream, but it's rare and it's always one treat and then back on plan. I feel like I still have the capacity to be a sugar/carb addict, so I'm careful with those foods. I also keep my carbs relatively low (although not keto-low) because that helps me maintain. So, statistically, bypassers do lose more on average. But your individual results can vary a lot.

I'm not a teacher, but have a high stress job that is all consuming. For me, planning and prepping has been key. I work out early in the morning before work, just in my garage. We have a nice setup for working out that we've accumulated over the last year or so. There are a ton of online resources for at home workouts, just find one you like. I was in the habit of having a cocktail after work before WLS. Now I drink 8 oz of the 5 cal cranberry juice and that makes me feel like I'm having a treat when I get home. Our meals at night are some sort of easy protein (baked chicken or fish, or steaks on the grill) and some sort of vegetable usually sauteed or roasted. It's easy cooking and easy cleanup. We did do Factor for a while, but I got tired of not having fresh food for dinner, (and those particular meals are high calorie/high fat). For lunches, I try to find single serve pre-packaged things. I found single serve chicken salad at Wal-Mart. I also like the flaked salmon in the pouch, I mix that with a spinach dip I found at Costco that's made with greek yogurt. I usually just make a protein shake for breakfast so I can drink it while on my way to work. I bought a water bottle that lights up to remind me to drink. So, far it's working, kind of! I also am not guaranteed bathroom breaks, so have had no shame in wearing a pad when I know I won't be able to get to a bathroom. It is SO FRICKIN HARD! to work and stay on top of these things! I feel you! You are doing a great job, and thank you for taking care of our kids! Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

@Arancini I'm doing good. I was in hospital 5 days, had stomach drain removed after 10 days. It was key hole so I have 5 holes plus the drain one. The drain is still healing but nicely. The main work site is still bruised and tender but surgeon said I will feel swollen and pain for probably a few months. It feels like I've been punched and punched and punched but it's not as bad I thought it would be. I'm just over 3 weeks now and progressing from mush to more solid mush if you understand. I will be under the hospital for a year. But mine was done private and its a package which covers a year. I see surgeon again 18th. But see my nutrition lady and bloods doctor on Thursday where he will advise what supplements I require. I add protein powder to food 3 times a day to keep my levels up and do b12 injections once a month. How are you doing? My hardest problems are in the mind. I was brought up yo have 3 meals a day Breakfast lunch dinner But now I'm on 7-8 tiny meals a day which I think is too much in my head but they are the portion similar to a very small yogurt. But to eat anymore makes me so ill. But the advice my nutrition lady gives me is spot on (she has trained to do it I suppose) Stay strong and positive G Xxx

I CRAVE icy and frozen liquids. For whatever reason i have a really hard time finding sugar free popsicles around here. I ended up buying myself a popsicle mold and have been putting yogurt with a little pureed fruit in them, or chucking one of those tiny Honest Kids juiceboxes (which are watered down juice and only have like 30 calories) in the freezer for a couple hours to make "slushees" out of by squishing the box and pouring out the contents into a cup. I eat it with a spoon.

My preop diet starts on the 3rd of November for 3 weeks. I have given it lots of thought while I waited. I am allowed veg, milk and yogurt. My go to, will be Thai soups and salads. I have bought in lots of water noodles as they are only 4 cals a packet. I like them better than courgetti. They do fill you up. When I get fed up of those I will have soups - carrot and coriander, mushroom and onion are favourite's . Then there is vegetable curries with cauliflower rice. I have had a lot of time on these pages and will use all the knowledge I have picked up. Onwards and downwards

I did a week clear liquid, a week full liquids with protein, and now I'm finishing my week of soft foods and proteins. Sweet anything is straight out. I find myself struggling on protein shakes and yogurt.

Hi guys I’m five days post op and I caved and ate half a cookie. I feel horrible but I’ve kept it down fine and not had any dumping or pain. What does this mean? I can take water a d yogurt and the cookie went down fine.

It's interesting to see everyone's differences in post op diet . I'm craving lo mein but still haven't eaten anything . I need more than clear liquids / protein shakes though and seem to be tolerating them pretty well . Doctor said if I still find myself hungry after the shakes I can try some yogurt . Was thinking of grabbing some yogurt and maybe some cream of wheat if I don't make it too thick .

Guys, im 4 days post op and feel good in terms of stomach pain. I’m keeping liquid and yogurt down. But I’ve got left shoulder and neck pain today. I don’t know where it’s come from- it’s not severe- just bad enough to make me feel unwell. im hating the liquid stage and regretting it too a little. Someone please tell me it gets better and it’s worth it.

So many salad lovers. I love them too but not without dressing. This makes me wonder if others have found better dressings. What are some favorite lower calorie salad dressings (with brands). I am a ranch lover and I have found a low calorie dip alternative (ranch dressing seasoning mixed with plain Greek yogurt) but I haven’t yet found a good low calorie dressing, ranch or otherwise that I like so far. Suggestions please.

I'm so jealous! I can't wait to eat again! Haha. Today is my last day on clears and tomorrow I'm good for full liquids. I know I can't eat any of it, but everyone's food has been smelling so good and making me miss eating ANYTHING. I'm very excited to have a little yogurt or oatmeal! That incision (where they pull your stomach out) is the worst for me too! All the others seem to be fine. I don't even feel them anymore. I also had a hernia repair during the surgery, so internally I'm super sore. It's not as bad as I expected though. I had a c-section with my son, and I feel like that recovery was agonizing in comparison. I have a post-op appointment tomorrow, so I'm going to mention some of your suggestions to see if I can try them too! All suggestions are definitely appreciated. We're in this together! Meg xoxo

Oikos Triple zero yogurt - 15 grams of protein, P3 protein pack snacks - they have about 12 to 15 grams of protein, grilled shrimp and green beans, protein bars - typically about 12 grams of protein, and cheese with crackers. When I am working out I carry the Gatorade zero with protein.

If you're on a cruise, I would think breakfast will be easy. You can get scrambled eggs or yogurt at the buffet. But you should be able to pack protein powder in your checked baggage and have that. After a couple of months, I was just about sick of protein shakes, so you might welcome the freedom to eat other stuff! I'm not quite at 5 months and can pretty much eat any meat. Haven't really tried pasta, but have tried a few bites of rice and have had small pieces of pizza with no trouble. And cheese is really easy. I agree with others that you can order grilled meat or fish, lighter sauces, etc. Depends on where in Italy you'll be, but there are lots of dishes that are nowhere near as dense as we make them here in the states.

Was sleeved 10/13. Live in Ohio. Anyone else on puréed? Just got moved and looking for food ideas 😉 Doing sugar free pudding, yogurt & mashed potatoes. Heard ricotta bake is good so might try making that?? looking for friends to share the journey with ❤️ Hard sometimes seeing friends & family eat regular food

I hate eggs from the bottom of my soul. I know they are the gold standard of WLS breakfasts, but I cannot freaking stand them. Most days I have a Premier Protein shake followed by a few ounces of cottage cheese, some oatmeal with protein powder mixed in, a string chees, some yogurt, or even leftovers if nothing else sounds good (usually some kind of meat that I made for my family the night before).