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I had sleeve almost 8 weeks ago and I travel for work. I worked from home the first 4 weeks and started back to traveling the 5th week. OMG... I travel light, but I can barely lift my suitcase into the overhead compartment now because I've lost so much upper body strength. I was so careful about lifting during my 4 week restriction - I would ask the grocery store to just put a few things in each bag or I'd bag things myself. I asked for help carrying EVERYTHING. And now I'm weak as an overcooked noodle. Glad you're doing so well!

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?".

14 days post surgery - got my sleeve at 8:30 am on Oct 20th. I've followed the program perfectly - easy, since I have little interest in food - and been able to get in 60 grams of proteins every day and 64 ounces of water every day, although it was not easy the first week. First week was rough - felt bad physically, pain from surgery and from drinking/eating, fearing loss of food enjoyment as a thing in my life. Days 7-10 I started to gradually feel better. By this last Monday, Day 12, I guess, I felt totally normal, back to myself. Although I don't crave it, I find drinking a tasty broth or eating a sugar free jello or pudding pleasant. So much better. I averaged 300-350 calories the first week and 500-600 calories the second week. Down 12 lbs since surgery date, total of 22 lbs since pre op diet, and 40 pounds since I started the bariatric program in July. Sometimes it feels a little unreal, and I'm startled I undertook something that is going to change my life so profoundly, but I'm looking forward to a future with improved mobility and health (I hope) or at least proud I have done all I can to move towards that goal.

This sounds like me. I had my two month check in about 2 weeks ago, and the nutritionist said I should be at 1000 calories a day, especially since I was adding in moderately intense exercise again. I was averaging 600-700 at that point! They also wanted me to ease off the shakes (I was having one shake a day) in favor of food, though protein powder was definitely ok to use. She emphasized that WLS isn't supposed to be very low calorie forever, otherwise other problems arise. I assume it is metabolism concerns. I've managed to get it up to more like 800-850 calories on a really good day, but it is hard. I'm just doing the best I can - yesterday I managed to get to 1000 for the first time but wow that was a project. I feel like I am eating or drinking or waiting to drink all day long. I'm keeping the one shake a day because honestly that is an easy 160 calories, otherwise I need to figure out another snack to add to the rotation. I'm just doing the best I can, without adding in unhealthy things. So, adding in good carbs and listening to my body as much as I can. Just focus on doing the best you can. Good luck.

This is a tough journey, even if you have no complications. Glad you're doing well. I am 7-8 weeks out and I have found the hardest thing is that I'm not sure if I'm eating too much. I'm on the road for work and I've been hungry all the time since surgery, so I'm eating 800-900 calories a day. I'm not as hungry now that I'm on the road because I'm busier, but now I'm eating more because the food is less healthy (Or, am I less hungry because the food is less healthy/I'm eating more?).

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.

6 July for me and doing well. Still have upper back pain when eating now but hey ill take it with weight gone. Started at 268 and now 192. Lost from 46 pants to 36 now. Loving all of this. Eating in stage three now and Jan. 2022 is my 6 month f/u.

The further out I get, the more I adopt the attitude of Never Say Never. I have regular crap food in my diet. As I do healthier stuff (i love me some salad). I love food and can thoroughly enjoy eating in my much smaller quantities. Balance and portion control is key for me. I started eating bread again (the regular, non-keto, full-everything kind WiITH butter) about 2-ish years post op…and surprise, surprise, I didn’t implode. Warm, fresh bread is THE BEST (my Mr. is the bread whisperer lol). Now, I won’t eat 5 slices anymore, I’ll likely just have 3-4 bites (as it is very filling for me), but still. Other than excess sugar, I can enjoy a wide range of foods with no ill effects nor unintended weight gain. Im 3 years post op and been maintaining my weight consistently at 115-ish since reaching goal almost 2.5 years ago…non-healthy food choices (with portion control) and all. My most recent labs a couple weeks ago showed once again that i am the picture of health. I do understand that for some folks, some foods are triggers or potential starts of slippery slopes. I guess just know what your boundaries are and strive to stay within them. You may not be perfect, but u can be perfect ENOUGH. Indefinite denial and avoidance, especially if it causes you angst is a meltdown waiting to happen. P.S. For those early in the process, for me it helped to tell myself: “Not right now, but maybe later”; or, “This kinda sucks, but it won’t always be so”. Making peace with the fact that nothing is forever helped with accepting my present circumstance. and who knows? what u really want today may not even be on ur radar tomorrow or next week or next year. And if it is, you can always have it then. Good Luck! ❤️

a lot of women experience screwed up cycles the first few weeks or months after surgery because of extra estrogen (or so they say...). Estrogen is stored in fat cells, so it's released during rapid weight loss. For most people, it'll eventually stabilize. However, with your medical history and various meds, your situation may be more complicated than that.

Hi, I am four months ish post op (21 June) some days are REALLY hard. I personally wasn't given enough 'important' information before surgery and have had to find out a lot of things the hard way. Since surgery there is a lot of food that I cannot eat 75% of the time - I'm not sure why every now and then my body doesn't have a bad reaction but its getting rather frustrating. I didn't know after surgery I 'couldn't' eat certain foods I just knew that I shouldn't if that makes sense. Since I cannot eat much I meal prep once a week and freeze 3/4 of it, otherwise I don't think I would make anything. Today has been a pretty crappy day, too nauseous for breakfast, took over 30 minutes for one piece of toast for lunch and my meal prep was tomato chicken with red lentil pasta and spinach ( I can no longer eat normal pasta as that makes me sick) - I only had two mouthfuls before feeling sick and foamy. Does anyone have any food suggestions?? right now my body is not liking pasta's egg or starch. I'm afraid ill fall into my old habits of baked beans and cheese haha. thanks for reading =]

I didn't have a last supper, we were in a long lock-down and so going to a favourite restaurant wasn't an option. So I spent the weeks counting down to my pre-op diet baking foccacia and cakes and making lasagna and noodle stir fries. By the time the pre-op diet came around I was ready for it.

My doc took mine out during the bypass. Apparently he usually does this. I had a sore, hard spot for about a week but not a huge amount of pain, or at least nothing the pain meds couldn't handle.

As of today I'm six weeks post op for my Mini Gastric Bypass. Definitely hasn't been an easy ride (with two stalls), but hasn't been terrible either. Except for a week ago when I started getting increasingly frequent discomfort in the stomach region. It would feel similar to the pain of gallstone attack, and would wake me up at night, and give me the odd bout of nausea. I've not been able to eat - just my protein shake/water and supplements, and those don't feel great going down either. So I visited my surgeon yesterday and he thinks it's likely the development of an ulcer/s and accompanying swelling at the intestinal join site, so I'm on Salpraz to see if that's the culprit. I was worried I was developing a stricture, so this is definitely a better alternative! I had been on Salpraz post-op for my previous GERD, and had finished the course about two weeks ago, so... it sounds the likely culprit. Mind you I had NO reflux or sign of reflux, so this was a bit of a sneaky attack that got me unawares. Eating hasn't been easy for me post-op anyway, but it's currently ridiculous. Looking forward to this improving so I can at least do more than sit on a glass of water when my partner and I go out! Worth mentioning that I still regret nothing! Even though it's been a little rough and the "honeymoon period" seems to be running late.

I actually had the Duoanal switch last Wed and I am in some pain but I have lost 12lbs in less than a week. I am extremely happy with the decision I made to better myself.

I had mine removed 20 years ago - I do not miss that evil thing. Even back then it was laprascopic. I can still remember the gas pain, which in a way made the sleeve surgery easier because I knew what to expect. Recovery was easy...and that was with me being in the hospital for a week prior to removal due to pancreatitis triggered by a procedure to try and break up the stones. Hands down worst pain I experienced was those stones.

I’m not saying I already had cranberry walnut hand pies, peppermint mocha donuts, and baked potato soup on my list for later this week, buuuuut I totally have them on my “to make” list.

TBH, I didn’t once reach my nutritionist’s food goals for me until probably 2-3 months AFTER i reached goal. I just did what I could. You’ll find out in the coming weeks/months what works for you. Probably no need to force something that isn’t doable at your stage. But maybe that’s just me. What have your labs been like? Energy levels?

Hi! I was cleared to do anything/everything by 1 month post op. With that said, I didn’t do anything besides walking until about 3 months post op, when I went nuts trying anything/everything I could. I was an everyday (sometimes 2-3 times a day exerciser for about a year and a half. Am now at 3 years post and i am down to a 2-3 time a week runner min 5k. I also do a bunch or cardio-based fun stuff - next week im going pole dancing! Lol. I never developed into a strength training lover, but I do it a couple times a week just cuz i know it works (but i hate doing it TBH). I do mean to try cross-fitting…maybe it will stick? We’ll see. Your doc will clear you based on your healing. Who knows, maybe you may be cleared earlier than u think. Listen to ur doc (I didn’t listen to mine after plastics and paid the price) Good Luck! ❤️

HI all I just had my bypass rescheduled from December 8th to November 17th. I can't believe it is in just 2 weeks. I am so excited but kinda nervous too. Going from over 1 month to 2 weeks is crazy!!!!

I had surgery a week before you and I'm still struggling to pass 200 calories a day. I'm not hungry. I have to force myself to eat. I'm happy with the weight I'm losing, I'm taking a multivitamin, iron, and calcium every day, but I feel sooooo weak all the time.

I had three sushi rolls and an avocado and crab salad for dinner, with a Hendricks Gin and Tonic for dessert.

Yassss for this thread. I will be on soft foods by thanksgiving and I am currently salivating over what I can eat (still on liquids one week post op) I am planning moist turkey, maybe string beans? A dab of mashed potatoes/baked potatoes? The fact that I’ll be able to chew something has me giddy with excitement.

It is so hard to give advice when every surgeon has a different plan! 1200 calories a day so soon out from surgery seems high. I think they want you getting your protein to mitigate side effects (hair falling out, no energy, not looking "good"). My surgeon's office had me on pureeds til I was 9 weeks out, and emphasized just doing shakes if meals were too much. Last week, I had my 2 month appointment and was told I should be getting 80g of protein through protein shakes alone, (and the protein HAS to be Bariatric Advantage or Unjury - yuck, no Isopure which I can actually tolerate), and 120g of total protein daily. Well, I frickin hate the protein shakes, and I was doing really good getting in 80g from real food, (and the office was quite pleased with the weight I've lost so far). My nutritionist said 500 to 700 calories a day was good, not to focus on macros, just to focus on getting my protein. Because those shakes are so high in calories and carbs, if I drink protein shakes, my calories are closer to 900 per day and my carbs are close to 100g (which seems very high). So I'm just going back to what I was doing. Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm so jelly that you're not hungry. I've been hungry since the first week. But.... all plans are different. Yes, ideally you should follow your surgery center's plan, but don't freak out if you can't eat as much. Some plans are much more restrictive and say only three meals a day with no snacks, and other want you only eating 800 calories or whatever... I had my surgery a week before you and I'm not eating 1200 calories a day. I'm at 700-900. Of course, my surgery center didn't give me a number of calories to eat, so I'm just eating until I'm full 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. I usually but not always have a protein drink in there because otherwise it's hard to get my protein goal (I was told 80g to keep from being so hungry). Ugh... it's so hard to know what the right answer is. Please post what your dietician says!

I have generalised anxiety disorder, but it’s no longer severe (not bc of surgery). I got to a place where I only saw my psychologist every couple of months for ‘routine maintenance’, but started seeing her more regularly before my surgery and now see her every three weeks po just to sort through all these feelings. I would really recommend working with a professional for support, ideally if possible someone who you already know and trust. Having someone who you can tell your deepest and darkest thoughts and fears to has lightened my load immensely po. The first week I was too tired to be anxious, but the two weeks after were a little rough. I have always self soothed with food and even though I prepared myself as much as possible beforehand, the reality of that comfort being taken away was difficult. I think I felt more gloomy and sorry for myself than anxious though.. although I do now struggle with some anxiety related to the weight loss (since +- 5 weeks po), but I really don’t think that’s because of any hormones (more me not believing in myself, which leads to a lot of my anxiety in the first place). I’m now 9 weeks po so I couldn’t tell you how it changes when weight loss slows down. Good luck with everything! 😄🌸