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Differences in size never cease to amaze me. I am almost exactly the same weight as you but 3 inches taller and I am a US size 8-10. No idea how that happens. OP I am a firm believer in the concept of a new set weight after bariatric surgery. I would have been happy 15 or 20 pounds heavier than where I settled. That was my goal actually. After I got into that ballpark I didn't try to lose any more, but it just happened. And then, eating very much the same stuff, my loss then stopped. And I've maintained thereabouts for a year or more with very little effort. If you can keep eating healthy and nutritious foods then could you just see where that gets you to? There are lots of healthy people with a BMI of 25+ and lots with a BMI of 19-. You'll find yourself somewhere in the middle eventually I suspect.

Thanks for the reference. I ended up having a capsulorrhaphy procedure on my right shoulder about two months after my VSG surgery. They also repaired the labrum, rotator cuff, and she spent over 45 minutes just cleaning up the bursitis. She put in 4 anchors during the procedure just to try and stabilize the shoulder. I used Alison Cabrera @ UTSW, and would highly recommend her. I ended up on daily hydrocodone just to get me to that surgery, however, I was still able to maintain my daily steps. Shoulder surgery is no joke! And this was all done to try to get me another 10 years so I can get reverse shoulder replacement 😐 My range of motion is limited now, but that was to be expected. I'm doing my best to protect my left shoulder so I can avoid surgery as long as possible. I've finally gotten used to sleeping flat on my back. For VSG follow up, I ended up about 80lbs lost. Right now I'm sitting about 75lbs down (gained 5lbs back) as I am noticing I can eat a little more (but still really restricted). I have a little anxiety about that as I am just over 10 months post VSG surgery. The last thing I want to do is undo all of the work. I'm still staying positive and using the Streaks app (iOS) to help with motivation (70K steps a week, plus 360 minutes of workout per week (includes walking)). I need to get back into putting all of my food into the fitness pal app. After the VSG surgery and the shoulder surgery, I ended up in a depression. Talking with a therapist who had experience with bariatric surgery helped. I don't think it was a depression just because of the VSG. I'm sure the chronic pain followed by a shoulder surgery (sling for 6 weeks post-op; and PT for 5 months) contributed significantly. As I mentioned previously, make sure your are taking care of your mental health. @Humikrig Good luck on your surgery!

I shall make sure to report back on my opinions of the pureed stage when I get there haha! I am definitely hearing that a lot of people have buyer's remorse initially! It is a big thing to go through! Thank you for sharing your experiences

HI all! I volunteered for my daughters field trip tomorrow, and its hiking. I cannot make my normal meals, they will have to be snacky. So far I am thinking beef stick, cheese stick, protein shake. These might be enough for the day as long as I eat breakfast before I go. It is an all day field trip. TIA!

Yesterday was no fun, not gonna lie. Having two meals in one day disagree with me to the point of several hours of pain and frequent vomiting is not something I'd care to repeat, so I'm taking it as a warning to go very easy with foods today. My program's recommendation was to have 3 meals daily and to supplement with protein shakes in between as needed, but they were very anti-snacking, which I do understand in the longterm. But I hate protein shakes, so I've felt this added pressure that if I can't eat enough protein in one sitting, I'm dooming myself to drinking something vile in a few hours. It's a recipe for taking one bite too many. However, I went to the dietician the other day and she was asking about snacks, and seemed surprised when I said I didn't have any, just the protein shakes. She even suggested I may need to add in a snack or two! So now it seems I can have several small meals instead of protein shakes and they're fine with it. Talk about mixed messages! I swear they don't read their own booklets sometimes. Anyway, I'm going to experiment with smaller portions size and more frequent meals to see if it helps. If it's just a few things that trigger the tummy issues, I'll chalk it up to not being able to tolerate those foods. If it continues with no pattern or becomes more frequent, I'll definitely talk to my doctor's office to rule out a stricture.

I must be in the minority - I didn't mind the puree stage at all - especially after a few weeks (before and after surgery) of just drinking fluids! It was great to eat real food - even if it was pureed. I remember eating a lot of Greek yogurt, hummus, refried beans - I also pureed spanakopita (which I made without the phyllo) a couple of times, as I recall (I must have added something to get it going in the blender - some milk, maybe? Can't remember). I had surgery at age 55 (that was nine years ago) but fortunately, unlike summerseeker, I didn't deal with any hormone issues. I did have off and on "buyer's remorse" the first two or three weeks, though ("what in the hell did I just do?" "Why could have I tried dieting one last time?"). All that will pass and you'll be so glad you did it. p.s. I used my blender a lot during the puree stage. I already had a standard-sized one, but I ordered one that had both a standard-sized pitcher and a small pitcher, since I figured I'd use the small one a lot more (and I did). I think it's a lot easier nowadays to find small blenders. But like someone else said, you can always order one afterward, too.

This is such a useful reply thank you so much! Amazing that you have been with Spire and have had such a good experience, it is really nice to hear. So far my experience with them has been really good, so I am expecting greatness haha. I am curious to see what they will recommend for my LRD - I am not looking forward to it 🤣 Weird question here, but what are their hospital gowns like? I shall remember some lip balm! Puree sounds awful I can't lie! I also feel weird about broth or bovril and how they will taste...I need to trial. I have the coil and my surgeon said that is all good, so there will be no break (or risk) of pregnancy as I don't need that in my life right now! I have PCOS too so I am also intrigued to see how that may help it. Thank you so much for all of your advice x

Your petulant, fussy, temper throwing tummy is showing its face @NickelChip. Your tummy decides one day it doesn’t like something yet you ate it fine before. Then on a few days or week or two later your tummy is all yum this is delicious. Or something you didn’t enjoy before is suddenly very tasty. Don’t be surprised if this continues for a few more weeks. It’s like your tummy is relearning about foods, textures, flavours, etc. I always found smoked salmon too rich. I’d eat a little but rarely. Then suddenly in soft food was eating it every day - spread it with cream cheese & wrapped it around wedges of cucumber. Then suddenly my tummy said no.No more smoked salmon. I was always able to eat eggs easily, then last year, after 4 years my tummy said nope not eggs. I actually haven’t gone back to them but I will again at some time. What I do remember is when my tummy says no, my restriction kicks in more quickly and I feel very full after just a couple bites. This may be what you @NickelChip & @PandaMom1977 are experiencing: your sensitive & fussy tummy making itself known, your nerves reconnecting & sparking & your restriction starting to work. It will be interesting to hear what the GI X-ray shows @PandaMom1977.

I'm 4 weeks out and started having this issue the past couple days off and on. This morning I had a scrambled egg and it ended up not staying down (despite no trouble with eggs in the past). Lunch was okay but then at dinner I went from being totally fine with 2oz smoked salmon to taking a single bit of veg and having pain and fullness, that stuck feeling, that again eventually led to the food coming back up. Now I just have a painful full feeling that's lingering for hours and is miserable. If it continues a few more days I will reach out to my doctor.

I’m over 5 years post op but remember the torture the first few weeks were. I was lucky to live alone and not have to be around food. Now, I can tolerate and eat anything. What you are feeling is normal and will pass, best wishes on your journey.

Hello @Bypass2Freedom I used the Spire group too. I had wonderful care and was totally happy with my team. I stayed in hospital 4 days because of a few minor issues I was having and then a 5th day because of a power cut in my town. They said I couldn't go home to a cold house. No extra charges were levied either. I had zero pain. The head nurse and the dietician gave me their personal phone numbers in case I had any problems or questions along the way. My pre op was 3 weeks of milk and veg basically but your surgeon may want different. They asked me to take dressing gown, nightwear and slippers to the hospital. No need for a long telephone charger cable in our hospitals. Take some lip balm. My surgeon was against protein shakes so after my op I had milky coffee, home made shakes and Bovril or broth to drink. Puree was not for me, I had either tinned or home made soups sieved or mashed any lumps. When I came home I bought a bed wedge because I got reflux. I needed a thermos cup because my hot drinks were always going cold. It takes a long time to drink anything in the first few weeks. With Amazon having next day delivery, if you need something its so quick, its pointless stock piling stuff you may not need in advance. The hormonal changes are something that I had. I was very tearful and had full on PMT. I was 60+ so it came as a shock to me. There have been a few people on here who have become pregnant very quick after the surgery. If that's a problem then a chat with your GP might help.

@ShoppGirl Thank you for your reply I have therapy every week, but was going to start looking for more weight-related therapists in my area as I am extremely worried about coping with the emotional eating. I am sorry to hear about the struggles you have had, and I hope it all works out for you. Pureed food sounds like the worst stage! I, like you, feel that pureeing 'normal' foods probably is gross haha! Hospital bag is actually one of the things I do need to think about! I shall add those to my list, thank you

I didn’t really deal with a ton of hormonal changes as far as I can recall but yes I have heard that many women do. I am an emotional eater too and not to scare you but I have gained my weight back and I’m contemplating a conversion. If you have access to a therapist to get to the bottom of the emotionally eating. I STRONGLY suggest it. There aren’t any in my area so I am working with my regular therapist but I don’t know how well it is working. One of my questions for the surgeon is if he can make some calls for me and find someone who will try to fit me into their schedule. As far as tool or equipment I had sleeve and didn’t need much. I bought those little cups that your dressing comes in at restaurants for the very beginning just to measure things out and store in fridge but you can use anything that is the right size. Some people do use a blender in the purée stage. Personally puréed food that isn’t normally purées kinda grossed me out so I didn’t use that. I did buy a few flavors of shakes and keep others ready in my online cart for my husband to pick up if I needed him to. I did buy a scale but honestly don’t recall using it much. One thing that someone told me that you didn’t ask about was what to pack for hospital. I found pajama pants, a sleep mask and a extra long phone charger to be helpful items that weren’t on the list. The pants come in handy when you get up to walk since the gowns are open on the back.

I feel like I have asked so much, yet I still have things I want to know! Like: what kind of equipment did people order beforehand e.g. scales, blender etc Also, I have heard that women struggle in particular when it comes to the hormonal changes immediately post-surgery - how to prepare for that? It is daunting to think about how to deal with food cravings when I am an emotional eater, and I will need to find a different outlet! Thank you so much!

lol. You reminded me of the sugar free gummy bears I didn’t have an issue with them but I didn’t like them so I didn’t have but one maybe two. I sent them home with my friend who was living a couple of hours away so she ate the rest of the pack on her way home 😂 . She now buys those instead of bothering with fiber or laxatives when she is constipated she swears they work better. I am really hoping that my sleeve is still okay. That’s one of my questions for the surgeon is what happens if he goes in and it’s bigger than it should be. He is the one that don’t it and he is known As an excellent surgeon but For whatever reason I could eat more than I should’ve been able to at every given stage from day one when I was drinking without any issue. I also had very little pain post op so maybe I just advanced through the stages faster because of less swelling or something?? At first I questioned whether they even did the surgery but I definitely do haxe Restriction it’s just not as much as some peoples Anyways, I definitely need to save this post for future reference. In terms of all the dining out options and potential trigger foods this is such valuable information!!

That’s funny as I wondered if being empty nesters now had changed how you ate. More date nights. Lol! All the food you & A make look pretty darn good to me.

Thank you!! I am incredibly happy. Getting my Vitamin D from 13 to almost 100 has done wonders for my depression. The extra energy DOES feel amazing, especially because I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I never really expected the surgery to impact that favorably. The first 4 weeks were hard energy-wise. I remember how exhausting even taking a shower was until I was past a month out. Bariatric surgery is major surgery and it takes our bodies a while to heal from that. Add in our dietary restrictions as we slowly incorporate food again and it is a great recipe for fatigue. I'd say by about week 8 the nausea disappeared and I noticed I was gaining energy steadily. I could stand in the kitchen and cook. I could go for a short walk. I could shower and actually leave the house without a nap first. I had not been able to do those things in several years so it was a striking difference. Hang in there!! It is a good sign you feel about back to normal energy-wise right now! Yes, according to everything I've read, the goal is 50% by 6 months for a DS surgery, so I'm ahead of my goal. I really hope things continue on steadily. A lot of people lose a chunk early on and then taper down slower after month 3. My body doesn't like to follow general trends, so I stalled out for most of that time and then suddenly my weight loss sped up! It is quicker now than it has been since about a week post op. Isn't that funny? Everyone's body has its own rhythm. It is so, so hard to trust that, but it seems to be true the more people I see go through this surgery.

Caffeine is usually restricted for the first few months in a virgin DS/SADI surgery to help prevent dehydration. You may not have this restriction put on you since you already have your sleeve and should keep food and fluids down fine post-op since they probably won't resleeve you unless yours was done wrong. Even if they put you on caffeine restriction, it is only for a little while. There is no reason to restrict it long term, it doesn't harm the digestive system. My partner loves to dine out and we don't have kids, so I've been eating out since a month after surgery. I am careful with my choices, the first thing I ate out was grilled swordfish and sauteed green beans. It was fine. I've since eaten Thai curries (mild), pho without the noodles (they put veggies instead), sashimi, fajitas with guacamole and cheese sauce (no tortillas, rice, or beans), steak (ribeye is my favorite and digests better now than it even did pre-op), wings, traditional Chinese food (nothing fried, no rice), Peruvian chicken, the list goes on and on. I try to stick to protein/veggie options. Anything I wanted to eat at a restaurant I tried to have a version of at home first to know how it would affect me. I tolerate most things pretty well, though it seems my digestive system prefers baby spinach over iceburg or romaine lettuce, but that's not a huge sacrifice. And I can't eat beans at all, but I never really tolerated them pre-op either. Also I try not to have too many cruciferous veggies at once (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage), as they cause bloating, but I had that problem before surgery too. (I have had IBS and an inflammatory bowel disease since I was a teenager.) That said I try to make healthy choices in general whether eating out or eating at home. DS patients don't really need to restrict fat because we malabsorb so much of it (regardless of what the dieticians tell you) and SADI patients can eat a moderate amount of fat as they malabsorb a moderate amount of fat. Too much fat in one sitting can cause diarrhea, but you'd have to really make an effort to do that, and any bariatric surgery other than the sleeve can cause that issue. Coke Zero does not have sugar alcohols in it, it has Splenda, so it is fine from that perspective. Carbonation is only an issue if it bloats your sleeve. However, it can cause you to be hungry faster, or cause gas due to the air bubbles, so it isn't the best habit to have long term. But it won't piss off your intestines. I switched to unsweetened iced tea and carry Splenda or Equal packets with me! Sugar alcohols are things like erythritol, xylitol, and malitol. Allulose can also cause gastric upset depending on how tolerant you are of it. I can usually have a little of any of those, but more than a tablespoon and I'll be in the bathroom half the night. 🤣

I had my surgery on the 13th as well, although my surgery was the sleeve. So here we are, a day away from our first week with our new internal mechanics. Iʻm just going to take a minute to congratulate us both for being brave enough to do this. While I understand that the "food onboarding" process differs from procedure to procedure and even surgeon to surgeon, I hope youʻll consult with your surgeon or program before you eat solids. My program considers sugar free jello a liquid. Would that suffice? I get it, believe me. I made my husband go to our local Pho restaurant last night and buy me just Pho broth because I couldn't stomach one more sweet drink. Regarding meds, I had to switch a couple that were time release to rapid release so that they could be safely crushed for daily consumption. Did your doctor tell you that all medications and supplements had to be liquid, chewable, or crushed for the first month? Mine did, and while the chewable vitamins and calcium are a treat because I get to chew them, crushing the others and trying to mask their awful taste with a protein shake is disgusting. I'm not getting used to it. Like you, I'm not in any pain and for the last two days, even the gas has been minimal, so I must've finally expelled all that surgery gas. Again, congrats on your big decision and hang in there.

Hey how are you feeling? I'm 8 days post op ready for food lol 😆

Every surgeon is different, but with my program, I was allowed to start soft proteins on Day 7 after a chat with the nurse to make sure I was getting my hydration in and feeling well. I had great luck with tuna salad made with low-fat mayo, yogurt (I did Oikos Triple Zero, but eventually the artificial sweetener taste turned me off them), oh, and cottage cheese was an absolute delight! I made a poached egg and it went down nicely, so then I tried a deviled eggs (yum!) and finally scrambled with a bit of cheddar. I was also allowed refried beans and ground chicken/turkey (which I made with some taco seasoning). After a week of just those items, I was allowed to slowly add in some veg, fruit, and finally grains. This is much faster than what my surgeon allows for sleeve, by the way. He explained that the healing is different between sleeve and bypass, so I was happy to be able to get back to real foods faster. My only issues with vomiting came from reheating some salmon (way too dry) and another time of eating a bit too fast without properly chewing every single bite and waiting long enough between bites. But otherwise, I'm at 4 weeks as of tomorrow and I'm pretty much able to have any types of food, including raw veg. I have a tiny cucumber, tomato, shredded carrot, and edamame "salad" with most of my lunches. As for pills, I crush or sprinkle all of mine over a couple tablespoons of applesauce. Except for vitamins and calciu, which are chewables and have been fine.

LOL The food rage is real!! I did 2 weeks of a modified diet pre-op (shakes and a small meal at dinner of protein and veggies), then one week of full shakes only before surgery. And then 2 weeks of liquids only post-op. Needless to say when I was finally allowed food I wanted to cry. LOL I was also a little afraid to eat it! But I did and everything was fine. In retrospect I'm glad I stuck so strictly to my surgeon's guidelines. I healed VERY well and that time on fluids only really taught me a lot about how I react to being hungry and how to manage being hungry. It also helped me understand true hunger from head hunger---they are not the same thing, but man can they feel like the same thing! But for real, I was really cranky at times during those fluid weeks and there were some short tantrums... 🤣

I take a lot of vitamins, more than that list. My advice is to buy these containers, enough for a month, and dose out all your vitamins for the month. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QR78YP3/ I spend about $200 every other month. You could do it a bit cheaper depending on the brands you buy (for instance, Citracal Petites are more cost effective than the bariatric calcium chews and both are calcium citrate) and which ones you take. I take a lot because I had some deficiencies pre-op. But they all fit in those cases! I just grab my little container for the day and carry it around with me. I set alarms to remind me to take them. I put my meds in with the vitamins. The way I look at it, my junk food budget is now my vitamin budget, and I feel a lot better taking those vitamins than I ever did eating junk food! LOL

I strongly advise you to stick with the plan your surgeon gave you regarding food. Your stomach and small intestines have been cut and sewn back together, there are a lot of sutures in there that heal best without particles of food irritating them. And believe me, you do NOT want to compromise the healing of those sutures. I know it is hard to do nothing but drink. I was on fluids only for the first two weeks, no pudding, no eggs, nothing but fluids and my stomach couldn't handle protein shakes so I lived on broth, flavored water, and eventually I could do lactose free milk. But I got through it and so will you!! As hard as the changes are to our bodies, it is the head game that will do you in. You are strong. You can do hard things!! You only get the chance to heal once, so heal as well as you possibly can! I ate sugar free popsicles and crunched on ice when I had the urge to chew. This time without food is a very short time in the scheme of things even though it feels like an eternity. Find things to do to distract you from your hunger. Head hunger is miserable but you have to see this through because if you don't get control of the head hunger now it will drive you to eat around your surgery once you add food back in. The surgeon had me taking pills by mouth the day after surgery. It was a struggle but I understood it wasn't harming my stomach to take them, just go slow, one at a time, and give space between each one. But only take what they told you to take. You don't want to add anything extra that could irritate those healing sutures. ❤️

Yes, you have to take more vitamins than you did with the Sleeve. The most common to supplement are a multi twice a day, calcium 4-5 times a day in divided doses, and vitamins A, D, E, and K which your bariatric office will tell you to get in one ADEK supplement, but often you have to break down into the individual vitamins as labwork dictates, depending on your individual absorption. You'll have labs drawn several times the first year, then yearly afterwards to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and iron. But yes, vitamins daily are a way of life for SADI patients. It is also smart to take a probiotic, and sometimes you need extra B1 or B12. Learning about macros is important! I highly recommend tracking your food through the Baritastic app, it will track your macros for you. Don't be surprised if your dietician is useless about things. Sadly, a lot of dieticians don't understand the proper eating routines for a SADI or DS patient and will give you advice meant for a RNY or Sleeve patient. That is why support groups like the Facebook one are so important, because the veterans of these surgeries often know a lot more about them that the surgeon or dietician do. I know a lot about the SADI because I considered it before going with the DS surgery. So ask whatever you want and I'll see if I can answer it!