Search the Community

Hmmmm this is great to think about! 1. Coach my daughters or sons basketball team or any sports teams (I signed up as my daughters basketball coach for the winter, I missed the window for my son since he's in Junior High and I was too scared to do that when I was 300lbs) 2. Finish my bachelors and get a job in my field (got the B.S now need the job lol) 3. Get into fitness and health (its amazing how much my body has transformed with taking up fitness) 4. Buy a pair of REALLY expensive jeans when I am done losing weight!!! (right now I wear Old Navy, A&e on clearance but I want a pair of really nice perfectly fitted jeans, just once in my life!) I know there is lots more but this is the tip of iceberg!

omg those stuffing waffles sound delish!!! (cant really see in ur pic though...) totally going to try this this week!!! thx for recipe

If my math is right, you're already at 12% total weight loss. My program gives a range of 22-30% total loss in the first year or two (for gastric bypass/RNY; for sleeve it was lower) You're well, well, well on your way at only 2.5 months in. Be proud of yourself. And honestly? Even when the weight loss slows down and you feel like you're fighting for the next pound to come off? Be proud of yourself then, too. Cause it's your choice every morning when you wake up to continue making the healthiest choices for your own body and health. And you're doing it. There are gonna be stalls, and the first few months weight seems to come off a lot easier -- so it will likely get slower. But you'll get there -- we'll get there. We're all on similar journeys here, but each one is going to be different. ...And as other have said, while comparison can be good when you're looking to find support for stuff we're all going through, when it comes to exact numbers (inches, pounds, etc) it's not really healthy to compare. Everyone's starting from a completely different place, with different programs, different comorbidities, different ancillary health issues, etc.

I'm killing it, body fat down below 10 percent, I'm working out at least 4 times a week, am lean and strong. But I've found solace in whiskey. I drink it neat, no mixers. I don't drink during the day, but need to quiet my mind. Good quality whiskey does that, after 35 + years of total sobriety. I'm in Texas, so pot is largely illegal- and the illicit vapes make me paranoid. Crazy thing is I don't wake up with a hang over- I take Pharma sleep meds but am careful about the combo. I did talk to one guy who lost a crazy amount of weight through surgery and told me that heavy alcohol consumption is not uncommon. I was not fixated on food before surgery, but gained a lot during Covid sitting on my ass without serious exercise. I'm now working hard at the gym with a good trainer, and the results have been impressive. But the alcohol is an issue. I don't drive or go out when I drink, I'm home. I'm a high functioning boozer, but still. I hate being dependent on any substance, but I need to turn down the noise in my head. There are some legal CBD outlets in Texas which I can explore. I know the volume of whiskey I'm consuming is not necessary good for long life, but it definitely chills me out. Would love input from others who have had the same experience. Physically I'm in amazing shape, and generally, my mental attitude is quite positive. TIA!

Oh my Lord...lol Do you know what system the portal is through? Athena, Epic, eClinicalWorks...I've worked with all 3 and can walk through how to get on the portal. If they have to send you an invitation to set up the portal, it sounds like Athena. The front desk should be able to do that. Medical Assistants can also do it. What kind of people did they hire for the front desk??? Patients being on the portal is HUGE. You request refills, see your appointments, make/cancel/reschedule appts, see lab results, and talk directly to your doctors through it. Now I'M annoyed with that office.....

I did stand on the scale at my usual time of day, but i think you are right about the bowels. And I'm on period, so I think there is some water retention. I read another comment about the scale becoming a new addiction. I think this could happen for a lot of people. Ultimately, I did manage to lose 11lbs (5kg) in two weeks so I'm still happy

Had mine on 5 June and transitioned to soft stage on 27 - I was hungry first week post op but the restriction kicks in asap you transition and you are full after two teaspoons

Interestingly, i just watched a medical program (hosted by the late Dr Michael Mosley) and a top UK gastro consultant said 2hrs is pretty average time frame for your tummy to empty of food. (His patient had delayed emptying - less than half after 3 hrs.)

Well there is never a 100% guarantee because we are all different but I would say that your response so far makes it very likely that you will be a success story based on my personal experience and the knowledge that I have of others experience who have lost and kept it off vs those who have regained a significant amount. I had my sleeve surgery 3/9/2021 so I have been on these boards since then and I have been going to in person support groups since a couple of months prior to my revision and my personal experience and learned experience is that one of two four things happen to cause regain. 1: the person never really does change what they eat. This is a problem when the anatomical changes control portion of less nutritious foods for a while so they lose some but then as the stomach stretches they can eat more and they regain or they are able to have just a taste of things in the beginning but when appetite comes back that changes (note that some people can have just one bite of a brownie forever but that didn’t work for me so we just have to be mindful of how our body reacts and stop doing it if we can’t stop ourselves at a small portion). 2: the surgery was never a good fit. I know that this was part of problem with the sleeve for me because I never did feel ANY metabolic changes. I still absolutely hated healthy foods that I didn’t like before and I did not have any additional energy or motivation after the surgery. Basically I think for me the surgery was probably like Wegovy would be. The hunger hormones went away for a while and I was able to eat less until that came back. But nothing else changed for me. I never felt a change in energy and I was never about to get start r with exercise and healthy food options did not appeal to me in the slightest. I ate alot of chicken breast and a few veggies that I don’t mind in the beginning but there was no variety so like most diets I couldn’t sustain it when the hunger came back and I wasn’t moving my body to help my physical and mental health to keep it going. 3: This would be a combo of the two which would be where i would actually say that I fell with my sleeve. Because I didn’t like enough of the healthy food even a little bit I started having less ideal foods far more often. I mean i wasn’t eating McDonald’s ever and I wasn’t having poor choices all the time but I would have like a quarter of a frozen pizza or a lean cheeseburger with a roll several nights a week thinking it was okay because calorie wise it wasn’t much worse if that was all ate. The problem was the other macros and the fact that for me they were slippery slope foods and they made me crave more. I wasn’t gaining on that but carbs make me crave carbs so that little devil voice took over and I tested the waters a bit more by having just a few fries or a bit of cake with that but it was way too often and far too early out for me to know my limits. Then, to make matters worse, my mental health issues kicked in where I had not only stopped losing but gained 20 pounds and when I couldn’t reverse it even when I tried my hardest to rein it in (because I was now craving the carbs again bad) i just considered that I was a complete failure and they didn’t say it but i could see it that my friends and family felt that way too and I just slowly just quit trying. This is when the support of people who get it would’ve been sooooooooooo very important. Never been obese people are never going to be able to get it or be able to help. Reach out to your bariatric support if you struggle. Even if your disgusted. They get it and never judge. 4: Some people even though the surgery is a success and they make all the lifestyle changes and everything is working lose sight of their lifelong goal for one reason or another and let bad habits slowly slip back in and they gain. I think this is probate going to be the hardest one for me. To not take my eye off the prize 5 years down the road. But we can do it. I think that staying active in these support groups and checking in with my team is going to be key for me. I am going to ask to have my follow ups a couple times a year even when I’m a ways out just to keep me in check. I know that I am able to gain a lot of weight in a year!! I never did the In person support groups at all after my sleeve and I stopped posting here for a while and didn’t go to my follow up appointments when things were out of control and I needed the help the most. Basically for me the sleeve was just one of my longer and more successful diets that started with the curved appetite and a lot of hope that it would work this time but slowly ended when the hunger came back, bad habits slipped back in, the cravings got unbearable and my all or nothing thinking finally got the best of me. I think I probably would have leveled out somewhere between my starting and my low weight if I had not given up but since I started at a relatively low BMI to begin with that did not seem like a success to me at the time. 89 pounds later I only wished I had been back to that weight though. I learned a lot from the sleeve experience though and I think that knowledge is helping me now. Hopefully, it helps others too. I try to let my experience be a cautionary tale without scaring anyone too much. Anyways, based on your nutrition changes, steady loss and your activity I do not think you are like me with the sleeve or others who I’ve seen who never even tried to eat differently or exercise so I don’t think your surgery was a bad fit at all or that your just expecting the surgery to do all the work. I think that your surgery is doing what it was designed to do for you and so as long as you keep doing your part you should get your where your body needs to be. Just don’t get caught up in a certain number and let your brain get the best of you like I did. That last 10 or 15 pounds may feel like a lot but your already so much healthier and happier that you were before. Keep striving for that goal but don’t let it be the only thing that matters. To me it will be icing on the cake to what is already a success story Your body will have its own idea of what is an ideal size for you and you may have to just accept that it may not be exactly what you have in mind (it could be lower but it could also be a bit higher. It may be a sorry to accept where your body is happy and healthy if you don’t want to be really working hard at this forever. Honestly, I imagine we will have to work at it for the rest of our lives to some degree. By that I mean that we will probably never have it as easy as someone who has never been obese. You are doing so incredibly well, though, making actual lifestyle changes and I have listened to anyone who is willing to share whether they were successful or not and that seems to be the biggest piece of advice. This is not a diet it is a lifestyle. Your surgery is working for you and you are working hard for you as well. Those two things are key to this journey long term. Just keep it up and I really believe you will reach all of your goals. ❤️

196 lbs is reasonable. My original goal was 199, and they said that was completely do-able if I was compliant with the program. Most people do end up either "overweight" or "class 1 obese" (which is not very obese...) - only about 10-15% make it to a normal BMI (my surgeon said that - and the research I've read confirms that). I told them when I hit 170 that I wanted to try for 150, and they told me that that wasn't very realistic, that not many of their patients manage to get down that low, so don't knock myself out - but I did make it (in fact, I got down to the 130s for a while - which was way too thin for me), but I did have that bounce back in year 3 that most people have. It'd be great to lose 10 lbs, but I'm OK with where I ended up. Anyway, I'm glad the appt went so well for you! You're going to be so happy you made this decision!

Some nights I definitely struggle. I have been pretty low on energy; I'm usually getting my protein and am taking all of my vitamins. I know that my goal of 64 oz a day of fluids has been flagging, though, honestly. I'm drinking a lot of Gatorade zero but plain water has not been tasting good, even filtered, unless it is REALLY cold. I mean, from a bottle in the fridge then poured over ice. I feel like it got harder as I moved into phase 3 of trying to eat more real food as opposed to drinking most of my meals. I do know that I was told to expect different back pain as I lost weight, and I feel like maybe the magnesium has activated my digestion so much that it sometimes keeps me awake? It isn't really pain, but more like gas pressure. Not sure if that part is SADI exclusive. Sorry I've been so silent lately, I have been skimming and still hope to respond to a few more posts.

My brother & SIL had one from their kids that they barely used, so they lent it to me. I used it once and was frustrated with the clean up lol. I ended up investing all of $30 (CAD) in a handheld immersion blender off Amazon -- mostly because I'd wanted one for a while anyway. It was super useful but I have to admit that after the puree stage, I use it maaaaybe once a week.

Mine are literally sliding off my finger! I keep telling myself to go and resize them but I haven't made the time. Had they not been new (my hubby upgraded my whole set to a stunning 4 carat emerald on our 10th anniversay, which was only 3 months prior to my surgery) I would've just gotten new ones. I love my ring though and I just put "resize ring" on my to-do list!

I just passed my 5th anniversary of revision from VSG to RNY. It has been 100% worth it for the relief from GERD alone and honestly the differences between the surgeries are not really the noticeable to me. I will not sugar coat the experience because thats not helpful. There was an adjustment period (2-3 months) in the beginning like fixing a stricture, figuring out the new fullness sensation and food tolerances but after that it has been mostly smooth sailing. I also didn’t want RNY from the beginning because of the reworking of the intestines which is why I chose VSG. But I already removed 80 % of my stomach so what’s a little crisscross applesauce 🤣 But honestly if I had a Time Machine and knew GERD was my future (never had it before VSG) I would have outright went with RNY. Good Luck in advance and I’m hoping for your relief from GERD.

As much as it would be great if we could reset our tummy to the loss of hunger phase after surgery we can’t. You can reset your thinking and your head though it’s not easy. Start by going back to tracking everything you eat and drink & maybe keep a second record of what you were feeling at the time you ate or drink to see if there are any specific emotions (boredom, frustration, anger, sadness, happiness, stress, etc.) driving you to eat or any events that occured or situations you were in (Friday morning tea at work, socialising, at the movies, a sporting game, holidays). Identify things you ma have let slide: portion sizes, protein intake, food choices, fluid intake, snaking, etc. check your activity levels. Then make a change. Drop a snack or work on reducing your portion size. After a couple of weeks make another change or two like increase your activity, or increase your fluid intake or swap out some food choices to better ore nutrient dense lower calorie options. And so on. Gradual changes are much easier to adapt to and adopt and always seem more achieveable. Become more mindful about your eating. Are you eating because you need to eat (real hunger) or just want to eat (head hunger - associated with emotions, situations or events). Eat slowly to allow time for your full/had enough message to register (takes at least 20 minutes). Slowly work your way back to how you were eating when you were first maintaining. You’ll get there. All the best.

Do you track (weigh and measure) everything you eat and drink? Are you following the plan set by your surgeon and dietician? Are you meeting your fluid (alcohol doesn’t count) and origin goal every day? Are you focussed on eating protein rich and nutrient dense foods? Yes, alcohol will slow your weight loss. Did your surgeon really say live your life? Did they mean alcohol? Did they know how much you drink? Did I drink alcohol while I was losing? Yes. I had a gin & tonic at around month 3 (nursed it for hours) and then a couple of single glasses over the next 6 or so months after that. This first 6 months to a year or so are a gift. You want to embrace this time to lose the majority of your weight. So yes, you will have to make some sacrifices but for these few months it’s so worth the lifetime of future benefits. Doesn’t mean you can’t go out and socialise. It just means you have to make best choices you can in whatever situation you’re in and put yourself first. The reset diet of returning to the liquid stage is an old wives tale. You’re not trying to reset your tummy but reset your head, your thinking. You can do this.

Congratulations so far and can I quietly say that a 12 week preop diet is wild?!?! The generic gym culture I have noticed is either people completely ignoring you because they are focused, regulars greeting each other and friends that work out together. I have not seen anyone overly social lately (positive or negative). In specialized settings (crossfit, yoga, Pilates, etc) it may be different but it seems gym culture corrected itself and is much more welcoming.

You can totally DM me on here! Totally am down to help a fellow bariatric pal! I took 2 weeks off, just for my mental health too. I needed to get into the game with the foods and the meal prepping. I definitely had to work my way up, Lots of tears and sweat. Even still ! LOL I did greive clothes, I still have 3x tops and dresses in my closet that I have not been able to get rid of. I wear them tthe tops to bed now..For the most part I had to buy all new clothes. Still working on building it up. I went from an 18/20 to a size 4. 2/3x to a Small top. No you do not need to add the quote lol

Okay. I am not new to the purée diet but I am new to the possibility of dumping. Everything on the list is no sugar that is specific but I am allowed puréed veggies so I thought I would be okay with a few bites of veggies with teriyaki. They have 6g of sugar per serving a glass of 1% milk has 12 g but of course one is natural and one is added. Well I guess the fact that it’s added sugar really does make a big difference because I had like 3 bites and waited to see how I reacted and my face started to feel warm. I don’t even know if that means dumping but it was enough to make me wait. I will start with lower added sugar and work my way up to be sure that I’m not going to dump. If I am going to dump on a tiny bit of added sugar I really hope it’s temporary. Then again I guess it will keep me in line.

Hi everyone. I'm a bit of a complicated outlier, as my duodenal switch will be a modified duodenal switch with Demeester adjustment. I'm getting a duodenal switch for biliary diversion ( bile reflux). And I have a herniated stomach, so it will need a hernia repair. This means my stomach will not be reduced, but it will be restored in terms of hernia. And the new bile limb will only be around a 100 to a 150cm down. Enough to prevent bile from flowing into my stomach, but less malabsorption and weight loss issues. The issue is, that my stomach gas gastroptosis ( which means it is very elongated and stretched down towards my pelvis) this means it is quite painful and traumatic when vomiting occurs. I have read so many horror stories about vomiting post op or even within the first 3 to 6 months. I'm wondering, does that mainly occur due to reduction of the stomach? Or is it an unavoidable cause of the new limbs being created. I'm terrified of obstructions, ileus and other nasty complications.

So I have been making sure that I hit 100g or more of protein every day. I typically am low carb (under 60g) low fat (under 20g). I like to be adventurous with my food and I enjoy finding new recipes that fit into my macros. However, this last month I have been trying to find recipes that are yummy and fulfill my sweet tooth without going for the ice cream, or candy. One that I discovered was a Greek Yogurt Cheesecake: 1 container of Greek yogurt (i have used Dannons light and fit , 1Tbls of SF FF Cheesecake pudding mix, 1TBL of reduced fat whip. its 115cal 12g of protein, .5g fat and 15g carbs. (you can use any variation of yogurts and pudding mixes). Carbs are higher that I would usually eat but if you have a hard workout day and have it to spare this is the best treat! Also I did not know that Splenda made a brown sugar?! So diced up apples with some spray butter and 1tbls of that brown sugar and bake to soften. You can add it to a little plain Greek yogurt or eat it as it with a dollop of low fat cool whip. I have been finding that I need to have stuff like this in my diet in order to not go off track. Not everyday, but days where all I want to do is eat chocolate or ice cream. I have been following this mom of 3 that lost 50lbs through exercise and diet, she has a ton of recipes. All her single serving recipes easily make 2-3 servings for us bariatric folk, but its healthy and realistic for those people who don't want to restrict forever. Anyone else have some yummy recipes?! Or does anyone think this might cause a slippery slope?

Thank you @FifiLux, @ShoppGirland @Bypass2Freedom 🥰 I managed to shove a cotton bud up my nose (hate the sneezing and ‘scratchy’ feeling at the back of my throat 🤢) and I’m now clear of Covid - hurray! Hubby is still in its thrall though: headache, sick, generally feeling out of sorts. Amazing how it hits people differently 🤷‍♀️ 3lbs of my gain off this morning - thank you water weight! Just over 2lbs more to go and I will be back on track. This morning I went through my underwear and nightwear drawers and binned lots. All the too big and/or tatty items have gone. I do have some really nice things that I’ve not worn due to sizing so hopefully I will be wearing that at some point in the near future. I am enjoying getting on top of things once again as I think I really lost my way for quite a while. All down to a lack of interest in pretty much everything I think. No gym this week but hope to get back to it next week when hubby feels better. I have missed it and my knees are definitely stiffer for not going. I’m on with the circulation booster in the meantime, just to get the blood flowing in my lower legs. Can definitely feel a bit of the autumn chill now ☹️ I received an email from M&S saying it’s Christmas food stuff is now available to order and it feels quite strange not to be bothering with any of it because I don’t know where I will be on my WLS journey. All that stress, gone!! 🥳 Has anyone done the LRD over Christmas, just out of interest? As it stands, I’m not bothered if I have to do it then, be nice to have a festive season where I actually lose weight 😉

I think like most things, moderation is key. I have a basement stash of UPF in the basement for quick fixes: shelf stable protein shakes (obviously), instant bone broth packets, and a couple of instant soup powders I bought from the BP shop. They get me through days I'm feeling low energy or have no appetite. Right next to them, I have a huge stock of SF FF pudding mixes that I bought pre-op thinking I'd need them for the first two weeks of recovery (spoiler alert: I didn't need 1/16th of the **** I 'prepared' with), so the greek yogurt recipe sounds like a fab way to slowly make my way through the stash. I've also got a SF Lactose Free chocolate ice cream sitting in my freezer for certain monthly cravings. Again, something I bought for recovery that just.... hasn't been fully used up yet. It's not awful nutrition wise, but I use it sparingly. I have a pack of high protein flatbreads in the freezer, some NSA protein pancake mixes and a few NSA flavouring syrups in my pantry. I'm not against sweeteners or UPF in general, it's more that it's rare to find any one pre-made food that hits all the macros for me, and my brain really likes when I follow a nice, strict, mathematical structure. The only thing I use more often than I think I should is probably the protein pancake mix? Twice a week I'll make a pancake in place of a more balance meal -- this week it's been three times already because it -- and oatmeal-- are one of the few things not pinging my nausea. (It's been a rough week) (@NickelChip That's good to hear about the yonana machine -- I've been eyeballing it for a while but even as a child I go through cycles of strong banana-aversion LOL.)

Hello 5 days Post Op here... And it's OK to have those feelings. Tbh about the 2wks pre op diet I didn't follow it thru all the way. I definitely still ate everything up until maybe 4 days before my surgery. And my surgery was a success. I personally was not worried I was the opposite I was excited. I too have a husband and 3 children at home my oldest 19 and youngest 3. But all I keep reminding myself was that God's got me. And I kept watching tiktoks on Gastric Sleeve patients all positive videos. I think that's what helped me. Hope this helps 🙏 ☺️ Good luck

It's not so much the particular foods I grieve, but I really miss not having to worry that something I eat will land wrong and make me sick. I used to have an iron stomach. Even through two pregnancies, I never had morning sickness. Now, I swallow a piece of broccoli that I only chewed 99 times instead of 100, even though broccoli was fine yesterday, and I'm in agony for an hour before it finally comes back up. But MsPretty, since you're from Texas you'll understand this one: I grieve brisket. I went to a local farm that does this amazing BBQ on the weekends and I was only able to eat 3 bites of brisket before I was full. So I took home the leftovers and I couldn't eat them because reheating the meat dried it out enough that it made me sick