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Hi everyone, I had my lap band inserted in Nov 2016 and after the first 6 months really hated it. Felt like it ruined my social life and my relationship with food. Eventually, acid reflux became so apparent I was taking Omeprazole every day, constantly vomiting and just feeling really awful. Some days could not even drink water. Had chest pain, back pain. I was miserable. So I had the band removed last week (I’m 6 days post op) and just wondered how long it took most people to feel better? Surgery went well - the band hadn’t slipped but there was scar tissue. My acid reflux went away immediately (yay!) but am still having constant cramping in the stomach area. This moves into my back quite a bit too. Was on clear fluid diet for the first 3 days and felt pretty awful, and have now graduated to mashed/puree foods, which seems to be causing diarrhoea. Just wanted to know others experiences

I'm almost four weeks post gastric sleeve. I've lost 28 pounds, which I'm thrilled with. I've felt so good that I pulled some weeds in the front of my house yesterday. Today I have some abdominal pain. It's not horrible, but I'm worried I may have hurt my healing stomach. Should I be worried? No vomiting and I'm eating 1/2 cup of soft food as normal with no issues. Thanks for your help! 💕💕💕

Your body is healing & the tiredness & lethargy as a result is very common. If your body wants you to rest or nap, do rest or nap. It takes about 8 weeks to fully heal from the surgery but you will notice slow improvements in regards to how tired you are as the weeks pass. You may find there are times in the future while you are losing you experience drops in energy. This too is pretty common & again be a bit easy on yourself & your energy levels will rise again when your body is ready. I often wish I could still justify an afternoon nana nap. LOL!

Woohoo way to go, great end to the week.

Back down to 199.2lbs this morning, which was my lowest recorded weight from 12 days ago. Will it start dropping again now? It's a mystery! One thing about these stalls that is a little scary, other than just wondering if you will ever lose any more weight again, is how hard it can be not to give into bad habits and cravings when you start feeling like there's no reward for doing the right thing. The last couple days, all I wanted was sugar and simple carbs. I tried not to indulge in the cravings too much, but I did have a little bit of candy (red licorice bites) and a serving of whole wheat Ritz crackers, which I wasn't eating at all before. As the weather warms up, I'm finding it harder to decide what to eat. Is anyone else struggling? Nothing sounds good. I have discovered a nice treat/light meal that reminds me of the pineapple Dole whip you can get at Disneyland. Fill a single serving smoothie blender cup about 2/3 full with frozen pineapple chunks, plus about half a serving vanilla protein powder, half a cup or so of plain Greek yogurt, and a splash of milk to thin it out. Blend until you get a thick, creamy, frozen consistency. It's got about 20-25g protein depending on what products you use and it was so refreshing when literally nothing sounded good for lunch. @gracesmommy2 this is the pilates bar set I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CCRCG5ZP This is the video I'm going to try: There are so many videos if you search YouTube for "pilates bar workout." I thought 20 minutes was a good starting length, but they have longer, too, and ones that target different body areas. I need a yoga mat for the floor part, though.

I love to see what people typically eat in a day. I am 8.5 months post op. I've trying to maintain but still losing (eating around 1300 calories a day). Working out 4/5 times a week. Pilates, weight training, walking/jogging and some plyos for cardio. A typical day would be: Pre-breakfast: an oat milk flat white (I can't have anything before my coffee). Breakfast (mind you, was never a breakfast eater before but now I need to eat in the late morning otherwise I feel famished): 1 protein toast with lite cheese, 3 turkey breast slices OR 1 egg and 1 egg white omlette OR light halloumi, with some light mayo/pesto, lettuce and jalapenos. Some days I can eat that in one sitting, some days I need an hour to finish this portion. Snack 1: Fruit, Novo protein chips and a zero iced tea (over the course of 2 hours) Lunch: A chicken salad with baby spinach/arugula, cucumbers, bell peppers, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese. No dressing. Snack 2: 5 sugar free chocolate almonds OR a square of 80% dark chocolate. Occasionally another oat flat white Snack 3: a handful of roasted almonds or cashews Dinner: I eat the exact same food pre WLS and what I make for the family sans the carbs most of the time. our dinners are usually elaborate. Protein and Veg so smash burgers (I wrap mine with lettuce but sneak one or two sweet potato fries), Big mac tacos (I use mission low carb mini tortillas), Marry me chicken, steaks, salmon poke bowls, Thai spicy basil chicken, ceviche, stuffed poussins, enchiladas (low carb), soy glazed chicken, etc... it's different every day. Dessert: Chocolate protein ball, or any other healthy dessert I've made (protein cheesecake, protein brownies) My portions are very small though, and it feels I'm eating all day. On weekends I surprisingly eat less, skip breakfast and go longer hours between my meals, but I do eat out and have a little fun with carbs (sushi, noodles, a little bread).

This really is the big fear, isn't it? I mean, I know when my bad habits hit. It's when I'm stressed and short on time. Like this week, where one kid had a major school presentation and the other was both sick AND had rehearsals for dance recital every night. And they need to be fed, and have all their stuff, and did they remember their water bottles, and money for a snack, and where are the dance shoes, and what time is pick up and...oh, wait, have I eaten anything today? And now all the food I bought to be so good and healthy is still frozen and I'm trying to figure out if I should choke down a protein shake or if putting peanut butter on a Ritz cracker can count as protein... This is definitely where those new, good habits need to be built. Because of course I can anticipate the craziness of a week like this ahead of time and prepare for it. I just need to work on actually doing so because a trip through McDonald's is no longer in the offing or I'll end up right back where I was. The modern world is built for convenience, but not for good health.

Don’t stock up too much on protein drinks if you can help it. Your tastes may change a little post up and tastes for sweets is a common change. I suggest going to a convenience store to get a variety of flavors in singles serves or the four packs they have at Walmart. Enough to get you through a week would probably be safe. Then you can place a grocery order for pickup on your way home from your post op appt for the ones you actually do like or order them from Amazon. (Make certain they have your brand ahead of time of course). If you do get some that are too sweet post surgery don’t toss Them right away though. Once you can have caffeine they may not be so bad mixed with coffee. Either a little as creamer in a hot coffee or more mixed with iced coffee for a “proffee” If you don’t have anyone that can get them for you if your recovery takes longer Maybe buy ahead just in case but save your receipt You may also want to be sure you have something on hand for constipation if your team didn’t tell you to already.

From the usa 2 week liquid diet -very strict 1. 32 oz water/sugar free calorie free liquids 2. Clear broth 1x a day 3. 3 protein shakes 6 ounces total of 340 calories combined That's all I am allowed.

I am 1 year post-op (exactly today!) In the months after the surgery, I have not had any significant issues with taste or food aversion. There were a couple of changes with foods that I used to love that, now, I could take them or leave them. I travel a lot for business, and when I am away from home eating in restaurants, I have started having experiences where certain foods taste like... seafood. I *hate* seafood in all forms, and always have. Meat is the most frequent problem, especially beef (except ground beef which is fine). Chicken is never a problem. I was just in China for 3 weeks, in many different cities, and everywhere I went, things were tasting fishy, especially meat. It wasn't just that something was prepared with fish sauce - I checked. Over and over and over again in city after city and restaurant after restaurant. (I have traveled to China before and loved the food; this time not so much.) But this wasn't just China - it has happened in other places as well - just not as often as in China. Now that I am back home with my normal food and normal recipes, there is no problem at all, however, at home I eat primarily chicken so maybe I would have an issue with beef tasting like seafood here too. Of course, I will discuss this with my doctor at my 1-year post-op appointment, but I am curious about other people's experiences with taste-related changes.

I just got my blood work back online and am kind of upset about one number. Everything looks fine except for my A1C, which is 6.1. That falls in the pre-diabetes range of 5.7 - 6.4. Mine had mostly been between 5.6 and 6.1 before surgery, and nothing we were overly concerned about because of my weight. I'm quite discouraged to see it still up there after losing weight. I don't see the doctor until next week, so I will have to deal with it for now, but I wanted to put it out here and see if any of you have had this issue, too. My glucose is 75, but not sure how much that matters. Thanks!

Really interesting to read about the “starting weight”. I booked my surgery on January 30th and was 96kg (my highest ever weight - stepping on the scales and seeing I was closer to 100 that to 90 was a real shock - I dug out some insurance papers from February 2020 - I was 58kg then and allready heavier than I like to be). My surgery was 3 weeks later because I had to stop smoking first. The day of surgery I was 91.1kg so I lost 5.9kg in the three weeks prior ( I basically did a broth fast and didn’t eat anything solid, only clear broth and tea and coffee). Im now 70kg so since January 30th I’ve lost 26kg (57lbs) in 16 weeks (average of 1.6kg or 3.6lbs a week) so I’m very very happy with the weight loss even if I’m over the weather! I do have a goal weight which is my pre pandemic weight of 52-55kg (114-122 lbs) because I know that that is the weight at which I function best and that feels the best for my legs ( I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have very minor cerebral palsy - I have the impression that the extra pain I have for every gram I weigh over 55kg just isn’t worth it and really impacts my standard of living and my mobility. Because of the CP I have very minimal flexibility so being even slightly over weight just makes moving so so much harder for me as I can barely bend my knees as it is and have no upwards ankle flexibility what so ever. I’m easily out of balance and I fall over often ( the best way to picture it is to imagine the mobility of someone who has had about 3 beers too many), I’m used to it and my physiotherapist always says I’m a very good « faller », a part from bruises and a bruised ego I’ve only ever seriously broken things ( shoulder, wrist and double arm fracture all in one go!) once since being an adult. But being heavier has meant having more issues getting back up after falling over and more and bigger bruises. So my goal isn’t an esthetic one ( even though it will be nice to not be the fattest person in the room anymore - and because I live in Paris where the average female BMI is 21.3 the bar is low!) but a functional one. So I have 15kg (33lbs) left to loose, I know the rate of loss will slow, but I’m hoping to be at least nearly there in September when I take a new position, I really want to do my transition speech feeling ( and looking) like my old self ( just with some extra wrinkles and grey hair). My handover is September 16th - that leaves 17 weeks so I’m not sure I’ll be at 55kg by then because it would mean continuing to loose an average of 0.9kg ( 1.95lbs) a week which is a lot given my current weight. However if I manage to loose an average of 0.5kg (1.1lbs) per week ( which seems a more attainable bar) I should be 61/62kg by then, and I can live with that! ( I’m an unapologetic numbers girl - I don’t track what I eat because that’s not sustainable for me long term - I try to eat protein but other than that - YOLO - but I do track my weight every day if I have a scale and my steps and my activity) A very long post once again. Thanks all for being here. And here is a picture of a Greek island morning! That’s the 9.30AM light!

Hi, I had surgery a week ago. Since then I’ve had this fear my stomach is going to stretch out by drinking too much water or food. I’m so scared that I’m barely eating and drinking. I’m spacing out my liquid diet by 30 minute intervals. I’m I worried too much? Did anyone else feel like this at first?

Great advice from the others. I’ll add track what you are eating now, how much, what & how often. It can help identify where you’re veering off course. It can also help to note your emotions or why you may be eating when you do. (Why do I want this snack? Am I bored, angry, sad, happy, frustrated, etc.) Then start making changes. Make one or two changes every two weeks or so. For example, cut back on portion sizes & up your fluids, then reduce how often you eat (drop a snack) & meet your protein goal, then try switching up your ingredients & cooking styles, etc. It’s easier to adopt & adapt to one or two small changes at a time than making huge changes all at once. Also find a therapist who can support you as you work through your relationship with food. If you didn’t see someone before your surgery, your team should be able to recommend someone who deals with bariatric patients & disordered eating.

As always, you say exactly what needs to be heard. Thank you Yes, I've been struggling with body dysmorphia for a while now. I was having a hard time not seeing 421 pound me, even as I hit goal after goal. Now, I see stick thin, too skinny me. It's like a never ending roller coaster that I can't get off of. But I'm going to wait 2 weeks, then weigh myself again and see where I'm at. And I'm going to pay close attention to how I feel, how I look in my clothes, and how they fit me. Thanks again for everything you said.

Hey all, does anyone have any tips on the regrowth? I had my surgery 16 months again and it feels like it's taking forever to be healthy again and to grow. It looks brittle and thin with some breakage. I know I need to up my protein and water, has anyone taken anything to help it? I'm taking Collagen, but I don't think it's helping anymore. I have different lengths closest to my hairline. Part of it I believe is from the surgery and the other part I know it's from Lightening my fringe in August. Now the hormonal acne. Wow, that started in January. I've never had this bad of acne before and it's pretty painful. It'll come, stay like a week one or two will go away and come back and repeat the process. Annoying. I know the hormones change after surgery, but I wasn't expecting hormonal acne 😄

Wow. You definitely have done your research and your team sounds like they are amazing. My surgeon is one of the best in my area but he hasn’t done a lot of this particular procedure so his team is definitely not up to date with it. That’s what my appt on the 19th will be about. I am very concerned about my post op care since I will be seeing the PA or NP for follow-ups. In terms of post op pain I can speak for the sleeve portion. My experience was very little pain. Until I tried to sit up (and felt like I had done about 1000 crunches) I didn’t have any pain at all. I thought that they just put me to sleep And woke me up. I literally worried they didn’t do the surgery for some reason. I hade heard many people with the same surgery who had tremendous pain for a week or longer. I am not sure why but I think more gas gets trapped for some people than others and that’s the majority of the pain or lack thereof. But I was very lucky and even asked them to take me off of pain meds because I didn’t need them. I do have a long torso and kinda wonder if that gave him a little more room to work in there?!

Ok, so a couple of things. First, let's look at things a little differently when it comes to that pound you lost. You LOST A POUND!!! Which means you DIDN'T GAIN A POUND!!!! WooHoo!!!! Sometimes, we have to remind ourselves that ANY loss is still a success. Some weeks will be better than others. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Next, you know where you went wrong with the foods you ate, you know you retain water when you have too much salt, so now you know what to avoid. Sometimes, the best way to learn is by trial and error. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with new foods. Just read the labels carefully and make adjustments accordingly to how much of that food you eat and what you eat the rest of the day to compensate for it. Finally, if I were to make a suggestion, I might say to lower your carbs a bit. That seems like a pretty high amount, and unless you're carb loading for intense workouts, I don't think you need to be over 100 carbs per day. PERSONALLY for me, I never go over 50, and that's on weight training days. But again, that's me. It just works out the best for my body. But I, too, had to experiment until I found the sweet spot for my body in regards to calories, carbs, healthy fats, protein. All in all, give yourself some grace, take note of what your body did and didn't do this week, and make changes as needed. You're still doing great, and you'll get to where you want to be. Don't worry about that.

I have similar case but at lower back, I got MRI and I have inflammation in facet joints, the doctor give me 8000 IU a day of vitamin D for 3 months and 15 pain killers pills (I take every 2 days in first month, and one a week in second month), my pain is gone since 3th month after surgery, l still have multiple prescription to buy painkillers, if one year pain is not gone, she suggest to retake MRI, since my pain is not comeback after my BMI below 33, so I stop take painkillers, but I will continue take 3000 IU vitamin D (basically once daily bariatric vitamin)

Don't overthink it. We tend to want to over-prepare, pack too much, stock up way too much, read every single thing we see online and then obsess about any negative thing we see. You're ready. You've finished all the hurdles, you've been approved, you have the date. There's not a lot you can do 2 months before your surgery. Maybe start looking at different food tracking apps to see which feels the most user friendly to you. Look through youtube to find some good GENTLE workouts for the first 6 weeks post op and save them to a private playlist for yourself. Make sure you have some loose clothing for after surgery. I bought one of those big, cure jugs that is 64fl oz so it would be easy to measure how much water and fluids I was taking in (admittedly, at first I was barely getting in 3-4oz at a time, but I quickly worked my way up and was glad I had that because it was cute and convenient). Make sure you have plenty of Miralax on hand and possibly, if things are really plugged up, a laxative/stool softener combo. And I made sure when I was drinking broth, it was bone broth because it has more protein. That's really it.

Hi! I just got sleeved on June 7th and am a little over a week post-op! I was very nervous because I had never been under general anesthesia so I had an irrational fear that it wouldn’t work on me, lol. The surgery went very well and the recovery is not as bad as I thought! The worst part were the gas pains that lasted about 3 days, but I feel significantly better now. My one tip: get a heating pad!!! Good luck to everyone! If anyone got sleeved on the same day as me/around the same time lmk, I would love some bari-buddy twins :)

The issues I have with foods aren't so much about quantity as texture or bite size and/or speed of eating. I'm 4 months post-op and have averaged one vomiting incident a week, usually from a new culprit each time. Often, the same food will be something I've been fine with in the past and will have again in the future without problems. Reheating is a big issue as it dries out food, but so is swallowing too much at one time, even when well-chewed. A normal portion size for me right now might be 4 oz meat or fish and a small serving of vegetables, or a small hamburger without the bun. Today I ordered a bowl of short rib chili at a restaurant and ate about half of it, plus a bite of the cornbread. From what I hear, yes, the restriction will be less over time. But don't expect that for the first year or two.

Hi! I had bypass surgery on 5/1. So almost two weeks out. 1. I was nervous about the recovery after. I have three big dogs that love to be all up in my business. A pillow to block my abdomen was my best friend. 2. I overpacked for the hospital. My surgeon only required an overnight stay. But I brought some skincare and a book and a game to play with my husband. Didn’t use any of it lol. Except some lip balm. My lips were crazy dry after the surgery. I brought a heating pad with me. I used it for the gas pain because that stuff travels! It migrated to my shoulders at one point. So painful. Getting up and walking around helped so much. You’re going to be so exhausted after surgery, you’re not going to want to do much but sleep. 3. I’m excited about actually being healthy for the first time in my life. Looking forward to doing things with my family and friends that I previously would have said no to.

Thanks @Bypass2Freedom, @SleeveToBypass2023and @FifiLux for your kind comments. I think the MSK person just wanted to make me aware of what the future may hold for me and to temper any expectations I may have regarding WLS and my knees. As it stands at the moment, I find it difficult to weight bear as the pain can knock me sideways. I’ve had a little folding scooter for around a month now which means I can now get out of the house with hubby and be around people. I cannot begin to explain how this has added to my quality of life! I have some independence back!! I could go weeks at a time not getting out, so this is a massive change. I could actually wizz off to the park with my granddaughter at the weekend and just be there with her 😊 I also haven’t driven for almost a year now, which I miss but cannot manage at present as I can’t get in the van we have at the drivers side as it’s too high and my knees can’t cope right now as there are times when just bending them can bring me to tears. It’s not the end of the world, just something that happens 🤷‍♀️ These are all things that will hopefully change in the future. I know that weight loss will have positive impacts in lots of different areas of my life. I know that my knees will definitely thank me, knee surgery not withstanding!

So I finally reached out my bariatric team and they said my post op appts "slipped through the cracks", So instead of having a 3 and 6 month appt I am have one next week (at 5months ish) that will combine my 3 and 6 month post op appt. ANYWAYS to my point! I got my blood work and everything is normal range! my A1C even went down from 5.6 to 5.3 which is pretty groovy! Also my iron is normal for the first time in my life! However my B12 is 1116 which from what I read optimal results are >500 for bariatric patients? So does that mean I am doubly good? My Vitamin D is at 119 and toxic levels are over 100. So my assumption is I could probably cut back on those vitamins lol. I feel great! I am down to 185 as of last week. Hair is still shedding but tis life. Thanks for coming to my ted talk!