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Thank you! I actually scaled back a little lol and dropped the 4lb gain lol odd! I love working out, its just something that is fun, I have 3 kids, work full time, finishing my bachelors so the gym is my one hour of putting music in my ears and its just me, so I have fallen in love with it. I am thinking that I need to scale a little more though. this advice is great!

Thank you for saying that! I worry that I eat too much, I too, eat every 1.5-2hrs small meals and my days are long. I also feel like all I do is think about food, and think about my next work out instead of enjoying what I look like. I think its become an unhealthy obsession. My cravings for sweets are coming back full force. Last night I ended up drinking a zero sugar Nestle hot chocolate 2tb for 25 cal with unsweetened almond milk and hot water so iI would refrain from eating Ben & Jerrys ice cream that's in the freezer. I have found myself with a TBL measuring spoon eating 1 or 2 different flavors. Then I freak out and weigh myself. Or the kids are eating M&M's ill grab 1 or 2. My restriction is not fierce even though I wish it was! I have only overate 1x and I haven't felt that feeling again and never want to, which is why I stick to small meals. No more than 3-4oz total. I was at 1000 cal for a couple of months it wasn't till recently I creeped up to 1300 but my body seems to be happier here. Last couple of days I have been eating 1450-1500 and still lost a lb. I do track everything even my little bites, licks and tastes but ya know they aren't super accurate. *sigh* I am an overthinker and this is not the first time I have lost 100lbs (did it with Weight Watchers in my 20's before having kids) and I gained my weight back after a year so I can't get out of my own head.

A 3 month stall??? Holy smokes, you are definitely stronger than me. The worst I ever had was 2 months and I was climbing the walls. I was trying soooo hard to pay attention to the NSVs but 2 months of nothing moving on the scale nearly drove me to insanity. I have no idea how you handled 3 months, but I give you all the respect, props, and credit in the world for getting through it. CONGRATULATIONS on hitting the 100 pound mark. That's absolutely AWESOME!!!!! I'm really happy for you. It feels amazing, doesn't it? Not only are you solidly in ONEderland, but you're so close to your goal!! I know you'll get there. Just be ready, because the lower your bmi, the sloooower the weight comes off. It took me a full 2 years to lose my weight, so don't get discouraged if it takes a while. But you can definitely get there. You got this!!!

I don't know about dumping syndrome, but blood pressure changes after WLS can be a struggle. I don't know how much weight you've lost so far, but the more weight lost the more BP can drop. Are you (or were you) on any BP meds prior to surgery, in addition to dealing with Afib? If so, you might want to discuss with your doctor about reducing the dosage. (Honestly, when it comes to blood pressure I feel like it's safest to talk to your primary doctor regardless) ((For me, I had high blood pressure for years prior due to my weight (anxiety too, so I feel you!). My BP tests have certainly showed a lowering post-op, but I'm still coasting on the line of good BP so my doctor has been hesitant to change anything up yet. Last week, ironically, I've been having some dizzy spells and low-ish BP (nothing lower than 110/68) so my PCP has suggested I halve my meds and keep an eye on how things progress from there. ))

@Greekmom4 that bean recipe sounds good. Is salsa considered a purée though? I guess you can purée it a little more. I’m gonna order some now and try to use my little hand blender with it and see what happens. You have to tell me how exactly you went about making purée chicken salad. Was it totally mush? I am allowed canned chicken and tuna and a little low fat Mayo but that seems like a big jump from liquid to me. @Hiddenroses i haven't experienced that but have heard of lots of weird physical aches and pains, especially back pain that occurs as we lose because our posture changes so quickly. And lots of people do end up needing a cushion when they sit after a while. I’m gonna guess it is the loss. Your first NSV!! Needing extra butt cushion 🎉 @Onemealplan are you allowed the egg substitute? I had never tried them until my pre op diet and they are surprisingly good. The first ingredient is egg whites but they add some stuff to make them taste a whole lot more like regular eggs which is great for me because I really don’t care for egg whites. They are also super soft and moist which is good for us right now. @Hiddenroses I am editing this post to add that now that I am paying attention I am feeling a bit of tingling in my butt cheek. I am lying in an adjustable bed watching tv and I’m actually not in a very comfortable position at all but I swear I just noticed some tingling in the right side and shifted my weight. 🤣 I guess if it happened before I just didn’t pay much attention. I’m lucky that I haven’t had to do any desk chair sitting this week. That just got me to thinking about when will be the best time to get a new mattress. One thing I do remember with the sleeve was that the mattress seemed uncomfortable after I lost a significant ***** of weight. I think it’s because I was not sleeping in my same dented in spot with the posture changes. I flipped the mattress a few times and then ended up switching mattresses with my husband who is tiny because he can sleep on anything and that worked last time but I don’t remember if they have been replaced since then. I’m thinking not so I’m going to have to for sure this time at some point.

On your plate. The fruit and veggies section is more protein. Need balance. I think i would go back to basics for a week.. 1 cup breakfast lunch dinner. Replace one meal with a protein shake. Reboot your mind and follow the post op plan for a guide.

I don't remember any specific food that gave me trouble. The advice I got was to try regular foods one at a time slowly so you can see how your body reacts. I have heard people say that they used to love food X but now it makes them sick or they lost their taste for it but that didn't happen to me. I had kind of a weird experience with salads an other raw vegetables - they went straight through me with hardly any digestion. Seriously, the toilet looked like I just overturned a bowl of salad into it. It didn't make me sick or anything, it was just strange. I was never a big salad eater to begin with but now I don't bother at all. During the thick liquids/soft solid stages I remember being frustrated at the limited options. I wasn't going to puree food in a blender or anything like that so I stuck to foods that were naturally the right texture. I ate a lot of scrambled eggs and yogurt during the soft solids stage. Two Good was my go-to brand of yogurt and I still eat it pretty often. It is low carb and they have several flavors. I'd also eat instant mashed potatoes thinned with broth or milks but that is a lot of carbs so maybe wasn't the best idea. I ate mostly soup during the thick liquids stage. Any cream of _____ soup should work OK. If there are chunks of meat or vegetables in it, you can strain them out. Split pea and tomato soup work too although I have never liked tomato soup. You can thin them with extra broth if it is too thick and strain or puree if it includes pieces of solid food. You'll feel a lot of restriction immediately after your surgery. The difference between feeling comfortably full and ready to vomit can be just one bite. You'll get a feel for it but you may mess up a couple times before that. The restriction lessens with time but I still cannot eat anywhere near as much as I could before the surgery. Sometime I catch myself thinking that I could eat a normal sized portion of food but I end up stopping 1/3-1/2 of the way through.

I ‘m one who doesn’t. Stopped them with my surgeon’s approval at about 8 months. Mind you I only had to take a multi vitamin from my surgery & a Vit D for a couple of months. Had very regular blood work (about every 2 months) which was consistently good. They continued to monitor with 3 monthly blood work which continued to show I didn’t need the vitamins. 5 yrs out, still monitored, bloods every 6 months & still no need for vitamins. The only thing that was picked up due to the regular testing was that I drop a little in Vit D in winter (makes sense cause I hate the cold & hibenate or wrap up completely then) so I take them just in winter. Probably always did drop a little then.

Well I went back to the NP to clarify and it turns out I am supposed to do a two week LSD AND a 2 day all liquid one so I start tomorrow morning. My LSD diet isn’t to bad compared to some. I get one small low carb meal and a snack of like sugar free non fat yogurt. Breakfast and lunch is shakes. I pretty much knew that I was going to have to do more than two days once I talked to the NP but I wasn’t expecting 16 days. Yikes 😳 How is everyone else doing?

I agree with the others! You just had major surgery and your calorie intake is still super low. I was so tired the first 2 months, I remember sleeping like before motherhood. You probably still have little ones waking you at night so you’re not getting any recovery time! Listen to your inner voice and trust yourself. At one week I was pleased to get out of bed, do some simple house chores, move around hourly, and take a shower. I went back to work after week 2 and went to bed as soon as I came home. My kid thought it was great playing outside longer living free like a Gen X kid! Lol, seriously sit in the shade with a fan on while the little ones play outside with water. Send the older ones off to friend’s houses with bikes. Enjoy your pause in life :)

Meowdy, friends! 😸 I had VSG on 11/22/23 (the day before Thanksgiving here in the USA 😂, almost 5 months ago), and I have not been a very fast loser. While some people may have dropped 20 lbs in each of the first two months post-op, I'm just at almost 40 lbs down since surgery. My Physician's Assistant (we don't meet with the surgeon at all post-op in our program) said I'm definitely a "slow loser" and am about 12 lbs higher than they'd expect me to be right now. Anyone else out there only losing about 1-2 lbs per week? Anyone who was in this situation and managed to kick things up a notch? And also, anyone who was a slow loser who eventually met their weight loss goal? I've always been awesome at getting in my water, protein, and vitamins each day. My program pretty much refuses to give us macro goals other than protein, but I know I'm generally under 100g of carbs daily (sometimes much less). Protein, I'm usually at 80g+. Calories, I float around 1000 per day. Water, I get a MINIMUM of 64oz. I took a week off of exercising (elliptical and weights) when I was sick with a cold, and I actually lost the most in that week, so I laid off the exercise for a bit, worried it was slowing me down. I'm going to start back up on it, just because it's a good habit to get back into. When I do the elliptical, it's usually pretty vigorous for 30 minutes, sweating profusely and burning ~400-500 calories. I put on some very loud heavy metal and take out all my frustrations on the machine 😅 I'm worried I'm going to be stuck at this weight and that I'm "wasting" this tool and opportunity, or that maybe I chose the wrong surgery. Granted, my current weight is way better than where I was before starting the pre-op diet, and my mobility and endurance are IMMENSELY better, and my IBS-D has basically disappeared (THANK THE LORDT), but it's still not where I'd like to end up. The PA told me that sleeve patients can lose for at least 18 months post-op, so hopefully it's just a slow-but-steady race for me. I guess I could just use some encouragement or advice or anecdotes from others who were slow but successful, or if someone sees something glaringly "wrong" with what I'm doing.

Hi @SpinozaI’m pre-op so just going through the tests and appointments before deciding on which surgery and then waiting for the date of surgery 🙂 I’m trying to get my head around the requirements of WLS - types of foods, drinking, vitamins etc plus trying to lose some weight in the meantime. @NickelChipfingers crossed I will be in it before the end of the year 😉 Had steroid injections in both knees yesterday in the hope of easing the pains I have. I’m not going to lie, I was a big, moaning baby last night as the numbing injections had worn off and I was hurting like a b***h. This, coupled with the ridiculously warm night (in the UK, we don’t do heat very well and we certainly don’t have the infrastructure or air con to deal!) made for a crappy night. But it’s eased a little today plus I’ve lost another 1.5lbs so I’m now in a lower stone’s bracket 🤩🤩 Lots of (careful) happy dancing this morning when I got off the scales! I’m hoping to lose another 3.5lbs as my first target before my dietitian appointment 21st August as this will mean I would have lost 2 stones since beginning this WLS journey at the end of May. we discussed knee replacement surgery at my appointment yesterday and I need to have a BMI of sub-40 before I’m considered for surgery. This works out at about 2 stones more to lose. I will get a call in 3 months to see how I’m doing. I won’t be referred until I’ve lost that weight as it will be refused. I do understand the reasoning so I’m not stressing about it. I will have a chat to the dietitian just to make sure that I would still be considered for WLS should my BMI be less than 40 as that was the reason I was accepted in the first place as I don’t have diabetes or anything that would make me eligible with a BMI of 35. Hopefully it won’t be an issue 🤞🤞

Hello All- i posted for the first time just about three years ago with some anxieties as a spouse with my wife prepping to undergo the gastric sleeve. I originally noted being concerned about our lifestyle changes, relationship impacts (I had heard all the horror stories) and most of all health concerns into the future. The community was incredibly supportive and I had learned tips and useful knowledge that helped me coach and support my wife through it. I am happy to say we are better than we ever have been and her self confidence is through the roof. However the MAIN reason the surgery ever was even considered was to get her diabetes that started while she was pregnant with our first child and got very concerning bad with our fourth has still stuck around and caused issues….. First- this is Life changing not just for the partner getting the surgery, but the spouse too. We used to be foodies and that all had to go out the door. Same with alcohol. Two bites and you are full, a pint and you are drunk. So activities, dates, etc. and new hobbies should all be prepared for well in advance. Luckily we are both athletes and coaches and this allowed to have an outlet that wasn’t our prior foodies and beer/ brewery culture pastime. Two- Relationship, anyone who tells you that this leads to automatic divorce/ break up is paranoid or lying. Out of her support group offered by our health network, I think only 1 or 2 of about fifteen women ended up separating and that was from the other spouse cheating. I have to say that in many ways, after four kids and all our activities, youth sports and coaching- it created a second honeymoon period for us and really strengthened our romance and relationship because we both focused on our health again jointly and the magnetism increased dramatically. Third- It might not fix the problem…. We did not jointly go into the surgery for cosmetic or weight loss reasons. It was the diabetes and the doctors said it was a solid shot to cure or mitigate the disease. It was for a while, but it keeps back up. despite healthy eating, despite exercise and coaching, despite the surgery- medications came back into the picture and so did the celebrity weight loss drug (which is really supposed to be for diabetes…) This has been keeping everything under control but is a case of the cure being as bad as the sickness. The side effects are brutal and definitely have a quality of life impact, but we both want to live to see grandkids someday….. Fourth- dysmorphia is VERY really. We are both naturally larger people. I was a lineman in high school and college and she was a softball catcher in high school and college and ended up also playing women’s rugby there as well. Even with the surgery she went from an XL to L but she got her college/ high school figure back and as such her confidence went through the roof and started dressing like she hadn’t in years. With the medication though??? Her figure, face shape, everything changed. Down to a Small or Medium. For almost a year and a half she hasn’t recognized herself in the mirror. It’s a double wham with the surgery and the medication. Between her best friends and myself (we have all been in the same friend/ team group since college) the support was to have fun with it and go with the flow. Instead of worrying about it (the dysmorphia) it was embrace the change. All new clothes she could never wear before, she’s been a redhead now and then blonde and still is. Cut her hair shorter, started wearing makeup (never really did)- all just to try and put a positive spin on it. I’ve been the spoiled recipient of having a brand new girl (don’t think I haven’t romanced and spoiled the you-know-what out of her), but at the end of the day it’s been mitigation of all the life changes. The last part has been the most detailed because it’s the most recent and to me has been the most impactful- NOT having the surgery do its intended purpose and the dysmorphia we’re both very difficult given the efforts and life changes made. We’ve done everything we can to make lemonade out of those lemons though. We had an anniversary vacation better than our honeymoon this past summer (she has always been way out of my league and these days it’s very much over the top- I feel incredibly spoiled) and we have made time to ride our bikes together with our oldest babysitting the kids and we come to each others games when we coach. I would tell any spouse; husband or wife of someone who is going to have the surgery and then or also do all the meds: 1. Support. It’s a huge deal and you need to show up. 2. Don’t get insecure about your relationship because of the surgery. If you are worried it means you might not have a great relationship to start with…. 3. You will need to change your life too. Because of my size and my weight lifting, I need a lot of protein and calories. I will never look like a Hollywood star (like she now does) and always an NFL lineman- BUT- if I bring a cannoli, pie or a full growler into the house in addition to steak/ salmon, etc it’s teasing and not fair. You will need to learn self control to support your spouse… 4. Inspire and come up with ideas for positive re-enforcement. If the dysmorphia or depression sets in, you need to find fun things to do, supportive steps to take and positive angles to keep things going. 5. If you are doing all this as a spouse, what about YOU??? Are you going to die a martyr? Take care of YOURSELF too. I go lifting 3 times a week, go fishing in season. And for my 40th birthday when she asked what I wanted?? I got us a long weekend on the Cape, bought her some dresses I wanted to see her in and sent her to get her hair, nails, toes, eyelashes, etc.. done. Said I wanted a long weekend with my movie star wife. It was a great time, kid free and continued to strengthen our marriage. Anyways- why am I writing this? Posterity? Self reflection? Not really…. I just want to give Spouses a roadmap. It’s a huge change and you need to navigate the waters well. If you do you will benefit as much as your loved one. Good luck.

@ShoppGirl I can say that I was really losing my patience yesterday. I don't know if the pre-op diet had anything to do with my mood though. Saturday, I was out for 8 hours and prepped my food pretty well but it still threw me off. Sunday, I was replacing flooring in one of our bedrooms and did a better job at keeping up on food, but still did not get all my food in for the day. Today is day 6 of my pre-op diet. I have one week until my surgery and I'm actually getting more nervous about what I will eat after surgery. I have a coworker that had the VGS and she has been encouraging me. I like to plan and it is hard to plan when I don't know what or how much I will be able to eat, or what I will even be able to tolerate. For everyone that was talking about crocheting, I think that is great. I have zero talent with crochet, believe me I have tried to learn and it is useless. lol When is everyone else's surgery dates and have you begun your pre-op diet yet? Happy Monday!

I always liked making smoothies. I used 1 bottle of Propel electrolyte water (different flavors), 1 scoop of collagen, 1 scoop of greens, 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 4 packets of monk fruit sweetener, 1-2 cups of whatever fruit I wanted (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc), and avocado. I would also add ground flax seeds, ground chia seeds, and shredded coconut. I loved them. I did them from about 6 weeks through the first year. Then I just kind of got out of making them. Maybe I'll start doing them again.....

Hey everyone, I'm noticing I'm starting to feel REALLY hungry since I had my GB removed Friday. It's a painful hunger too. Before I could go hours not realizing that I haven't eaten. Now it seems that I feel this empty stomach feeling every 2-3 hours. Is this normal?? Please tell me this goes away.

am struggling with knowing when to slow down. I am 7 days post op, and I am really struggling with not being where I was activity wise before surgery. When I am walking around, though I might be slow, I am not feeling myself get worn out until I finally sit down, and then I fall asleep so hard, that it is difficult to wake me. My surgeon is super insistent that I should be back to my regular daily activities, and that I should not be taking frequent rests, but I find that I am just overdoing it. I have 4 kids, oldest is 11 and youngest is almost 3, but I am so drained I don’t know how I am going to manage going back to work 14 days post-op:

On the one hand, the farther out from surgery you get, the more you can physically eat. This is normal at a year post-op, and may have coincided with the timing of your poor food choices. But if you have been going "off track" by eating a bunch of slider foods, that will in part explain why you don't feel any restriction. The more you focus on eating lean protein and high-fiber veggies, the more full you will likely feel. Your tool never goes away, but your nutrition becomes even more important the more your body can eat. My suggestion is to skip the "pouch reset" where you go through the stages of food. There's nothing magical about eating puree and drinking shakes. You were supposed to do that because your stomach had just been slice open and stapled up. What you should do is go back to a bariatric diet. This means eating protein first, veggies second, carbs third. It means portion control, eating at planned intervals, avoiding sugar and fat. It means waiting 30 minutes after you eat before you drink (not because you can't physically drink, but because doing so can contribute to hunger), and making sure you get a minimum of 64oz of water every day (but 90 oz is probably better). Instead of revisiting the first few weeks after surgery, meet your body where it is now. Plan three high protein, healthy meals for yourself each day. For breakfast, you might try making two eggs, a serving of spinach, and some roasted sweet potato. For lunch, you could try a salad with 4 oz of chicken and some black beans, plus lots of veggies. For dinner, make yourself 4 oz of salmon, a serving of broccoli, and a serving of quinoa. Space your meals evenly throughout the day, around 5 hours apart. See if that amount of food fills you up. If it does, you're pretty much where you probably should be at this stage. If it doesn't, add more veg to your plate at meal times, and allow yourself up to two healthy snacks, such some fresh raw veggies and a ranch dip made from Greek yogurt, and maybe a bowl of fresh berries with Coolwhip and nuts for dessert. My guess is, if you focus on eating the right things and not eating simple carbs and high fat comfort foods, you will start feeling much better.

Hi everyone. I'm really really new here. Just signed up some couple of minutes ago. I have undergone bypass surgery in 2021. It's going to be full 3 years pretty soon. I am also struggling with the weight-loss regain/comeback. It's almost as if it has been a 2-year-miraculous-weight-loss-bonus time frame where you lose weight almost automatically... Yes, in the last 12 months-or-so I have been neglecting systematic and disciplined exercise/physical activity. My dieting hasn't been particularly strict either... I'm just pretty much saddened for having regained almost 20 kilos again (around 40 pounds, i'd say? sorry, metric-system folk over here) and once more facing the REALLY REALLY hard struggle of losing weight once again, just as if I've never had the surgery. LUNAXINIAN, just like you, I'd really like to read/receive folks' advice if this same weight re-gain happened to any of you as well, and what did you do, how did you overcome it, and most of all, how did you manage to start losing weight once again?

I do wonder if I will lose anymore. I hope not lol I look too small in my opinion. And thank you! I am having a rough week, still working out but I have been eating sugar free chocolates and for some reason I am not having a lot of self control. I am due for my womanly time so I am blaming that. But stepping on the scale this was a happy surprise!

I am only 6months out and I eat more than the average sleever..so my doc told me. I also workout 6 days a week and am active. I cannot eat 1.5C of food. if I want to add a veg or carb to a meal then I will eat 2C of protein and then some veggies and if I have room like 1-2 TBLS of carbs. I eat around 1200-1300 calories but my protein is around 130-150g. I fear that I have stretched out my sleeve but I never eat to being full. ok ok maybe once or twice. but I don't feel sick or miserable just like I might eaten too fast. Anywho, For lunch today I made a jalapeno chicken salad with bacon bits and I was able to eat 4oz of that with 1/2 bag of quest chips. and I am good for about 2-3hours. So I think that equates to .5C? its a constant worry I think for all of us to not mess this up. I know for me I fear that I will wake up and be 300lbs again and that fear makes me stop eating shi&&y. I think my comment mightve been a tangent...Ill get off my soap box LOL

I had sleeve 3.5 years ago and pre op I did nothing but vanilla premiere shakes. Then I was pretty sick kid those and I found the cafe latte in the same brand which I still like but it has caffeine. Pending revision I tried the vanilla again and it was disgusting to me. My husband buys the core power by fairlife and had me taste a chocolate which I am never a fan of but when even that wasn’t awful I decided to try their vanilla and it’s fine. Their strawberry banana is quite tasty in fact. We will see if I feel the same after two weeks of them though. 😂

Good evening I am 4 nights away from my gastric sleeve surgery. I am most nervous about the 3 weeks of liquids after surgery. I’m worried that I may get dehydrated or that I won’t get enough protein in while I’m recovering. I know everyone says use a timer but I still feel like I am going to need to rest during the day time from the anesthesia. 1. How do I keep up with the fluids and get in enough sleep/rest? 2. How do people tolerate liquids for so long without feeling like they are starving? 3. Provide 1 inspirational phrase or a positive statement

I'm also in the "what to do for the birthday Struggle Club! My surgery is 7th of October and my birthday is tomorrow 25th July. My dr put me on a 12 week milk diet (1.5litres of milk with semi-skimmed milk and 1 salty drink a day) to quickly lose weight before my surgery. So I don't want to jeopardise that and have my usual slices of cake from my favourite bakery. It's also my friend's wedding on Saturday. I can't avoid the wedding are ask people to do something that isn't food related. But I can control my birthday and avoid temptation. I made the decision to go out and get my nails done and go to a comedy club instead! I'm not much of a drinker so the club won't be a temptation and I can't eat while getting my nails done! Next year, I'll be thinner and probably more in the mood to celebrate anyway.

Okay so tonight I had cauliflower crust pizza. I didn’t make the crust. It was frozen. Not the absolute greatest but not terrible either. I made it with ricotta, mozz, chicken and onions so I got my protein at least. I have a battle between my brain and my stomach trying not to eat too terrible in these next couple of weeks Before I start my preop.