Search the Community

I’m going jump in on this discussion if you all don’t mind. I had gastric sleeve in January 2019 (5’2” 210lbs). Within 6 months, my weight was 130lbs and i didnt like how i looked (cheeks sinking in), so i started increasing my calorie intake. Its January 2024 and im currently 175, trying to get back down to 150. Ive done it all…. gym 3x a week, personal trainer, nutritionist, dietician, logging my foods, staying within the 1500 calorie range, etc. Still no change. I got tired of the assumptions and guessing game (you should eat this, limit your fat, carbs, calories, do cardio, lift weights) and did my own research. I found out about a few scientifically proven tests that give 99.9% accurate results in regards to how many calories my body NEEDS just to function, how much lean mass and fat mass i have, etc. Low and behold, my body needs at least 1600 calories to function. Being active throughout the day, gym 3x a week, my body NEEDS roughly 2400 calories just to maintain my current weight. In order to lose weight, i have to consume 500 calories less, so thats 1900 calories. At 1500 calories a day over the past 3 years, my body was running on fumes, holding onto everything i ate, and going into hypoglycemia because it didnt have any fuel storage to pull from.

I had the sleeve and if i eat too fast or take too big of bites it feels like it is stuck in my esophagus. probably because it doesnt all fit in your stomach so it continues up your esophagus. May be an error but you stated your dr said to take 30 minutes to eat and no more. Did you mean no less? Ive never heard about taking longer than a half hour to eat your portioned out food to be bad for us. I usually dont take more than 30 min anyway, im more like 20 min to finish my meal.

You are welcome!! I'm one of those people that really want to know WHY I'm being told to do something. The dietitians at our practice do apply a lot of rules to everyone instead of differentiating between the surgeries, which is annoying, so I'm glad they differentiated in this respect, because type of surgery makes a big difference in a lot of things!! And yes, it is frustrating when they have a mark on a paper you are supposed to reach, but they don't take into account where you were vs where you are and the improvements you've made! Everyone's restriction is different and this is hard for a non-bariatric patient to understand. Our fullness is not like the fullness pre-op. That fullness post-op can be painful and really exhausting if we ignore it and try to push to finish something! And each person's restriction relaxes at their own rate. Some people have high restriction all the time, others it depends on the protein. 3/4 of a cup is a lot of food for any surgery a year out, but especially could be uncomfortable for a bypass because your tummies are so much smaller than even a sleeve patient. And even for those of us with sleeved stomachs, some keep high restriction permanently... I'm glad in that respect you went your own way, You are the expert of your own body, no one else can know exactly what you feel. And you are the only one who can advocate for you in that way and if the doctors and nutritionists aren't listening, you just have to research and find your own best practices... You are the one who has to live with them in the end!

Hi all, i’m 13 days post op ( really excited to have soft foods starting tomorrow). Is anyone else sick of the diet drinks. They all taste the exact to me, super sweet. I’m thinking I should’ve just got the regular one and watered it down. Also TW* (poop) how are you all making yourself poop. My constipation is at an all time high and I just wish everything could go back to normal.

I had my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon today. Nothing really to report as it was very routine. I weighed in about 3lbs down from 3 weeks ago. That was nice, but I'll admit I have not been too strict the past week about my food. I start my 2 week liquid diet in 2 weeks and that'll be plenty strict so I've stopped for fast food once and had some chocolate when I normally wouldn't. I see the nutritionist next Thursday and then it's just a countdown to Feb 21!

Baritastic is a great app for tracking your food and it is made especially for bariatric patients!! It will track your fat for you as long as you enter everything you eat for the day! And it even has recipes in the app you can try...

My dietician explained that there have been studies that show that pure liquids usually exit the stomach in 5 or so minutes. Everyone's transit time is different though. But he advised we stop drinking a few minutes before we start eating, to allow the fluids to drain out before we start adding solids. Once you add solids, those of us with a pyloric valve have stomachs that will close that valve and keep things in until the food reaches the ideal consistency to move on. This is why we shouldn't drink more than a swallow with our meals, because fluids will then take up too much room. For those without a pyloric valve, drinking with or soon after meals will wash the food out of their pouch and into the small intestines quicker because there is no pyloric valve stopping that process. But regardless of the surgery, the "wait 30 minutes before" rule has been disproven for most people. I know for a fact that my stomach works this way because I saw it do this with barium contrast during a GI fluoroscopy pre-surgery. It was really cool! So I always drink up until a few minutes before I'm ready for food. Even with snacks!

Your surgeon is a bit off in his ratios. Weight loss rate is different for each surgery and for each person. I think the 3 month mark for most surgeries is closer to 30% though, not 50%. I've never heard that for 3 months, only for 6 months. Have you run your stats through this calculator? https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/accreditation-and-verification/metabolic-and-bariatric-surgery-accreditation-and-quality-improvement-program/riskbenefit-calculator/ That is the calculator many bariatric surgeons use to calculate their patient's trajectories. I feel like I'm behind because at about 3 months out I'm only down 40 lbs or so since surgery, but 53 lbs since my highest weight. So I used that calculator, starting with my highest weight, since that is what the surgeon would have used. Turns out I am right on the mark, as their PA told me a few weeks ago! Everyone around me is losing faster, but that doesn't matter. For my body and my health conditions I am apparently right on track. I found that really reassuring. Keep in mind that site only tells you what it expects you to lose in the first year. I thought malabsorbative surgeries like the DS or Bypass can keep losing up until the 18 month mark, though it is much slower loss at that point? I know DS patients can even lose up to the 2 year mark, though again, it is much slower. You usually lose the last 20%-25% much slower because the body is closer to its set point. I had a 6 week stall that started when I added solid food in. I kept gaining and losing the same few lbs. But someone told me to check my measurements, since usually when the scale stalls, our measurements go down. Sure enough, I was losing inches!! So I REALLY advocate people measure once a month and record it, the Baritastic app can even track it for you. It is really reassuring to see those inches lost when the scale has been acting like a d**k for weeks. LOL How are you doing now??

Yeah, the dietician was a prick to mention your weight in relation to other patients. You were not unusually heavy and it is just plain unprofessional. I hope you have a word with the surgeon about it at some point, people need feedback on how their staff are carrying out their jobs. I'm sorry it is so hard to obtain this surgery in the UK, you should have been given ample support and encouragement on your journey, not criticism. As was said above, you may need the support of a dietician post op and going to one who was condescending to you pre-op is not a recipe for success post-op. You may want to seek out your own dietician for support. One you can feel free to fire at will. LOL I find dieticians assume by default we are all idiots about food, especially healthy food. And they tend to fixate on weird things, like pasta alternatives that are "just like the real thing!" that they have probably never eaten themselves. Or cottage cheese!! OMG I do not want to eat a bowl full of cottage cheese!! I think they should have to go through a 3 month staged bariatric diet, including an all liquids portion, so they have some lived experience and can be a little more human with their patients... Although I will say I've actually run into a few dieticians that have had bariatric surgery and while they don't say the stupid weight things anymore, they do still have a lot of biases from their training (like no protein supplements because they aren't "real food"). Your weight story is not unusual, as others have said there is more and more research pointing to obesity being a very complex disease and far from a moral failing or issue of willpower. There are a lot of stigmas around weight and weight loss surgery and unfortunately the medical community is a willing participant in much of that misinformation. I'd advise you to find a therapist or a mindful eating coach who can support you in changing your food choices early on, so by the time your hunger comes back your new habits are firmly in place and something you can rely on. I wish you so much luck on your journey!! You are doing great!

I think the people that lose so much weight after 6 mos are people who started at a much higher weight than both you and I. The heavier one is going into the procedure, the more they lose more quickly. I do know that if a person does not enough they will put themselves into a stall so i dont think those people are starving themselves, i think they are just bigger to begin with. I am only a couple months ahead of you (my surgery was 4/12/23) but my weight loss has considerably slowed and i havent even hit one year yet. I do eat more normal foods now as opposed to "diet food" but i do still limit my carbs and fat and sugar. Regardless, in the last 3 months ive only lost 10 lbs. Kind of annoying but i also could do better on my diet so that is partially my fault. How is your sleep? I also notice that when i get more sleep i seem to drop weight quicker. Im not the best at going to bed early enough though.

I'm another 40 pounds down or so and it's... bad. I don't have to stretch or flex, you can just count my ribs all the way down, except for where there's a fold of loose skin (I think these are technically called breasts?). This isn't "I'm so used to my obese self I don't understand what healthy is" type skinny, this is "I can play the xylophone if I wear a low-cut shirt", tabloid speculation about drugs and anorexia type skinny. On some level, I'm stoked, my ED self is absolutely thrilled to be able to see every bone, but I just don't understand how I can have so much hanging fat on my lower body and look like a skeleton on top. I do have a small frame by wrist size, but my rib cage apparently did not get that memo. Because, again, I'm still overweight. My bodyfat percentage was assessed at over 30 a few weeks ago. Where the #%@! is it? My weight loss also hasn't plateaued, or even significantly slowed. I'm still losing around 1.5-2% of my bodyweight per week. I am absolutely not following the diet plan given to me, eating much larger portions of much more calorie dense food but I continue to diminish. On one level I'm thrilled, but on another I'm worried this won't stop and I'm going to have to wear turtlenecks to stop birds from nesting inside my torso.

"As is the practice here I had an assessment with a psychologist who confirmed I was a suitable candidate and a dietician who again confirmed I was a suitable candidate but in the process managed to make me feel like I had already failed, in her words I was "Much heavier than most people who come to us" As she was a gate keeper and I needed her approval to progress I did not complain. That time will come." Your last sentence made me laugh, I can picture it. I've always thought that dieticians should have all gone through the bariatric process in order to work at a bariatric clinic. They really don't understand nor have the empathy to comprehend what they're saying " you want something crunchy have some celery," "Oh, you're missing noodles? Try heart of palm noodles they're delish and taste just like regular Thai noodles" and my personal favorite; "you want a treat or snack have a glass of tea!" Unfortunately, despite all their training and understanding of nutrients they don't understand its not will power we lack, we've all lost 100's of pounds on our dieting, nor is it a lack of knowledge knowing what we should be eating - its our bodies demanding certain foods, talking over our common sense. Dieticians act as if we just don't have the knowledge or that we just eat garbage for the heck of it. Food processed today was made to be addictive, why else are populations getting heavier than ever before? Good for you doing what you had to and choosing to address her comments afterwards to get what you need. I did the same thing with my dietician and psychologist (she said she really thought our session helped me open up) nope, I'm not one to talk about my feelings, I just didn't dispute her so I could get my surgery and oh yes date of palm "noodles are delish" to my dietician bleh..they're nasty to me, because I enjoyed eating slimy rubber bands! 😉 Congrats on your journey and doing what you had to do!

I was considered obese because i couldnt exercise with the pain i was dealing with for 13 yrs, including regurgitating and vomiting if i jumped around. My food intake is ok it was just a question i asked to GERD patients. If doctors would have repaired my hiatial hernia when i asked them to find out why i was in so much pain i wouldn't have needed WLS. I am not worried about losing weight at all, I eat what i can as a GERD patient and exercise 4-5x a week. My belly is my only issue but i'm also going through perimenpause for the past 5 yrs. I am happy i can eat again and do things that i couldnt do because of the pain. I never had diabetes, high blood pressure only high cholesterol only because of my perimenopause, but i kept that down without medication because i've already been on meds for 14 yrs due to my GERD. I dont compare myself to others but i can't understand how people say they lost so much weight after 6 months sounds like starvation to me. my doctor or nutrionist have no issues with my food or exercise; i was just asking if it was true for GERD patients to lose weight more slowly than normal obese patients.

I had my lap band removed in November of 2023. It was the best thing that ever did. Getting a lapband was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life in the biggest waste of money. It was a complete rip-off. They give you nothing but false hope. I paid for it on my own. I basically just threw $10000 away. I never lost weight. What did happen was a bunch of complications and side effects. Reflux excessive gas. Severe pain in my chest and shoulder blade area. Vomiting food up of course. I wouldn't recommend getting a lap band to my worst enemy. 2 months after getting it out. I still have excessive gas. On a good note, most of the other things that I mentioned have subsided. I can't wait for the lawsuits to start being filed. I will be right there with them. My money should be returned to me because it never worked. Like the old saying, goes. If it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.

Thank you for understanding as a GERD patient. My doctors never wanted to fully check what pain i was going through all these years and it had me pissed off. I wanted bypass, but yes what you said the dr felt by repairing my hernia it would subside. I feel since i've been on these meds for so long my body and stomach got use to it. Eventually I will get the bypass cause i'm still on meds and I still watch what i eat as a GERD patient.......no grease, hot or spicy foods. I do cardio, running and weight training and mix it up. My belly is the hardest to lose. Once again thank you for understanding me as others really dont understand what we go through its not weight that causes us pain, and we gained weight because we couldnt exercise due to the pain.

Hi Vanessa, I'm also 5'9 and started at 262. I had a 2 week liquid only diet, and a couple of days of that were pretty rough but I made it through without any slips. I'm 3 weeks post op now and the things I thought would be hard don't seem to bother me, watching others eat my favorite foods is not an issue. What's been harder for me is the expected emotional roller coaster, probably hormonal, and the changes that have happened so quickly. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm tired and emotional because I had a big surgery, and I'm eating very few calories. So when I walk on the treadmill and go too fast, too long, I have to rest for a day and I don't like that. I know it's temporary, I'll start feeling better soon.

Well, I don't like that dietician. That was just unprofessional to comment on your weight compared to other patients. And also a load of garbage, as there are plenty of people your starting size who seek out wls every day. As for why you've struggled with your weight, it's the same reason we all have: genetics plus environment. Your body is very efficient at storing fat for survival and your current environment offers you the exact kinds of foods your body is best at converting to fat. It's not your fault. Are there things you can do better to keep from returning to where you were? Of course! Learning to resist those simple carbs is going to be very important to longterm success. But it's not a moral failing or lack of willpower that made you obese, and you can definitely make the changes you need to make with the surgery to help you. Good luck!

yes - obesity is a complex disease. Among other things, at some point it can cause biological changes that make it very difficult to lose weight. For example, I've read that research has shown that even gut bacteria is different in very obese individuals than it is in normal-weight individuals. your experience is very common. In fact, I took a course in obesity and weight loss at a local university (nutrition department) a year or two ago that addressed this. The usual pattern is that people lose about 5% of their weight in the first few months of dieting, then it levels off for a couple of months, and then it gradually comes back on. About a year later, they're back to where they started. That knowledge didn't surprise me at all - that happened to me over and over and over. Weight loss surgery is the only thing that ever worked for me. Surgery won't help prevent the behavior. What it does is. 1). takes away your hunger for the first few months - (for a lucky few this is permanent - for most of us, it comes back sometime during the first year post-surgery) and 2) keeps you from eating a ton of food at one sitting. What it doesn't prevent is "grazing" or mindless snacking, and that can be a really slippery slope. Take those first few months of no hunger and really work on changing that behavior. Nine years out, I struggle with that every day - the urge to eat mindlessly. It takes a lot of work and dedication to control that (although honestly, a lot of my never-been-obese friends struggle with that, too). I don't know if I'd ever eat my way back up to 373 lbs again, but I know if I let myself loose for more than a few days, my weight starts heading north...

Hi All, First Post I'm female in the UK and nearly 59 years old. I have been a fat toddler, a fat child, a fat teen and a fat adult. I have yo-yo dieted all my life, with each yo-yo lasting for a shorter period and resulting in a new high-point when I would inevitably bounce back. In July '23 I reached a new all time high 24st 9lb (345lb) I was about to start the diet again, about to go through the same loop but just couldn't face it. I made an appointment with a bariatric surgeon, discussed my history and options and agreed that a gastric sleeve was a good fit for me. I was told I was too heavy for their practice and I needed to lose 56lb before I could have the surgery. The surgery was booked for Jan 2nd '24 and I started dieting. As is the practice here I had an assessment with a psychologist who confirmed I was a suitable candidate and a dietician who again confirmed I was a suitable candidate but in the process managed to make me feel like I had already failed, in her words I was "Much heavier than most people who come to us" As she was a gate keeper and I needed her approval to progress I did not complain. That time will come. Following my initial consultation on the 8th Aug I started dieting to get down to the target weight. I have never had difficulty in losing weight I simply cannot maintain any losses. My normal pattern is if it takes me 6 months to lose the weight I will regain it and 10lb in the following 12-18 months. By the day of surgery I had lost 75lb and was already feeling so much better. I considered carrying on with just dieting and not having the surgery but I was already beginning to see my discipline weaken and I knew it would be the same old story. Surgery went well, I had very little pain or discomfort and by and large I cannot complain. I'm currently on the pureed stage of the diet and doing OK managing to keep protein and fluid levels up though I struggle with the fluids some day. I have lost 13lb in the last 21 days but have hit the dreaded 3 week plateau. Early days but I have no regrets - to be without hunger for the first time in my life is such a relief, I feel good and am doing more and more each day. I am already starting to live the life I want and i can see so many more benefits ahead and believe they are attainable and retainable. I wish I knew why I have struggled so much with my weight - there is no one trauma or set of childhood issues I can point at. It is not that I have a compulsion to eat everything in sight there are so many foods I can just ignore, I have no interest in sweet foods of any kind or greasy deep fried foods. But I cannot resist bread, pasta , rice etc and my down fall has always been the second or even third portion of these carbs. For this reason if no other I hope the VSG will not only prevent that behaviour but I also hope it will give me enough time to re gain control before considering a second helping. My parting thought for this post is that as I have gone through my journey thus far the one thing I have found is that my story is not that unusual, my problems are not unique and most importantly that they are not the result of some moral failing or fundamental weakness. There is more to life long obesity than can simply be solved with "diet and exercise" and having finally found medical professionals who believe that is the case I see this year and this journey as a new lease on life that I am going to grab with both hands. Koshk - newbie

Hey there, congratulations on your surgery date, it’s probably been quite a wait. My sleeve surgery was done 2wks ago privately in the U.K., my surgeon also works in the NHS so I presume the post op diet he uses is the same or similar for both sets of patients. within 3hrs of surgery I was sipping water, and throughout the following day I had half a milk shake, 4 spoons on soup, 2 spoons of jelly and another half milk shake. For 6 days post op I pretty much consumed protein milk shakes, protein yogurts & puddings, also Frubes, which were easy to eat, laughing cow/dairylea triangles, thin soups and cups of tea and water. At 2wks post op, I’m eating the above, but also mashed lentils (the pouches of ready made ones for ease.) liquidised bean/lentil/pea soups and hummus. All washed down with 2l of fluid per day. Trial and error over the past 2wks have taught me I need to eat small and often, as I’m rarely hungry it’s easy to forget to eat, but this is a mistake as then I do get hungry, eat too quickly, eat to much and feel rubbish. Really rubbish. I’ve found it really useful to make up little 50g pots of food, so I have a ready supply of yoghurt/protein pudding/lentils/mashed egg/lentils/hummus to grab and go. I eat 5 or 6 of these pots per day. Yesterday I had 200g of liquidised bean soup at one sitting, which was lovely and filling. my nutritionist said let your body guide you, so if you are starving at the liquid stage you may be ready for the soft diet/puree stage. At this stage she advised you can eat anything which is of a paste consistency as you swallow it. So bread sticks or Melba toast which melt and break down might be easier to eat than say a berry. I chew everything at least 20 times, so anything which arrives in my stomach is basically mush. I am a vegetarian but I read on here other people eat tuna and salmon at this stage, Hope this helps. Good luck for a straightforward procedure and steady recovery. You can do this 💪

Hi, I had gastric bypass surgery August 16, 2023. My heaviest weight ever was 260 lbs, but I started the 6 month weight loss program weighing 249lbs (5'3"). I had to do a one week of liquid diet which was just protein shakes, water, decaf tea. I can honestly say it was the hardest 3 days of my life on the liquid diet because the physical pains of hunger was a constant reminder I needed food. Day 4-7 was more so a mental hunger and I had a boost of energy. What helped me was just constantly drinking LOTS of water though out the day and keeping myself busy. Heaviest weight: 260lbs Starting weight: 249lbs Surgery weight (day of surgery) 235lbs Current weight: 181lbs Peppermint tea helped eased the hunger pains when I was experiencing stomach cramps. Also, no one told me my tongue will turn white, like literally a coating of white film on my tongue during the liquid diet phase. Something to do with ketosis (detox of sugar from body) Best of luck!

I can't see why the weight isn't falling off for you. Dang, you certainly are eating very lean and low calorie. Seems unfair. I'm clearly nobody to give advice since I ballooned to nearly 350. I only know for my body and if I hit a stall I have to eat a bigger amount for one day then back down to low calories and it seems to jolt my system into more weight loss. My sister had gastric bypass - lost 85lbs and starved herself on cabbage to get down to the 100lbs loss so she could get her knees replaced. Once replaced and she started eating a normal (for us) diet and gained the 15 lbs back but has maintained her weight for the past 3 years. Th beef gelatin has no flavor, none. I can't eat sugar free jello due to the sweeteners they put in it. Many sweeteners are inflammatory and due to my super bad knees I can't stand any inflammation of that kind. If those products don't bother you then you could do sugar free jello, add some extra unflavored beef protein and have a tasty snack. I should add some foods make me retain water - like any tomato product and any wheat or rice. I've no clue why but if I eat those my feet, ankles and lower legs swell. I've been eating mostly paleo for the past 7 years. Has the Dr given any explanation? Any advice? My dietitian keeps telling me we are losing inches not necessarily pounds. I call BS. All I know is I have 17 more pounds to lose to get new knees. After that I hope to lose another 60 so my hubby can buy me a face lift (he doesn't know it yet) SURPRISE DEAR LOL

Surgery tomorrow! RNY. About a week ago I was having some anxiety about the surgery. Why am I doing this questions. I spoke with my sister I-L who had the surgery a couple years ago. I prayed about it, which I realized I really hadn’t done. I am prepared with my “foods” and vitamins and medications. I noticed a few days ago, no more anxiety. I am at peace going into this. It is overcast and snowy here but I am choosing to find rays of sunshine.

Unflavored isopure is what I used, or the gatorade zero protein drinks. I struggle with enough protein on food alone at 5.5 months PO. I find myself having a protein shake. I am trying to wean off the shakes, which means eating more protein snacks (Quest Protein Chips).

I’d be ringing my surgeon & requesting/demanding an appointment @timetoshine. Five months without any checks seems crazy to me. I’d had several appointments by then. Make a list of questions to ask them like your exhaustion, sickness, small portions. Out of curiosity how big are your portions? Are you eating slowly, taking small bites? Eating too much, too quickly & foods that are too coarse are renown for upsetting your tummy e.g. the foamies & then brining up what you ate. Keeping foods moist with sauces & gravies can help. Is there a reason you haven’t had your B12 shot yet or just life being too busy? I’d get that soon too as it will help with your exhaustion. Establish a routine with your daily med taking. It is essential not to miss your vitamins with bypass because of the malabsorption issues. Dense foods can cause issues for people. Chicken breast & steak tend to be the more difficult ones. How do you go with other cuts of meat like minced beef or minced chicken? Chicken thighs are more tender than breast too. Do you have a dietician? I’d ask them for some suggestions as to what you can eat to get more protein in. I relied a lot on high protein yoghurt & yoghurt drinks/ smoothies to push my protein up. It can take some people longer than others for everything to settle & to work out all your new tummy/digestive system’s quirks.