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First, during the surgery lots of nerves were cut so messages about feeling full, hungry, etc, either don’t get through or are distorted. It takes about 8 weeks to heal so most of days find we don’t start to feel our restriction until we’re into solid foods. Also, fluids & purées to a lesser extent go through your digestive system a lot more quickly so you don’t really fill up in rather same way. Tread carefully with the volume of food & liquids you can consume quickly for the same reason. Allow yourself to heal so you don’t strain or stress your digestive system which is being held together with sutures & staples. All because you can doesn’t mean you should in the first two months. We all can & should be able to eat & drink larger & larger portions as we progress until we get to a recommended & appropriate portion size. Try not to eat until you feel full. Try to identify when you’ve had enough. I still ask myself do I need this next bite or do I just want it. It takes at least 20 minutes for the signal that you’ve had enough to get through so by the time it does you’ve likely eaten more than you need. While some people do continue to feel hungry the majority lose their hunger for a number of months. Start by discerning if you are feeling real hunger or head hunger. Craving a specific food, texture or flavour is head hunger. Are you feeling tired, stressed, anxious, frustrated, angry, sad, etc.? Many of us ate to sooth or comfort ourselves when our emotions were in turmoil. This too is a head hunger. It takes a while for your digestive system to adjust so you keep producing the same amount of stomach acid as you did before surgery. Excess acid can make you think you’re hungry (are you on a PPI to reduce stomach acid?) Hunger pangs/pains or a rumbling tummy also in most cases don’t indicate real hunger but excess stomach acid & your digestive system working. Many of us discover new signals for being or almost full (sneezing, runny nose, hiccups, etc.). We often find that feeling hungry (real hunger) is different too. For me I get restless, like something is wrong, I don’t crave anything & there is a reason why I would be hungry (like missed a meal, or ate very little at a previous meal, etc.) As an example. Yesterday went to a family event at a restaurant. Ate very little (they cleared our plates way too quickly for how slowly I eat). Got home late afternoon. Gnawed a trimmed chicken leg for dinner which I bought up (darn foamies). Ate a protein bar & went to bed. Tossed & turned & while tired couldn’t sleep. Argued with myself about whether I was really hungry or not. Realised besides the small lunch, bringing up my dinner, I’d also mixed two snacks. Debated what I wanted to eat (nothing specific). Real hunger. Got up & finished my leftover rolled oats breakfast (usually an afternoon snack). Then happily went back to bed & slept. There is a lot you have to learn & work out about your body, how it works now & your thinking. It takes time but you’ll get there. PS Congrats on your surgery & weight loss so far.

I am a stubborn b**ch so I used that strength to get me through on the days I knew what was going on but a lot of the time I had no idea how sick I was. It was only afterwards I found out how bad I was and how worried all my family and friends were. I didn't mention it above but I also had a blood infection and then an allergic reaction to one of the medications - basically anything that could go wrong/happen did. They couldn't do the feeding tube via my arms as my arms got infected and the veins collapsed, I think I had 8 different IVs in my ams over the months, they just kept switching from left to right until all veins had collapsed. I ended up having to have blood draws from my foot at one point and had my IV in my neck. I actually thought I was going to be physically ill when the first told me they had to put the IV in my neck and had to be given a xanex to calm down and go to the the procedure room but it was actually ok then afterwards and so much easier than my arms. I know what you mean about the health anxiety side of things, I was worried about everything when I came home finally, it was a shock to my system to suddenly be without the constant checks from nurses and doctors and not know if a little twinge or cough etc was a bad sign or just normal. I had to take my blood pressure during the day and do temperature checks to make sure I was at a normal range. I was also afraid to go for a walk of a few minutes in case I then didn't have the strength to get back home so I just walked the bus route on my road as figured if I could walk to the end of the road and get stuck I would just get the bus back. Now I can do 1.5km or so around the block at a steady pace. I am not sure where you are in the food reintroduction phase but once you are able to eat more protein it should also help with the energy levels but I do think rest is key. Once I got into a decent sleeping pattern again, took a few months at home after the nurses rounds at 11pm 4am 7am etc., I really saw the improvements in my energy. That is great that you got the appointment for next week. Just keep asking them to check everything and be honest with them about your fears so they can discuss with you. Just give it time and let your body recover, it has been through a shock to the system with the weight loss and then the infection on top. I figure my horror show can only help others to not feel as bad if they are struggling a bit. It has taken me a long time to start to feel better and more positive but I think I have turned a corner in the last couple of weeks.

I think you need to get back into contact with your dietician. Did you say whether you track your food & monitor your macros? Have you still be having regular blood tests as these will show if you are lacking in any nutrients & you can track & monitor any changes when comparing with your food data. This data will help your dietician to help you construct an eating plan that will meet your needs. There are tests to see if you aren’t absorbing certain nutrients. Like a stool test can identify how much fat is present & if you aren’t absorbing it effectively. I take Creons (pancreatic enzymes) three times a day to help with my protein malabsorption (curtesy of my gall removal - not a common side effect but I was just unlucky). They also help with malabsorption of fats & carbs as well as proteins. Worth a conversation with your doctor if it is discovered you’re have malabsorption issues.

I want to thank everyone for the kind words and provide an update. I had my one-year post op doctor appointment yesterday. It went well and they were happy with the results. I still need to get blood work done, which I will do tomorrow. The blood work is probably the most important part of the visit, so I am hopeful that everything is right with it. I have had the 'normal' hurdles over the last 16-months that everyone has to deal with, and I am very thankful for little to no complications. I feel for those that have had more challenging journals, since I have been so lucky. Again, I want to stress that I am not special or unique. I hope someone out there might read this and it helps them in some way. It is hard work to lose weight no matter how you do it. It requires mentally reprograming how you have lived your entire life and making physical choices to match, but it can be done. Tons of success stories in this group are proof. Stay positive and go day by day with it. Stay off the scale and celebrate the non-scale victories. My wife and two kids have been so supportive: everything from education to food prep to walking with me to listening and talking about the process. Not an easy process, but because of their support it has been much easier. I am so grateful for the changes they made to support me. I will probably never be able to express that to them at the level it deserves it. I have never been happier. My wife attended the appointment with me yesterday and the update went as follows. I started in 9/2022 at 514-lbs. I had my surgery in 2/2023 at 488-lbs. My weight yesterday was 254-lbs. Its official I am truly half the man I was compared to the start of this program. Weight loss is different for all, especially someone that started as big as me, but it was great seeing those results. My 'ideal weight" connected to my 'normal' BMI would require me to loss another 80-lbs. I told my doctor from the beginning that I never cared about being skinny or normal and that has not changed. I wanted to improve my quality of life by being less huge. I wanted to be able to participate in activities with my family. I am happy to say I have achieved that goal! I am not done yet! This is not a diet -- it is a lifetime change! I do not care if I ever become 'normal,' but slowly losing and not gaining is the only plan. The future holds unlimited possibilities for me and my family. Future goals for me are to increase my exercise plan by adding strength training as priority number one. My second goal is to continue to try new 'healthy' foods that I may or may not like but expanding my options for more variety and balance helps me stay on plan. I will finish by saying if anyone has questions or thoughts, especially those big boys out there, feel free to ask and I will provide more detail about my experience. I am no expert, and we all have different programs, so I can only share my experience, if that can be of help to anyone. Good luck to all with your own personal journeys.

Does your clinic want you to track it? Personally, I hate, like really hate, tracking food, it's inconvenient and annoying. My clinic wants me to eat 5 very small meals a day that are balanced, protein, carb, veg, and fruit. For me, I am still losing weight and my energy increased once I was able to have these other foods. My goal was to eat how "normal" people should be eating. I do struggle with real meat and raw veggies, my system still does not like them, so I eat a vegetarian diet and cook/steam all veggies. I have learned when to stop eating based on how I feel, I now know when one bite will be one bite too much, that is how I track. I just did my labs today for my 3-month check-up ( hit 3 months Jan 27) so I will see what my clinic has to say about my labs on Feb 12th and I will make adjustments from there if needed.

No not a terrible taste but could not sta.d the smell of food. At first, I could not drink the protein shakes due to the smell. However, within 4-5 days, I got over it. I do anticipate a taste change once I get to puréed food.

I would suggest maybe asking them why your fat target is so low? Is this a temporary target? Most studies now are showing we need 30 grams of fat for healthy brain function and more like 50-60 grams of fat for proper sex hormone function, regardless of our caloric intake. I asked my dietician about this and she said the ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) suggests a fat target of 60 grams daily by 1 year post op. I can't find a reference to this on their site because there it is behind a member wall, but your dietician should have access to this and it is the guidelines most good programs follow. By all means, follow what your team says, I'm not saying to ignore their targets, I'm just pointing out with fat that low you may experience brain fatigue, dry skin, dry eyes, and your meals may not feel as satiating since getting enough fat is a component of satiety. But other than that your numbers look amazing for how early out you are post op!! Your surgeon should be thrilled you are able to get that protein in, it is soooo good for wound healing!

Your plan should list the foods you are able to eat & those you need to avoid at each stage. It should also say how long you stay on each stage. If it doesn’t, contact your team & ask for more specific information. Your tummy lets you know pretty quickly if you’re not ready. It may be discomfort on eating, a feeling of heaviness, you may regurgitate what you’ve eaten. It’s a lot of trial & error honestly. For example, most plans tend to advise 2 weeks on each stage. Some people stay a little longer on a stage or go back a stage simply because we heal differently & their tummy just isn’t ready for the foods (texture & density) on the next stage. Some foods are on the avoid list because they can be hard to digest by your healing tummy (bread, pasta, rice, seeds, fruit & vegetable skins, etc.). Other foods are off the list because of their nutrient content & calories (many plans are no starchy vegetables for e.g..). There may be foods on your list your tummy can’t tolerate (chicken breast, eggs often are a struggle few a while). Your tummy can be fussy while healing & the temporary change to our taste buds &/or sense of smell can make foods extra sweet, extra salty or just plain disgusting. Textures can be off putting too at this time. Many of us ate the same meals or rotated through a small selection especially in the first couple of months. One because we eat such small portions there’s lots of left overs. Two, because our fussy tummy & you can’t tolerate a wide variety of foods. Three it means you don’t have to think to much about food & what your going to eat & you know how much protein & other nutrients you’re getting with each meal. I still eat a lot to routine & often have the same meals & I’m almost 5 years out. It’s not that I can’t eat a variety of foods it’s just easier sometimes (or maybe I’m lazy LOL!). I struggled in purées to find foods that tasted good because the taste or texture was awful. Thank goodness for runny scrambled eggs, milky rolled oats, yoghurt & soups. In soft foods I ate a lot of minced meat dishes - savoury mince, meatballs (rissoles in Australia), bolognese (no pasta), etc., slow cooked stews, thick meat & vegetable soups, omelettes. Try some savoury egg muffins (add cheese, mushrooms, onions & other pre cooked vegetables you like) & a lot of people swear by ricotta bake (someone will have a recipe they’ll happily share).

Hi Fifi0523 from FifiLux I am in a similar situation to you, 8 months post surgery and between January 11th and February 12th I only lost 4lb. On Jan 11th my surgeon said my goal was to lose 10kg (22lb) during the rest of the year so I guess he based that on his knowledge that my loss would slow down. My goal is to lose 17kg (37.5lb) and that seems way off, if not impossible, given the stall I have now. This is even after I have upped my exercise, not by much due to suffering from exhaustion, but certainly by more than I was doing pre-op. I have started to track my food and drink to see if there are places I am slipping up and it has already helped me highlight areas as I was eating more carbs that I realised and I hadn't been counting my protein correctly at times. I also have started to go into menopause in the last couple of months and I am not sure if that is impacting the weight loss as I know it is already impacting my energy and sleep. I hope and think it is just our bodies recovering from rapid loss and now that it will continue but at a slower pace - I just hadn't expected it to be this slow!

I'm 6wks out now and I still have nausea and stomach pain everyday. I can do maybe 24oz of water/gatorade zero a day at most. The nausea isn't limited to food, it affects my water and vitamins too. The most I've been able to eat at 1 time is 1.5 greek yogurt cups, the least is like 3 small bites of food the entire day. I'm back in the hospital because my potassium was critically low, they checked to see if my gallbladder was the issue and it's not. They did say recovery is different for everyone but that it is still abnormal that I am having this much trouble eating. It's especially weird bc other than the pain and nausea I feel okay, despite how low my labs have been at each followup. I guess I was too ambitious in trying to hit water, protein, and vitamin goals all at once. But of the 3 you'd say hydration should be the priority over vitamins? I wish someone had tips on how to deal with the stomach pain. I am taking gas x, hyoscyamine, omeprazole, and ondansetron religiously at least 2 times a day. Not to mention reheating a hot water bottle during the day and sleeping with it at night. All of that just so I can get out of bed and walk around.

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!

I agree with the others. Your rate of loss is fine. I also agree with the concerns about your eating during this losing period. It seems more like how you may chose to eat when you are in maintenance. When we choose how much & how often we have foods like pizza, chips, sweetened drinks, etc. When we decide what foods we’ll to add back into our new way of eating or ones we’ll avoid. When we look at alternative ingredients, or different cooking methods. I also worry about you changing your way of eating so often, going from one extreme to another. (Not including Ramadan in this.) Are you sure you’re meeting your fluid & protein goals? Are you sure you’re getting in a range of nutrients from nutrient dense foods? This is so important when we are only able to eat smaller portions. We all say & are told to stick to our plans for a reason. You mentioned you had a difficult relationship with food/bad eating habits & these current behaviours do seem a continuation of this. Do you still see your dietician? Your therapist? If not, at the very least I’d seek a reference from your surgeon/team to a therapist who specialises in disordered eating. Many find therapy very helpful in changing these behaviours & their relationship with food & identifying strategies to mange them. All the best. PS - Don’t believe the calorie burn on your Apple Watch. It’s known to be inaccurate & tends to inflate the stats. It only uses your height, weight & age & not your individual metabolic rate, your optimal heart rate, the amount of energy you are putting into the activity, etc. Use it as a guide/approximation only.

I started the eating out once a week after my honeymoon. I kept it reasonable, but it gave me something to look forward to and variety (and taste). When I started getting hungry again I took out the high calorie low protein nuts (which I added because they told me to go from 800 to 1200 calories when I wasn't even able to consume 800 yet and upped me to 100g of protein from 80) and a scoop of protein powder (high protein, low cal) and added in peanut butter toast, raison toast and another serving of ham. I don't mind eating the same thing every day when I'm at home because it's easier. If you put all your food in a spreadsheet and figure out the calories and protein per ounce, then you can switch it around easier if you need a change. Once I met my goal they told me to add 100-200 calories a day to stop my weight loss. I added in the daily cheat. I still have my spreadsheet, meal plan and measure everything, but when I eat out I can't figure the calories and protein, so I just count it as a meal and a cheat and watch my weight. My weight stayed within 1 pound of my goal weight for over a month when I was going to Halloween parties, Thanksgiving and going out with friends. I've lost another 2 pounds in the last month since I was not going out much. I'm OK with losing a little more weight for now even though I like the way I look at my goal weight because I know most people gain a little back, but I will have to maintain my weight after I get the skin removal surgery next month, so I will probably watch my weight and add in more fruits and vegetables. I'll still count the calories so I can figure out how many I need and make sure I get my protein, but at least I won't have to cram in high protein for EVERYTHING. I saw a different nutritionist when I went in earlier this month and she was surprised my regular nutritionist had told me to avoid fruit and only eat 2 servings of veggies a day. I told her I thought it was because she wanted me to get extra protein due to not being able to exercise much because of my back issues and fruit isn't a protein source. Note, if you get too much protein, your farts smell really bad.

Really enjoyed reading your update. This is quite the learning curve isn’t it. All this AND snowy adventures 😅. It has started snowing here in Scotland too, hopefully no power cuts for me. Distinguishing when I am actually hungry has become a bit of a thing for me too. Unfamiliar territory for sure. I am now 6 days post op and it’s been remarkably smooth for me, initially felt cheated as I fully expected to suffer and was adrift when I did not suffer beyond a few reminders now and then I had actually had surgery. No particular desire to suffer but at least I know how to cope with that… (endometriosis has dominated my life for years). Last night I spent several hours ruminating over putting back on weight I have yet to loose. 🙈. The mantra for today is one day at a time 😂. No cravings per se, I am instead having soups, protein shakes, I had a soft scrambled egg which was delicious, soft cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais. Today has been busy and I did not eat until 6pm, (1x 500ml protein shake and 800ml of water though) when I had a vague feeling of my stomach being empty. Tomorrow I was nourish myself better issues I have encountered, a favourite yoghurt is no longer a favourite, eating jelly is not for me, eating slowly is better. Best wishes to everyone. Lily2024 hope your power is back on soon xx

800! 75+ protein...liquids +- 45 oz.. (I know should be more but...).

I can relate to being afraid of gaining weight after working so hard to lose it. We all deal with that here. But it's a fine line between being mindful about it and developing disordered eating habits. I can speak to this because it happened to me. I was dropping weight like a champ, then I hit stall after stall, and each one lasted longer than the previous one. And I would panic. And I would restrict the amount I ate, I would kick up the intensity and frequency of my work outs. I would have anger and confusion and fear anytime I either didn't lose or I gained a little (turns out, I'm one of the ones that gains 3-5 pounds during a stall and then just sits there for weeks and weeks. Then when the stall breaks, I drop like 6-7 pounds all at once). I had to actually go to a therapist that specializes in bariatric disordered eating (not easy to find, btw) to get my head on straight. And it's still a struggle sometimes. Especially since these last 11 pounds absolutely fight me tooth and nail and just don't want to come off. I said all that to say just be very careful. I never started out intending to have these issues. I thought I'd have the surgery, lose the weight, get healthy, and bada-boom bada-bing, life would be great. But it's never that cut and dry, is it? We can become obsessed with losing the weight, seeing how low we can get the scale, getting into that lower size, looking thinner, never gaining weight again, getting that bmi just a little lower.....and before you know it, you have a whole new eating disorder that's even harder to get out of and we're doing even more damage to our bodies without even meaning to. And we can justify what we're doing because HEY, we got off our meds, we're getting healthier, we're losing the weight, we're EXTENDING OUR LIVES damn it!!! And that's harder to overcome and harder to recognize and going too far than being obese is. We knew we needed help. We knew we were doing wrong. That's why we had the surgery. But now? Now it gets harder to see what we're doing because HEALTH!! WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD!!! NO MORE MEDS IS THE GOAL!!! JUST A LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OFF CAN'T POSSIBLY BE BAD!!! So please please just be really careful with where you're at now and where you're wanting to get to. Lastly, on the days you're working out (especially the really hard weight days) increase your protein and calories. Your body thinks it's starving, so you need to reassure it that you're not. The heavier the work out, the more your body needs. You can't run a car without gas and you can't run your body without food. So give it what it needs, in the amounts it needs, and it'll do what you want it to. Make sure you also have a larger amount of fluids than you normally would on those days, too. Dehydration can really do a number on the body, as well.

Hey there, That’s awesome! Doing this journey going from not eating carbs and then reintroducing them as needed is key. I’ve lost weight, but it comes in stages. I’ll lose inches first, then the scale will be stuck. Then all of sudden the following month, boom, ten pounds gone. I was weighing daily then weekly and now I weigh every other week. Protein is vital.

This is such an important thing to address. I got my date… 5 months earlier due to a cancellation. I wasn’t expecting the scheduler to call me until February, for a date in “April/May”. I’m not prepared and have been scrambling trying to get isopure, cups, protein water and shakes, soup, etc. I havent had a moment to even think about pain management. It’s not something I can predict-seems like everyone is different. Any recent post-op peeps in here have some wisdom to share regarding post op pain management-outside of the meds prescribed?

I drink the "Equate High Performance" premade shakes in Caramel or Chocolate, but I've only been taking 2 ounces since 6 months post-op. I have to take my multivitamin with dairy (or whey protein) or it comes back up. Only 2oz because the multivitamin has iron so I have to limit the calcium I take for 4 hours to 200-300mg. They are probably the cheapest around and have 30g per 11oz. For flavored protein powders I used "Inspire" from BariatricEating.com. They have a couple with added calcium that I used as my calcium supplement for months and I would freeze the buttermint and peppermint to use as a sweet treat. Whey protein mixes best with cold liquids and cooks in chunks at about 140 degrees. Unflavored I also liked "Inspire" if I was mixing in cold food. For HOT FOOD AND LIQUID I use "Giant Sports Collagen Peptide Complete All Essential Amino Acids with L-Tryptophan". It mixes better with warm and hot liquids. I add it to hot tap water before I microwave my Quaker Protein Oatmeal and use with my Keurig drinks. I still use 2 scoops a day since they want me to consume 100g of protein every day due to back issues and not being able to do high intensity exercise. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078HJXVNN/ref=sns_myd_detail_page. Note that Collagen is not a complete protein. The one I use adds the missing amino acid L-Tryptophan and my nutritionist approved me to use it as a protein supplement.

Courtnay, I am so sorry you had such an awful experience... I had some nurses that really irritated me and treated me poorly but an orderly found me crying because I was in so much pain and stressed by the nurse and so she reported the nurse, which was uncomfortable in the moment because I had to talk to a bunch of people, but really made them treat me decently the rest of the time! You can definitely have the bypass later once the sleeve takes off some weight. This happens sometimes with DS surgeries where they end up doing the sleeve first and then the intestinal part later once some abdominal fat is lost. Livers can be really tricky. Mine was still "plump" during the surgery, I just happen to have an extremely skilled surgeon who was able to work around it, but he told me sometimes that isn't possible. And I really want to say this, what happened to you IS NOT YOUR FAULT!! I'd find a therapist that deals with trauma, specifically medical trauma if possible, to help process this experience. Later down the road if your weight loss isn't stable you can consider converting to bypass or DS, you have options now with the sleeve! I know it isn't what you wanted, and I don't understand why the doctor didn't just close you up and try again later if you felt so strongly about it, but hindsight is always 20/20 and the good thing is that the sleeve DOES take off weight and that weight loss will help you feel a lot better. You should be on a good PPI with your heartburn, twice a day if needed. Omeprazole was always useless to me, so I use pantaprazole in the morning and Dexilant in the evening, both are prescription and they work wonderfully, no food triggers at all. You don't have to suffer with heartburn and reflux, they really should sort your meds out for that. It will make nausea and eating a lot easier. Oh and a few weeks out my digestive system was very testy. I had IBS before and it was grumpy post surgery. Fairlife shakes make me run to the bathroom for days for some reason! I like the Syntrax Nectar fruit flavors, they are like juice. Seeq is also good, it is like juice too, they are water based protein drinks, not creamy milk ones, and my digestive system handles them both better. You can get samples of Syntrax from Bariatric Pal and samples of Seeq from their website. Sending you lots of love... I hope things ease up soon and those hormones calm down, they are really rough after surgery! ❤️

Hey all. So, probably for the past week now I've been feeling down on myself. I saw my weight go up a little and then came back down a little. I know that's normal It's making me think I gained 50 pounds when it's only like 2 to 3 pounds. I'm scared of gaining weight back, but im still making bad choices and it's making me hate myself for it. I'm not hitting my water and protein goals and I haven't since surgery.. it's hard for me for some reason.. I don't like water enhancers. They're either too sweet or just gross. My bad choices are (please don't be rude or negative, we are supposed to help each other, not make each other worse) I snack on chips, crackers, chex mix type of stuff, popcorn, some chocolate (not always, not every day and yeah most of the time it doesn't make me sick). I can drink soda with no problems and I HATE MYSELF FOR EVEN ALLOWING MYSELF TO DRINK IT. I can, most of the time, drink regular iced tea. Almost everyday I don't eat breakfast. And even if I do I find myself snacking later. Why? Is it because of the lack of protein and water? When I eat my meals, I can eat more than 4 ounces. Usually I don't eat everything on my platw/bowl, rare times I'm able to. I think some of the times I feel like im forcing myself to eat it. I drink with my dinner meal and my night time snack. Sometimes my lunch/breakfast. I know what I got to do before it gets out of hand more than it already is. I'm failing myself and before I know it, I'll be a bypass failure if I keep it up like this. I need to weigh my food out. I need to stop drinking soda. I need to stop drinking at my meals. I need to chew better. Stay away from the foods that got me this way in the first place. I need to focus of the protein and water goals. I feel like the foods I need, I don't reach for and I just grab whatever is easy. Any body meal prep? Why is it so hard to figure out what you want to prep? I feel like it would help. God I feel bad about myself.

VSG Jan 24, 2024. So far so good! My surgery was uncomplicated. Once home I didn't need any pain medication. I've been doing okay on full liquids and I'm looking forward to pureed foods (not something I ever thought I'd hear myself say) after my first follow up with my doctor on Feb 8. I was surprised to find that I experience hunger--genuine, not head hunger. I guess I thought I'd never feel hungry again. I'm dealing with it, though, by sipping something a little thicker when I feel hungry. There are some really good protein shakes in The Gastric Sleeve Bariatric Cookbook by Sarah Kent MD. Yogurt is a little too thick and doesn't sit well but I tried thinning it out with some skim milk and that helps! I'm sleeping well. The only concern I have is that I am still very sore on my left side and it doesn't seem to be getting better. Or maybe it is, but just so slowly that I am barely registering it. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I am currently on the pureed stage and it has been a struggle... I am living on yogurt, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, soups, protein lemonade, protein pudding and protein shakes. it has been hard but I am understanding the process. I did try to cheat the process and have something I thought I could handle and well.. that did not end well... There is light at the end of the tunnel, a more food will become available to you.. I am finding the first 2 months are the hardest but you will soon find your groove and foods.. Also 13lbs is amazing.. your body has gone through to much in such a short amount of time.. give yourself grace and get excited about every little thing your body does.. Also I am sure that you are losing inches along with pounds.

If you had a DS you are thought to absorb about 20% of the fat you eat, 60% of the protein you eat, and 100% of the carbs you eat. Your doctor should have explained this to you... The intestines can adapt some to the surgery over time, but most studies have shown DS patients continue to have malabsorption. That's the whole point of the surgery! In rare cases, there is a small number of patients who will lose more weight than they intend, or have excessive muscle wasting. The muscle wasting is normally due to not eating enough protein post surgery. A DS patient needs around 120 grams of protein a day, more if they workout trying to gain muscle. Are you taking your vitamins? Have you had your labs checked recently? In the case of someone who has lost more weight than they intended to with a DS, certain enzymes can be given to help them absorb more of the food they eat, or a surgical revision can be done to lengthen their common channel, giving them more length of small intestines to absorb calories from. Of the two, I'd try the enzymes first. If you gained up to 240 with the enzymes, clearly they were effective for you! So why not consider taking them on an alternating schedule, titrating the dose to slowly gain what you need, and then taper off of them and see if you can maintain?? If you want to do this with food you are probably looking at over 4,000 calories a day. That is going to be tough. You can only eat so much food in a day! DS patients usually don't count calories at all, we count macros because it is the macros that help us stay in our target range, since no one really knows exactly how many calories an individual with a DS surgery is going to absorb, we can only ballpark it. But you should be getting a LOT of protein and around 120-150 grams of fat, according to vets who have lived with this surgery for decades. To bulk, most people I know load up on carbs, which is not easy for a DS person unless you want to spend a lot of time in the bathroom, or you are lucky enough to actually tolerate a decent amount of carbs. But carbs will usually put weight on. If you want more people with DS to talk to, check the bariatricfacts.org forums. We are mostly DS people over there and most of the regular posters are vets. But be prepared, they are fans of straight talk and not everyone likes that!

OH YES! I am still pre-op and I HAVE to be at the goal weight the surgeon gave me of 275 on my surgery date, so I gotta make sure I stay in check! I went back to tracking, eating proteins first and doing my 30min of activity 3x a week. It came back off but I still have 19 more days till surgery day!