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Hi Joe! My surgery is in 4 days. I am 5'6" and at my highest weight, I was 250 pounds, which gave me a BMI of 40.3. Since starting the nutrition program and pre-op liquid diet, I am down to 228 pounds, so a BMI of 36.8. I have high blood pressure, prediabetes, and high cholesterol. Like you, I've dieted countless times. In fact, I was enrolled in the nonsurgical program at my hospital for 7 years, starting when I was 42. I found it relatively easy to lose up to about 15% of my total body weight, around 40 lbs, by counting calories, exercising religiously, and not letting my guard down for a minute. After that, I would stall. Then the weight would creep back up. My doctor would prescribe meds (including Wegovy for a while, but it's too expensive for longterm use for me), and I'd lose 10 pounds. Then I would stall, followed by regain. Or the nutritionist would suggest a new approach, and I would lose a few pounds again, followed by regain. A little more each time. After 7 years of trying, I was back to my highest weight ever. I feel like I wasted a whole lot of time with nothing to show for it. And now I'm nearly 50. My blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol all have gotten worse. My feet hurt. My joints ache. I feel older than I am, and I don't want to be old before my time. I know from reading the latest studies in weight loss science that my chance of long term success in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight without the metabolic reset of bariatric surgery is around 5%. I'm fortunate because I've seen my brother go through sleeve surgery 15 years ago. He lost a huge amount of weight (about half his body weight) and though he has regained a fair amount of that, it's nowhere near where he used to be. His appetite is now what I would call the smaller side of normal. Nobody looks at him having dinner and would guess he had surgery. So I know that the most drastic parts of this (like a liquid diet!) are phases you have to get through to get somewhere better. I feel nervous, too. I've never had surgery. I worry about complications. I'm hardly ever sick, so I sometimes think what if I'm trading decent health for problems? But realistically, problems are in my future. I've seen it in countless family members. The writing is on the wall. And the surgery is very safe. So for me, the risk is worth it. I've tried on my own long enough to know it isn't going to happen for me without this. And a BMI of 40 might not be as big as some people, but it's big enough to rob me of good health in my future. I really hope this helps at least give you some things to think about to help you make your decision. Wishing you all the best!

I'm scheduled for sleeve surgery in three days, and I'm experiencing serious cold feet. I'm a 44-year-old male, 5'9" tall, weighing 270 pounds. I've struggled with yo-yo dieting for over 21 years, with my highest weight being 280 pounds and my lowest 198 pounds. I've had success with intermittent fasting and restricted calorie intake, but I've regained the weight. I suffer from mild sleep apnea, which causes heavy snoring and comes with its challenges. Thankfully, I don't have any other health problems, and I take medication that contributes to weight gain, though I doubt they'd make me fatter the 270 pounds than I am now; they just make it harder to lose weight. I'm feeling uncertain about the necessity of the surgery since I'm not extremely heavy and overall healthy. I'm also worried about only being able to eat small quantities in one sitting, and the idea of changing my body scares me. Yet Im also excited to get this option available

Stick to your diet plan, make sure you change up any workouts you're doing to "confuse" your body and work parts you normally might not, only weigh yourself once a week at most, and really take stock of how you feel and your Non Scale Victories. Get lots of fluids in. I'm very close to my goal, as well, and I'm in the same boat as you. It's annoying, but if we stay consistent, we'll push past it and get there. What surgery did you have? What was your starting weight?

Thank you. I also took one gas x the night before and drank zero Gatorade with Mira lax the night before. The day of surgery I took another gas x and a sip of Gatorade with my morning pills. It is now day three since surgery and I am taking it slow, I have been drinking what I can in water and in broth and I have had decaf coffee in the morning. I also do the SF popsicles through the day too. I did try some SF jello yesterday and that sat okay so will have that done today to. I go the 26th for my post op appointment and see my nutritionist.

TORe is a relatively recent revision for RNY. Essentially, they go in through your mouth and esophagus and stitch your pouch and the opening to your pouch back into the tight little basket It was when you first got gastric bypass. I’m looking into it as I was very successful for 20 years, but regained most of my weight in the last three from life, stress and menopause. Has anyone had an experience with this?

Hey Ron! I had my BP on the 6th. I’m doing pretty good as well. I don’t start vitamins until Tuesday a full two weeks after surgery. I guess they want to make sure I’m eating something to protect me from getting nausea. I saw my nutritionist yesterday and he said I can ease into soft foods with yogurt and cottage cheese. Luckily I love both! I was able to have about 1/2 a cup without feeling uncomfortable. I just stopped eating and I wasn’t hungry or wanting more. A few hours later same thing with a Greek yogurt. I’m so ready for eggs, tuna, cheese etc. I also was told to wear my binder for 4 weeks. It definitely makes me feel more secure. My glue is still on my incisions. I guess they put a super deluxe hospital grade glue on me. I’m not scrubbing it off or peeling it off until it comes off naturally. I’m too scared to open something up. So, good luck my friend. And everyone else hang in there with your liquid diets. It’s definitely worth it. It will make your surgery go smoother and recovery easier. 💖💖💖

awwww bummer, I had turkey meatloaf the other day, it was very soft and so tasty. I only ate 1oz of it and felt so satisfied, or cottage cheese and peaches. I also heard some make deviled eggs, I havent tried this yet but its on my meal plan for the week

Stick to your plan. Don’t stress your body more by making more changes. Stalls are when your body takes stock of your current needs & readjusts things like digestive hormones, etc. The stall will break when your body is ready to move forward again. Also, your weight loss slows so much as you near your final weight (set point) it almost does feel like stalling. Consequently shifting the last pounds can be a b**ch. it’s because you’re eating much to what you’ll need to eat to maintain. Oh, & if you do cut your calories &/or increase your activity to lose more you’ll always have to eat less than you are now & do more to maintain the lower weight. Don’t give up yet though. You can keep losing vey slowly for months. I lost another 10kg over 12 months after reaching my goal.

It can be challenging when your taste buds are against you but it is a great opportunity to try things you haven’t before or give food you didn’t enjoy in the past another go. I wasn’t hungry or interested in eating either (for 8 months or so). So I ate to a routine to ensure I got on my required nutrition. It helped to change how I looked at eating - not for comfort, to make me feel good/better, if I was bored or …. but to fuel my body. Eating to live not living to eat. Was also when I began asking myself if I needed the next bite or just wanted it. Never forced myself to eat all my portion if I didn’t need it or thought nope, no more. At two months, I was eating only all real food & eating a wide variety of meats. Some vegetables were challenging but steamed green beans, cauliflower & cabbage were good. I could add tomatoes, celery, capsicum, onions, mushrooms to any slow cooked soup, stew, minced meat dish. etc. About a month later all vegetables were fine. Didn’t touch shakes from purées. Aim for three meals a day & maybe one snack. (I snacked on fruit or yoghurt.) Check with your dietician to see what they recommend for you. Try to avoid falling back into the old habit of eating if you have head hunger.

First photo was 1 month before WLS (Dec 2021), the other photos were taken a week after my 2nd surgery-versary 8 Feb 2024. I noticed that I don't have any full body shots before the surgery. I was really conscious about my thighs and how big my lower body was. Not anymore haha

Programs are so different, but you should definitely be eating, or at least attempting, more solid foods by 8 weeks. In case this helps, I've just found this YouTube channel where a bariatric dietician is working through the food stages in the post op diet. I don't think she'll get to where you are until next week, but you might want to check her out: https://www.youtube.com/@BariatricFoodCoach Also, I found this video really helpful in explaining how to approach eating right after surgery:

Filing that advice away for next week. I'm not allowed to have it yet, but cream of wheat in on my post-op diet. I guess they don't want the carbs for the liver shrinking but it's okay after, or something. I already bought some and will welcome anything that isn't the same old stuff I've had for the past 10 days!

TPN is Parenteral Nutrition. It is nutrition through an IV. There are also forms of nutrition that can be given through the stomach. I agree that focusing on hydration and sleep are important for you at the moment, but you can't totally ignore protein at this point. You are 6 weeks out, not 1 week out. Right now you really SHOULD be relying on protein shakes! Shakes count towards your fluid goals and will give you enough nutrition to combat the fatigue and weakness that comes from not eating enough. Most patients rely on protein shakes for the first 6 months after surgery to help them get enough protein in. I'm 3.5 months post op and I eat just fine, but I still need a shake in the morning to get 120 grams of protein a day! At the stage you are at, you should be drinking some protein shake every hour in addition to your water/electrolytes, so you keep a steady supply of nutrition up. Of course you can and should try eating too, as the nausea eases eating will be easier. But shakes will actually help your hydration goal, not hinder it. ❤️

Thanks everyone for the messages! Hopefully someone will find message when they run into the same situation and help ease their mind as well. I did get a call today from my doctor. They also said they like my B12 to be over 1000. If I don’t feel well because of it I can take my B12 3-4 times a week. They assure me everything else that is showing red is fine, because of surgery and my body is recovering. My wounds are still healing etc…That’s why they don’t do blood work till 3 months after. It just so I needed blood work done for other reasons and it freaked me out.

I am the same with the jeans, feel like I am buying a new pair every fortnight. I also had to get a new swimsuit within a couple of weeks of starting aqua aerobics as the one I bought a short while ago was holding too much water. I also like that I can now sit comfortably on a bus seat and not worry that I am taking up a seat and a half. I am able to get the seat belt on a plane closed without any issues where as a year ago I had to get an extender piece (was mortified).

I agree with Arabesque, this sounds like a post viral syndrome. I'm so sorry you are going through this! You were doing so well!! What many people (and doctors) don't understand is getting any sort of virus that hits the body hard can result in a number of conditions afterwards, some caused by trying to recover from the virus, some caused by opportunistic viruses showing up when your system is low from one virus already, and some can actually be autoimmune conditions that are triggered to show up from a viral infection. Any of these could be contributing to your condition. A few years ago I got cat scratch fever (that's what I get for fostering litters of kittens! LOL). I was sick with it for a few weeks. My immune system had already been behaving badly that year, I have an autoimmune disease that flared so bad it effected my digestive system, my eyes (I was having vision problems), as well as my joints. But the virus kicked my butt royally. Then a few weeks later I started spiking high fevers at night out of the blue. I was so exhausted I started sleeping more and more every day until I was sleeping about 18 hours a day. My doctors were absolutely useless and said it was probably chronic fatigue syndrome caused by the autoimmune flare and started putting me on courses of steroids. My bones started aching so bad I would cry. I could barely walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My GP made out I was pain med seeking so I fired her, her lack of support was appalling. I started fainting when I tried to shower. I had vertigo all day. After fainting twice with temps over 104 I ended up in the ER where they did labs and said nothing was wrong, it was probably a virus and to go home and sleep it off. A week later I ended up in the ER again where a wonderful doctor said I was experiencing acute kidney damage from dehydration due to the fevers and that I was NOT leaving the hospital until someone figured out what was wrong. I was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks, two different hospitals where I continued to run fevers at night up to 105, it was absurd. Then suddenly one day the fevers and pain stopped. The infectious disease doctor was baffled. But when my advanced labs came back they finally understood what was going on---I had atypical Epstein Barr Virus. Atypical because mono didn't show up when tested for in the ER and I only had one lymph node swollen on my whole body, a tiny one behind my ear. Apparently atypical presentation doesn't show up on mono tests, only the two week test. Epstein Barr Virus is notorious for showing up with other viruses and generally making a pain of itself. It took me another two months before I could reliably get out of bed, and honestly my body took several years to return to a new normal. They thought I had POTS but turns out it was just severe physical deconditioning from the virus and bed rest. All this to say--if you still can't figure out what is going on after a couple of months, you might want to consider talking to an infectious disease doctor or immunologist, whoever is in your area that can treat long Covid and can test for other viruses that might be complicating the picture, as well as autoimmune conditions. Your symptoms sound so viral or autoimmune in origin. My Dad ended up with post viral arthritis. Viruses are such weird things and they can really give our bodies a hard time! Oh and one suggestion. You might want to give this device a look, it was made by two guys, one who had long Covid. https://www.makevisible.com/ I've considered getting one as I love that it helps track your activity in relation to pacing which is shown to help with post viral recovery, and in managing autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, fibro, etc...

My band size keeps changing every few weeks! Bras for big boobs are expensive. I'm sure the boobs won't be big for long at this rate but still, it is a funny problem to have. I have no clue why my body has decided that my bra band area is the best place to lose weight post op. 🤣

I had nausea until about 8 weeks out. It was constant and impacted my ability to eat, drink, and take my vitamins. A few things helped me (and others like me) that may help you: 1. Ondansetron only takes the edge off of nausea for me. It is rather ineffective for my body. I have much better results with promethazine, it actually manages to eradicate the nausea for a number of hours. I'd ask about a prescription to try it, at this point it is worth trying something else for the nausea and they have a number of meds out there that can help with this. I took it several times a day. 2. My surgeon told me to be gradual with my addition of vitamins. I had to take the chewable B complex everyday, and the little B1 pill because my complex didn't have enough B1 in it alone. But these were pretty gentle on my stomach. The actual multivitamins though he said are rather activating for the stomach and some people can struggle to incorporate them early after surgery. It could be these are contributing to your stomach pain and nausea, especially if your multivitamin contains iron, as it can be a little hard on a new tummy. So talk to your doctor about this, perhaps they can switch you to a bariatric B complex and let you try adding in the multivitamin closer to 3 months than all at once right now. 3. When my stomach would hurt I'd massage it in clockwise motions with firm, but not painful, pressure. I got twisting stomach spasms for the first few weeks with any food or water and this was the only thing that helped ease the pain of them. 4. My PPI needed an extra dose and for me, omeprazole is worthless. Some people metabolize it fast and for some it just doesn't work as well. Have they considered switching you to Pantoprazole? It is often used in the hospital because it is so effective. It might be worth switching to it to see if it is any more effective for you. A lot of bariatric patients end up having to switch around to find the most effective one for them. 5. Hydration is crucial early out of surgery. They should have had you exclusively focusing on hydration for the first two weeks along with the B complex. It sounds like your electrolytes are off, probably because you are chronically dehydrated. Nausea is made MUCH worse by dehydration!! You are 6 weeks and still struggling. Unfortunately at this point you DO need to be trying to get in some protein with your hydration to prevent malnourishment. Greek yogurt is great for this, but there are other options too. Have you tried any protein water powders like SEEQ or Syntrax Nectars? These are easier to stomach and come in nice flavors. SEEQ watermelon is seriously tasty. LOL Try some sample packets!! It is okay if you can't hit your full protein goals yet, every little bit helps. If the change in meds doesn't help you at all, I hope they consider doing some imaging and a scope to ensure you aren't experiencing something like a stricture. They are rare, but they do happen, and they can cause issues with progressing the diet. 6. Water flavoring packets can help with getting in more water, as does sipping it around the clock out of those tiny cups until you get the hang of getting more water in. It can and does feel like a full time job and you will feel like you are floating! This is normal. Electrolyte powders are a great addition to water at least once a day because they really help you get minerals you are missing since you aren't eating them in food! And try a variety of things and a variety of temperatures. Some hot broth or tea, some flavored water over ice, something room temperature, sometimes the tummy has an opinion about what the best temp is! I am so sorry you are dealing with these issues 6 weeks out. It sounds like your team needs to be more proactive in trying different meds and doing some testing to figure out what is going on. Honestly, some do struggle like this for a while. On occasion some end up with TPN for a while to help them get the nutrition they need. It sounds like you aren't quite at that point because you are keeping some foods down, but it is an option if you continue to struggle and end up in the hospital repeatedly for low vitamin levels. Some find a month or two of TPN can get them past the roughest part and then their systems are able to handle food and water without issue. It really depends on the person. But you don't want to go that route if you can avoid it... ❤️

My gastric bypass is 2/21. I had a sleeve back in 2012. I gained weight back except that golden 25 I like to say not a total failure but not feeling great about it. I still do not have a large appetite but it was wrong choices. I been through breast cancer and I have reached a place in my life where I have had enough of self harming as I say. The surgeon puts me on pre op diet for Two weeks. I am having a bit of trouble with all the fruits and veggies. I have IBS. I stated this from beginning to all. Today I get the poops badly and called office to see if I can take imodium. I told them I was having a tough time with to much fiber. They say well if you can’t handle it you may become mal nourished from bypass. I’m like wtf. We would like you and your hubby to come in Tuesday a day before my surgery to ask any questions you may have and then a decision will be made to go forward or not. I’m saying the decision was made already. You never had an ibs patient before. In a way I think there being careful and in a way why now? I gotta be on a liquid diet only on Tuesday. Now I feel is this going to be to much for me. I don’t want to stay fat. Maybe try on my own. I went to class I did everything that I was suppose to do but I can’t help if my tummy get sick if it’s just to much fiber. It’s like 20oz of fruit and veggies combined a day. All advice is welcomed

I am at the end of week 3 post op, and I had my bloodwork done 1 week again from primary care for other reason. However because he knew I had surgery done, he order to check vitamins and urinalysis. I don’t know if I am freaking out? But it has more red in the result than before the surgery. Hope to see if anyone of you had testing done post op and maybe can explain a little bit before I get a call from my doctor. It show I have too much B12, then there is protein in my urine, and bilirubin is high. I hope my liver is ok! Maybe all this is normal after surgery.

I'll start! I just bought jeans almost two weeks ago and they are already getting baggy....think I might need to sport the mom/ boyfriend jean look for awhile

Eight days after surgery, the only soreness I have now is directly on the incisions. The gas pains subsided by day 3 after surgery. I see my surgeon next week for the two week post op visit. Getting fluids in is no problem. I can get 70-80 oz down daily without issues. I can get 4 protein shakes in as well. Which is what my Dr. recommended for me. Though, I do feel full at times with broth and protein shakes. I still feel like I need more, even though I take a multivitamin and B-50 complex. I'm ready for the next phase which is the puree' / soft food phase. I can start that in 5 days. I feel like I can do it now, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself and follow instructions. I really don't want any setbacks. If anyone has questions feel free to ask. Just for advice, the body wrap they put you in after surgery, wear it as much as you can. It really helps with soreness. Also, it helps if you start coughing.

Day 9 on the liquid diet. My greatest disappointment so far has been a batch of "natural" jello that didn't remotely taste like lime. My biggest treat has been tropical flavored Popsicle brand sugar free popsicles. I literally yelled at a robot when I had to call FedEx after they mis-delivered an order from Celebrate that had three new flavors of meal replacement shakes in it. Do not mess with me when I'm hungry and sick of fake cappuccino flavored shakes that don't actually contain caffeine! The robot transferred me to a human and I was much nicer.

make sure you're sticking to your plan and stay off the scale - maybe just weigh yourself once a week. also, keep in mind that the closer you get your goal, the harder it is to get the pounds off. It took me 20 months - and after the year mark, there were months when I only lost a lb or two.

If you don't already have some bariatric cookbooks, I can highly recommend these three of the several I bought: Bariatric Meal Prep Made Easy by Kristin Willard The Bariatric Diet Guide and Cookbook by Dr. Matthew Weiner The Easy 5 Ingredient Bariatric Cookbook by Megan Wolf All three have sound nutritional advice as they are written by bariatric experts, as well as some really nice recipes. They talk about portion sizes and what to aim for nutritionally as you go through the honeymoon period and into maintenance, and even give you different portions for different phases. None of the books give specific calorie goals, but that's rather standard with many programs. The focus is often for you to discover what works for you and not get sucked into a dieting mindset by counting everything so closely you drive yourself crazy. But the basics are generally to fill one half of your (small, child or luncheon sized) plate with a 3-4oz portion of lean protein and no more than a 1/2 cup serving of starch/grain, and the other half with non-starchy veg. Consume 60-80g protein. Drink at least 64 oz water. (Apologies for not having the metric measurements). Using a small plate is a really great visual cue. Check out the Portion Perfection plates, which are 8-inch melamine and printed with exactly how much of each food goes where. If you need to retrain yourself, this is an easy tool to use. They have bowls, too. (All the books and the plates can be found on Amazon in the US). Going back to liquids is extreme. I would think it would be sufficient to go back to three meals per day as described above, and either no snacks or only fruit and veg or a protein shake as a snack if truly hungry, and make sure you weigh your portions and get all your water in every day. The other thing is to look for processed foods that have crept back into your diet and get them out of your house. You can't be tempted by what isn't there. Good luck to you!