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My surgery is May 7. Today is technically day 3 of my 2 week liver shrink diet. I’ve been practicing getting to this point since Easter and decided I could start a day early to hopefully get rid of the hunger block before Monday. It’s not easy. I’m hitting a wall today but mentally I am strong. My pre-op is Monday and I’ve officially lost 15.6% of my beginning weight. Started in Oct. the surgery is coming up fast after what felt like a lifetime waiting for the approval process. Good luck to everyone!

Hi April Sleevers, How's everyone doing? I'm feeling better. Looking forward to starting purree stage which is Stage 3 for me next week. I'm curious about how my body will respond. I picked up some broths of Thai soups today for the weekend to give me a little variety this weekend for the last few days of my Full Liquids phase. Did not walk the past two days and it will rain all day tomorrow so I'm feeling a bit bummed about lack of walking. Hoping for at least a small break in the rain tomorrow so I can get outside and do some walking in the park. If not, Sunday seems to have better weather forecasted. Attempting to work a few half days next week to see how my energy level holds up. Starting Tuesday and only committed to a three day, half day trial next week. I can see in my face that I've lost some weight. Interesting. Will take first after- surgery pics at One Month. Only weighing once a week at this point. I don't want to create stress or anxiety by checking daily. There are a lot of posts on this site about the negative impact of scale watching. I got this surgery for health reasons, not numbers on a scale. So, I'm not fixated on numbers on a scale. Scale watching can easily become a transfer addiction so I hope that everyone is being careful with that and not putting unrealistic pressure on yourself to lose weight super fast. Let's do this healthy! Throat pain situation seems to be about wisdom tooth extraction one week before surgery and the impact of surgery on that process. Still no BM without assistance. So, will probably use assistance every other day until I start solids which should help. Vitamins make my tummy feel a bit unpleasant or unhappy. So, combined with the nasty taste, I think I will need to switch. Talking with dietitian next week about the situation. I really want to use patches, but my surgeon isn't a fan of that. I have to stay on myself to get in all my water and protein each day on the full liquids stage. If I get distracted by doing a task at home or have a doctors appointment, I get off track and it's hard to catch up since we shouldn't guzzle anymore. I can get liquids down pretty quick. But, really trying to be kind to my tummy and not drink too fast. I watched a couple good videos on YouTube last night by Dr. V. The most helpful one was about the texture scale he created and deciding what to eat based on the texture and dryness, mainly after our initial stages. Hope everyone is resting and adhering to stages suggested by our WLS programs so that you are protecting your new tummy. Let's be kind to our bodies. 🙂👍 Protect your healing. Make healthy choices! (I only share this because I've read some interesting stories on this site about food off plan that folks ate early on and the negative impact or sometimes no impact which gave false impression that it was ok to do that to their recovering bodies when its definitely not.) No judgement. Just hoping we will all be safe during healing.

Yes, feeling cold is common if you're not eating. I did intermittent fasting and that was the worst thing about it. I was always cold during fast days. And the headache is common too. You'll come through it! Drink some hot tea if you can, or broth. Maybe go for a brisk (short) walk to warm up.

almost nobody loses 100 lbs in 4-5 months. Unless they're the size of people on "My 600 lb Life", they would be rare exception. For most people, it takes a year, give or take, to lose that much. I started out heavier than you. I lost 16 lbs the whole first month, so much less than you. And as you can see in my stats, I ended up losing over 200 lbs (took 20 months). Your level of commitment plays a MUCH greater role in your ultimate success than your rate of weight loss does. Besides, rate of weight loss depends on so many factors, most of which (like age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate) you have little - or no - control over. The two things you DO have control over are how closely you follow your program and your activity level. If you do well with those, you WILL lose a significant amount of weight, whether fast or slow.

Good morning. Today I am supposed to start my 2 week pre op diet. I have struggled hard the past 2 days and am a wreck. I even think about the surgery and I cry so hard I can’t breath. Let me go back a little bit. My insurance does not cover the surgery so I am paying myself. That also means that it all is happening really fast. My initial consult was March 5 and surgery is May 6. Also no prerequisite were required like a psych evaluation. I started calorie counting and exercising in my own in February and since I have lost 24 pounds on my own. From 291 to 267. I never had the 6 month wait with working with a dietian to see if I could do it on my own. This is the first time I’m trying to change the problem not bandaid it with weight loss pills. And it looks like it is working but will be slower than surgery. I’m on track for 10 pounds a month. I have no underlying conditions such as blood pressure or diabetes. This surgery is scaring the poop out of me and I’m so close to backing out. Has anyone been here and done it on there own? I feel like there is no part of this I can mentally handle. I can handle tracking my food and losing slowly.

That's great I'm so glad it was so fast! Do you have your date yet? I should be in May. My pre-op appointment is this coming Monday 4/26, and they schedule me at that point. Receptionist told me it's usually 2-4 weeks between the appointment and surgery depending on how long they want me on the liver shrinking diet. Very exciting!

I am hypo and have PCOS. So far I am 3 weeks post surgery and down a little over 27lb. Prior to surgery, the only way I was able to drop any weight at all was to starve myself to the point where I would fast for a day a week. The pre op diet my Nutritionist put me on made me GAIN weight despite my pleas that it was not working. Per my insurance I was not allowed to go over my starting weight for a 6 month period. The frustration and restriction for so long was horrible. Now, it feels like I am finally free! Keep in mind that everyone’s bodies react differently to surgery. If you are on thyroid meds, be sure not to take within two hours of iron or calcium supplements, and 4 hours of antacids, otherwise they will not be absorbed correctly. I would also highly recommend follow up labs for thyroid at 2 months post op to see how your hormones are responding.

@Nanagrrl3 I’m 4 weeks post op tomorrow and I was cleared for full solid foods after 3 weeks. I have been overly cautious about eating the entire time. While I haven’t had any issues with food coming up or pain/discomfort, I have no desire to eat and can seemingly only eat tiny bits of food. I get full really fast. I totally agree with @catwoman7 that we’re all very different and to try soft foods like fish or soft meats with sauce. Fish has a ton of protein and very low calories. This is a mental struggle that only people who have had this surgery can know. I can’t wait for the day when I feel hungry, can eat without worry and move on. I really wish I knew when that would be. Good luck!

I was told to continue taking it, but I just couldn’t stomach it after surgery. The pills are so big and crushing them didn’t help me take them, so I quit taking them. My T2 wasn’t severe, I was just diagnosed during the preop testing and while my fasting was high, my A1C was right on the line. When I went to my 2 week appointment I told my surgeon I quit taking it and he said that was fine, I probably didn’t have it anymore. I have tested a couple times in the morning just to make sure and both times my BG has been around 80. If I were you, I’d test in the morning and maybe again 2 hours after eating lunch and see if you stay in a non-diabetic range.

That's interesting that it went bad so fast. The bolthouse lasts so long after the expiration date. I wonder what the difference is? I didn't go to Trader Joe's the whole pandemic because their stores are so crowded, but now that I'm vaccinated I should go again, especially with my bariatric mind in place. I might discover a whole different store! I actually have one about 5 minutes away from me and several others not too far.

Ok. So keep this in mind always. Don't compare yourself to others as we are all different, surgeries are all different and programs are all different. We all lose weight at different rates and at different times . what is slow for one might be fast for someone else and what one's highest weight is might be someone's goal weight. With that being said, some may lose their weight in 6 months, some in a year, some in 2 years or longer. Its not a race. No one to compete against. No timer to beat. And do not listen to any surgeon or medical professional that tells you that if you havent lost it all in 6 months then you probably wont. Because that is not true. Back in December (the 20th to be exact) I reached 100 pounds lost. Which eas at 9 1/2 months. My physicians assistant told me that eas not good enough, was beneath what was in line with their expectations and killed all positive vibes and any kind of victory I felt in what I had accomplished. I went from feeling on top of the world to feeling like the biggest failure. My depression deepened, anxiety kicked in and i went on a binge. January rolled around and I had a telehealth appt with my surgeon. I was down 110 lbs and he said i was doing great and on target. Totally opposite than what his PA said to me. February I was hospitalized for stomach pain then had to go see the PA for follow up. She said i was doing good but on low end of what they would like to see me at. My weight was slowing down and actually started gaining. I called for help and the nurse advised that the PA said nothing we can do, we did the surgery, go on a liquid diet. I did. 2 weeks. Gained. Called back. They said nothing we can do. Call your primary. Good luck. So I did. Now Im on contrave for a month now and losing again. Sorry for the long message. My point is, dont let them get into your head, dont let anyone tell you that you arent doing good enough. Do what you can. Follow your program. Get your vitamins and protein and hydration in. Exercise. And dont let anyone sabotage or crush your progress. Whats standard for one isnt going to work for the next. Do what works for you. Tweak it til you find what works the best.

Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. I understand your frustration. I was able to fast-track my preparation and was set to go when Covid hit. I made the decision not to proceed with any surgery as I work in a profession that had/has an extremely high potential for Covid transmission. One of the doctors in the program kept reminding me to use the time to practice eating as if I was two years after surgery. I didn't want to hear it. But it was the truth. I was thinking that she was only referring to eating the amounts I could have after surgery. In reality, having to chew thoroughly and wait to drink have been the hardest. I should have practiced that more. While I have worked the entire time during the pandemic, you will soon have the availability to travel. Keep the faith and stay mindful of your desired results. You can do this.

I wouldn't worry about the 1 month expiration date on the salad dressing. Most of those are just "best by" dates, it will be fine for a long time afterwards. Just sniff it if you're unsure. Most products are find well after the so-called expiration date. Just keep it in the fridge. There are some things that don't stay very well like milk, meat, nuts, and soda, (and twinkies - it's a myth that they live forever. the oil goes rancid pretty fast). I buy Bolthouse Ranch from the refrigerator section and it's supposedly only good for a month or two but I'll use it at least six months after that.

Well, it's actually super fast to put together since it's all dumping ingredients out of cans. You can buy pre-chopped frozen onions or get them in the produce section, I always use pre-minced jarred garlic, and you can use all frozen veggies, which is what I almost always do. You can also BUY chili premade at Wendy's, but you asked for a recipe lol!

I am 13 months post rny. My stomach pains started back in November and increasingly got worse along with nausea as the months moved along. I had a barium swallow test in January. All normal . only thing it showed was liquids move through my pouch incredibly fast. I was hospitalized in February. Had a CT scan, normal. Labs normal. Pain increased to almost constant and daily to the point it felt like a blow torch inside my stomach and I felt like I was being stabbed and my organs ripped out. I was hospitalized again just last weekend. Had an EGD Tuesday, again normal. And saw the gastrointerologist yesterday. He prescribed linzess for IBS-C which was in addition to the Robaxin, zofran, protonix and malox prescribed last weekend. Gastro stated stress/anxiety/increased depression could be triggering the stomach issues. But I have been in a sort of remission from severe IBS-D for 10 years. So he's going to compare my CT next week with February for any changes and in 2-3 weeks add buspirone which acts on the gut and anxiety. And is waiting on records from colonoscopy 3 years ago before ordering a new one. So more waiting to see. But if all else fails, exploratory laproscopic surgery may be in the near future due to my prior issues with adhesions.

Well......I may have mentioned I get a tad dizzy when I stand up fast. It hasn’t really been that big of an issue...... until yesterday. yesterday I full on feinted. I had gotten up from a laying down position quickly because I needed to grab my youngest and on my way back I started to feel dizzy, my vision darkened to the point where I could see nothing, and my legs went out from under me. I just dropped. End result: I was taken off one of my meds because it was causing steep blood pressure drops

Back story - In Dec 2020 my new PCP referred me to a bariatric surgeon. I called to schedule my appointment right after. I didn’t hear back right away and personally debated should I go through it this time. I had been talked out of it before by friends, family, even doctors. So Jan 2021 I went back to the weight clinic by my house because I knew I had to do something and why not get back on a plan as a wait to hear from the surgeons office. Plus I had just got engaged and the thought of children in the future seemed to hit me like a Mack truck. I needed to do something for me! I weighed in at 362.2, the highest I’ve ever seen on the scale. Fast forward to Feb and still nothing. So I called again. Finally was able to get an appointment for Tuesday March 9th. I was excited and nervous. I went to the appointment and the surgeon and staff were so nice. I weighed in at 348ish I believe (still kicking myself as to way I let the nurse weigh me in the jacket and boots since I was 343 that morning lol). He said I was a good candidate given my age (33) and family history . That since I didn’t have any medical conditions and fi want to have children now is the time. His nurse outlined all the requirements for me - 6 months weight management (my current clinic was fine and given I went back in Jan I just need 4 more months), to not gain any weight, no more to low carbs and sugar, physiological evaluation, nutritional evaluation, join the FB support group (everything is virtual right now), EKG, chest x Ray, and blood work. Currently - I’m 3 1/2 months in the weight management. Will be done basically the second week of July. Physiological evaluation completed. Joined the support group and attend the zoom meetings weekly, nutritional evaluation is this Wednesday, and keeping my weight down (at 337 as of Saturday). Since I basically have 2 months left (this month is basically over) should I go ahead and schedule my medial tests in May or wait till June? I don’t want to take them too early before I’m finished with my weight management for concern of having to take them again if done too soon. I can’t wait to have everything done a submitted to the insurance. Then to schedule surgery! I’m so ready for the rest of my life, plan a wedding, and just this new chapter of putting myself first. Thanks!

Ok. I wonder if it's too much too fast. I know all programs are different. I had my surgery the day after you and I am not allowed to eat what you're eating for another 10 days. Like eggs are Stage 3 for me. And Stage 3 happens at 3 weeks post surgery. Basically, one week post surgery you are allowed to eat purree which I wonder is just too much for your new tummy. For me, surgery April 6, I had one week of clear liquids. Then starting on Day 8 after surgery, I transition to full liquids which is called Stage 2 for us. I stay on that for two weeks. I dont move to Stage 3 which is limited soft foods until 3 weeks post surgery. Again, all programs are different. Lots of folks talk about their different programs on here. But, I just wonder if your healing tummy is not ready for that kind of intake that you are introducing now. Plus, stage 2 in my program is only 1/4 cup which is 2 ounces of anything on our really tiny list that is not thin liquid. I think a half cup that you mentioned eating now might be 4 ounces. Might be a tad much for your healing tummy.

20 -30 mins for 2ozs or 1/4 cup of purred or soft foods. I could take an hour or 2 to drink 200mls. I still take ages to eat or drink anything. (Been sipping 300+mls of green tea for over 90 mins now & yes it’s pretty cold 😁.) I was told no potato until maintenance by my dietician - too starchy but there are a lot of post surgery plans. I tried some mashed then but not good & I still can’t tolerate them at almost 2 yrs. Had a small piece yesterday & there was my restriction & it sat like a lump in my tummy. Almost vomited when I got home. I didn’t have a leak. They are pretty uncommon but can occur. Increasing pain, fever, fast heart beat, dizziness, shortness of breath are all symptoms of a gastric leak. But if you experience any pain or anything that is uncommon for you, contact your medical team as soon as possible.

I’ve noticed that I have already been able to handle the heat a little better in south Florida after 30 pounds. Granted it’s not summer weather yet and I won’t lose it fast enough to be able to handle it this year but next year I should. You reminded me of that because my husband lives outside and in the summer I rarely see him cause it’s just too hot for me.

Ice helps me. I bought one of the tiny ice cube trays and just suck on ice all the time. It keeps away the thirst and ensure I don't drink to fast. Sometimes I put my clear protein drink in the ice tray and make protein ice cubes.

Thank you I goggled it but still not sure why it’s happening so much to me other than I eating to much or to fast or both

I am so thirsty all the time. I drink something and it’s not enough. Any suggestions I’ve tried crystal light, vitamin water, popsicles, and not enough. My lips are dried all the time. When I do drink I forget drink to fast and then I. Omit any suggestions I’m on my 5th week still. Ahhh

I'm a week out from sleeve. It sounds a lot like my first few days. One thing I found was that warm liquids seemed to help because they did not stop in my chest. I still have some of the pain when I eat (drink) too fast but nothing like the first 3 days when my chest really hurt from the gas.

I've been dealing with continuous, intermittent nausea, cramping, and diarrhea for over a year and a half. My surgeon couldn't find anything wrong after performing his regular tests so he referred me to a gastroenterologist. I was surprised at how thorough the gastroenterologist was in taking my history, and then ordering a much more comprehensive series of blood tests and other tests, including a colonoscopy. I've now been prescribed an anti-cramping agent, Bentyl (these symptoms could be occurring because of vagus nerve issues) and also was offered the option of Librax (a combination anti-spasmotic/sedative) but Librax is super-expensive (about $300/mo on average) and Bentyl is $13. (I didn't have insurance to cover those). I also take a sedative (xanax) in the rare times the cramping becomes too painful and won't abate. I can say that over the past couple of weeks, my symptoms have improved.