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Congrats on the surgery! Expect the first month to be a roller coaster of emotions, hunger, anger, and a day or two of regret. That's a rite of passage for us, where I think everyone second guesses their decision. By week 5, I finally started getting a better handle on things and I'm still very happy with my decision. 10 weeks out and I'm in better shape than I've been in decades! As others have said, you feel hungry because you are hungry. Your body is used to the previous amount of eating, and panics when it realizes you're not eating what you used to. Since you were a candidate for surgery, then your body has enough fat cell reserves to live off of that for a few weeks, which is why they have you focus only on water the first two weeks, while working in more protein to prevent you from burning muscle. However, our bodies don't understand that logic and kicks into survival mode. It only understands "food" or "no food". The first six months is critical to the process because that's when we have the best opportunity to retrain our mind and bodies to adapt. In a sense it is traumatic to our bodies, and it will fight until it understands that this new normal is safe, because that's its job, to keep you alive! Once you're back to solid foods, that's when recognizing head hunger becomes more important. Around that time (somewhere around weeks 4-6), you'll have worked up to eating enough calories to be sustaining metabolism, while still running enough of a deficit to burn fat. At that point, your body will try to tell you "hey, we're close to the old normal again, go ahead and eat more!". As my therapist reminds me, remember to listen specifically to your stomach, and not your mouth. Practice eating enough to where your stomach feels full, and not pressured from too much, but at the same time, study your habits to see if you're eating to stay busy, to deflect stress (I'm guilty of this), or just because your body thinks you should keep your stomach topped off. During that period, if you feel like your stomach is craving more, double check what nutrients you are getting. If you're deficient in vitamins or minerals, you will develop insatiable cravings, but your body can't tell you exactly what its missing. It just yells "I'm Hungry!". Check with your doctor on which supplements to add or remove, and also branch out with different styles of food as long as they fit your calories/macros. I felt like I was starving for most of last week, then I got some Korean food (sort of a bibimbap inspired kale and cabbage salad with beef) on Friday, and the cravings stopped. I'm still trying to figure out what itch that scratched, but obviously I was missing something in that! Also, be very careful with sugar, starches, breads, rice, etc. That can send you into a craving spiral that lasts 2-3 days. Some sugar alcohols like Sorbitol and Xylitol also trigger that for me, while Monk Fruit, Stevia, and Splenda don't. Everyone is different, but pay attention to those ingredients, because that can make the hunger feel worse!

I'm on my second week post op, in my puree stage right now. It's just that I,m buying groceries and I'M trying to keep an eye on the calories, proteins, sugar and fat but i'm not about the limits. I'm kind of confused at this point. Also, i'm not really counting my macros, i just want to be able to have an idea about what I eat while learning to eat healthy and in a balanced way again.

Speedy recovery! I am so excited for us. You are lucky girl. I wish if my doctor would let me eat soft foods he said not until week 4 😩 I am 9 days post op & I want scrambled eggs and tuna 😢 eat for me sis, eat for me lol

I have 3 kids 12, 6 and 2. I did not tell them. The day that I went my mom stayed over and hubs and I told the kids that I had to go to the doctors because my stomach needed to get checked and fixed. Now all they see is that my eating habits have changed, and I workout every day. So they just think that I made a lifestyle change and got thinner that way. My oldest is my step son and his mom is very very body conscious and body shames? She struggles with her weight and has made comments how my daughter has slimmed down, or how the 12 has finally lost his baby weight and will barely eat. I nip that in the butt quick! I have to tell her that we cannot speak negatively in front of our kids, its going to cause a complex like we have. I grew up with my mom always talking about weight and she still does. I try my best to not surround our conversations on negative body image. I do home work outs 2-3x a week and sometimes with my daughter who is 6 asks to work out with me to get skinny, I tell her its not to get skinny its to get strong and stay healthy. So I try to just surround our convos around that. Its tough with kids!

Thats great information, I am sure someone will benefit from it! The itchiness and redness went away after I took off all the glue myself… doctor didn’t want to take it off because it was still sticking. I just couldn’t take it and took it off myself. I don’t recommend anyone doing this… after I took it off, it took about 1 week for the redness to go down. It is now drying and skin peeling like it got burnt.

Sounds a pretty okay weight loss to me especially if you experienced a stall of 1-3 weeks. You’re averting about 3lbs a week - nothing wrong with that. There is no ‘this is how much weight you must lose by this point’ rule. We all lose at our own rate. Some faster some slower. You lose at the rate that is best for you. There are averages which can be used as a guide but never a rule. Doesn’t mean you won’t lose your weight. (Don’t be influenced by the weight loss seen on tv programs. They lose large amounts in the beginning because they started at twice your weight & have lots to lose Their rate loss slows as they progress.) Is your surgeon concerned? Is your dietician concerned about your loss so far? If they’re okay you have nothing to worry about. You’re certainly not failing. You’ve lost 19 feckin’ pounds. Celebrate every pound you lose. I didn’t have to count calories & didn’t have to track my food so never had to discuss it with my dietician. I checked out of my own interest so I I know I was low calorie eater. Around 300 calories in the first month & was barely eating 900 calories by 6 months when I reached my goal. At 17 months when my weight stabilised I was eating 1300. Now I eat about 1500+/-. I was & am healthy & my blood work was is always excellent. I never could have physically eaten more than I was at any stage. But that is my story. Yours may be different & that’s okay. I’m a little taller than you & not very active (not running miles or spending hours in the gym) I don’t need the calories a taller, more active person needs. Ensure your dietician isn’t trying to fit you into the one size fits all average calorie intake box. The average calorie intake for a woman is said to be 2000 calories - I’d be the size I was before surgery if I ate that much. To lose they say I should eat 1500 so I’d never lose weight either on those recommendations.

I was cleared to go back to CrossFit at my one month follow-up, which ended up being 5 weeks out. My team acted surprised that I had waited and told me that I could have started sooner, just not to do anything that hurt. Now, I couldn't actually lift anything heavier than a 15 lb training barbell and my goal remains, almost a year out, simply not to pass out. But I was allowed to do it very soon after.

Feb 21 for me! There are two other Feb 2024 buddy posts on here somewhere, but I think they've gotten buried. Not too many people replying to them yet, which is interesting. It's only 2 weeks until February starts, so I wonder where everyone is!

Is anyone tracking calories and carbs 1 week post op? If so, what is your calorie intake? I am under 300 but wanted to know if anyone else is tracking.

I agreed with some, that the stomach was on fire kind of sensation. But eventually after surviving the tolerance level for 12hrs, the pain reduced and i was able to walk with the grace of God and a great support of my wife. 1 week past, I laughed today and literally the intolerable pain of the stomach pull was bloody torturing and went through extreme level of hurt. Please take note, do not try to sneeze, laugh, stand up fast, sit at low height, or even feel nausea… suffering level is tremendously high.

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?

I was always on and off a diet pre surgery, so I used a tracker on and off then as well. I never fail to fill mine in now. I have OCD so it settles my mind. Everyone finds a different way of their own. My week is usually - I have hungry days at 1600 cals and really low cal days at 650. in between I eat 1200 to 1500. I am trying to maintain. i can see all this on my tracker.

I'm 5+ yrs post op now, but thanks to MyFitnessPal and my anal logging efforts, I can tell you exactly what I was eating on my 5th week post op! I focused on trying to get my protein in, for sure. Aimed for 70g, didn't always make it, but gave it an honest-to-goodness try. I do remember that i didn't eat much in the early months, due in part because of my of my restriction, but also because i had some serious food-aversion going on at the time and I just really didn't want to eat. I was however, surpassing my daily water goals easily (2L) all the time. I very much enjoyed drinking water, which I definitely preferred over actually eating. Below are screenshots of everything I logged/ate during my 5th week post op. Averaged 454 calories a day that 5th week, which i realized later was on the low side, oopsies. Though i stayed at about his calorie level until about month 3 or 4 when I averaged closer to 600 a day. By month 7 I was averaging 800 cals a day. Today, 5+ years later, I average about 1800 cals a day.

@summerseeker made a great list! I would add to make sure your surgeon prescribes a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) for the first few months after surgery. This is to help calm the acid production in your stomach because our tiny stomachs are still making enough acid for our big stomach at first! With lower acidity you'll be able to sleep better and heal better internally without acid irritating that tender healing tissue. And keep in mind that hydration is crucial for the first few weeks, more than anything else, because it is hydration that will keep you out of the ER for dehydration. Try different temperature fluids (ice cold, hot, room temp), different flavors (sweet water flavoring packets, savory broth, neutral lactose free milk, herbal teas, decaf tea), and different textures (protein milk, protein water, protein shakes, milk thinned yogurt when allowed, sugar free popsicles). All fluid counts at first, even shakes or sugar free popsicles. I ate a LOT of sugar free popsicles the first two weeks. BUT, if you can't get near those 64 oz be sure to let your surgeon know. There is no shame in going to get hydration infusions and usually if you let them know before it is critical, they can arrange for it at an infusion center instead of the ER. Oh and wear something loose to the hospital, preferably something that doesn't put pressure on your stomach. And shoes you don't have to bend over to put on! LOL

I am lucky that the government health care system here covered my operation and all I had to pay was a small subsidy, think 15 Euro, for each night I was in a shared room (even though most of the time no-one shared with me) I was in hospital which in turn then was covered by the health insurance of my employer. Then for the weeks I was in a private room I had to pay that but it was 100% recoverable under the health insurance. Of course, the subsidy should only have been about 30 Euro but as I was in hospital for much longer than the planned two nights it cost the bit more but not much in comparison to what others have to pay and as I say it all was recoverable. It feels like it is all free but in reality my taxes go towards it all

Just read that cipro can cause nausea & vomiting so you may be vomiting from the med or from your healing tummy being vey sensitive at the moment. Is there an alternative antibiotic you could take? Also you can take it with food so maybe take it with your last sip of shake or soup or whatever to see if that helps. Certainly worth a conversation with your doctor. And yes it does get better. It takes a good 8 weeks to fully heal from what is a pretty major surgery. Plus you’re trying to wrap your head around all the changes & requirements of your plan. Allow yourself some grace during this time. But get used to the gurgling. Some of us continue to experience it in the long term. I say I have my own personal abdominal poltergeist rattling the chains, moaning & groaning. It’s just our digestive system working.

I think I will definitely have some tunnel vision when I have paid for my surgery (I plan to do that next week) as then it will feel extra real and I will need to get into my game face haha. It is interesting to see your perspective of it all, I completely get the whole wanting to prove it to yourself bit - I feel that the challenge is always there when it comes to wanting to prove it to ourselves that we are capable! I think I am just saying goodbye to my fave foods for now, temporarily, and definitely in the quantity I have been eating them! Then when I get to eat them again, I will hopefully have more control! Thank you for sharing your experience! ❤️

Thank you so much! I don't personally know anyone else who has had the sleeve so my options of talking about my fears are limited. I've been good up until these last two weeks. Nerves.

Thanks again @Arabesque and @ChunkCat for your advice earlier. I haven't been checking in as much, dealing with continuing health issues. Healthcare providers are difficult to get scheduled with in my area, so I'm just now getting to follow up with them. I've been waiting to get scheduled with a Neurologist since August, but no luck. I've had to burn my days off with work due to Covid at the beginning of the year, so I'm not able to get in with a specialist since the closest one available is about a 4 hour drive from here. There's also no immunologists with availability in 2024 within 4-5 hours from here either, so I'll be waiting on that for a while. I am getting in with a cardiologist to see what is going on. My heart rate is dipping down to 28-29 bpm in my sleep, and I wake up feeling exhausted. I'm on a CPAP and also getting another sleep study scheduled in April to see if adjusting that will help. I'm still just walking about 1-2 miles a day. I walked 4 miles a couple weeks ago, and was hardly able to get out of bed for 3 days. I've never been that drained from that relatively small amount of exercise before. Luckily I was able to work from home and had my laptop in bed with me, but it was a struggle with the 12 hour shifts. I am getting frustrated since I've gained weight back, and I'm 10 lb heavier than I was at New Years, but my primary care thinks whatever issues I'm having is killing my metabolism. I'm starting back on my pre-op diet this week to try to lose a little more. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know, I am open to them. Thanks!

@Missy4391 congratulations on the beginning of your journey I remember thinking that the waiting was one of the worst things, but trust me, it comes around quickly! As others have said, taking before pictures & measurements is a good idea! And I would also advice getting your head into the right space where you don't rely on the scales. I think it is all too easy to get addicted to weighing yourself, especially in the first 4/5 weeks after surgery when your body just needs that space to heal without the added strain of any stress you may feel if your weight fluctuates. This forum was amazing for me to prepare for the surgery and also what to expect after, so I really do recommend reading as much as possible One thing I wish I had done is trial some vitamins to see if I liked the taste pre-surgery. I know people say that your tastebuds can change, which is true, but some of the vitamins are just unbearable 🤢I bought Bariease powder supplement and my god it was the worst thing. I now just take dissolvable orange A-Z vitamins and let the fizz die down and it is so much better! @MrsFitz I think I may have already said this, but I am also in the UK so if you want to chat or have any UK specific questions please do let me know!

I get your frustration. I gained 5 lbs after Christmas and it just wasn't coming off. Last week I graduated off of Hint water and can now drink any water however I did change my diet. I know this is going to sound weird but it worked for me and I'll be 67 in a few weeks. I eat high protein, no sugar, sweetened with erythritol yogurt then my coffee with a small amount of sweetened flavored creamer and whipping cream. Lunch is usually a protein bar and a cheese stick. Protein bar is sweetened with the erythrirol.. Then the snacking begins - I make jello cubes out of unflavored beef gelatin, monk sugar and allulose, unsweetened kool aid and water. I make it thick and cut into 1/2" cubes. Place a hefty serving into a baggy and I can eat as many as I want. I snack from 3 til 8 on jello cubes, not non stop but maybe 3 baggies worth. I too was hungry all the time until I started eating the jello cubes. IDK why it works but in 5 days I lost 6 lbs. I pee non stop but that's ok with me. My jello cubes are about 35 calories a baggy but it's all protein and if you take a tryptophan with it it becomes a complete protein plus its tons of collagen. I've lost a lot of hair the past 6 weeks so trying to fight that. My surgery was 8/14 and so far I've lost 91 pounds (lost 45 before my surgery). I need new knees something awful so highly motivated. 17 lbs to go. I did join the gym 2 weeks ago in preparation for the new knees. Gotta get these old legs strong again. I hope things break for you soon.

I had sleeve surgery July 2023; 1. What was the best part of surgery for you? Everyday things, like my backside no longer taking up more than one seat on the bus, being able to comfortably close belt on plane seat, being able to walk with a bounce in my step, I now love clothes shopping etc. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? Severe complications from the day after the surgery which went on for months 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? Yes, suffered from severe pancreatitis, had a leak in my stomach (twice), allergic reaction to medication given to me in hospital, blood infection. Ended up spending three months in hospital over a period of four months. Had to have another procedure last month also. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Life after so many months in hospital meant it took a few months to get energy back and was on a sick cert so not able to do anything but rest. Now almost 11 months later I feel great for the most part. Have found it difficult at times to cope with the food choices but now that I am on regular food I just have to try and stick to the smaller portions, eating slower and only an occasional alcoholic drink. I don't let anything stop me now, always carry a protein bar with me just in case I end up some place where the food isn't suitable. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? Months as I was on a feeding tube in the hospital and then the times they took me off it I had to go back to liquids and start the reintroduction phase all over again. Since February really that I am comfortable and now I am even trying foods I never ate before (I had homemade egg muffins today - used to hate eggs). 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? I used to consider popcorn a food group in its own right and ate way way too much of it so now just have had it a couple of times. I love potatoes but try to stay away from them. But these are my choices, not a case that I can't tolerate them anymore 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? Vomiting a lot when ill, couldn't even hold down water, but as part of eating only a few times and I know that it was because I ate too quickly. No dumping syndrome. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? 10 months 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? Yes but only now 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I fully believe I suffered PTSD as a result of the complications 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I regretted it for approx 9 months post op and was very annoyed with myself for deciding to have the op but that was only because of the complications and crap-fest I went through. Now I am through the worst of it I am starting to feel better about it all, I no longer blame myself (but haven't really forgiven the doctor yet) and I would recommend it if it is something you need in order to achieve a healthy long life.

Your weight loss is not over until it’s over. Losing for 18 months to 2 years isn’t that uncommon. Your weight loss will naturally slow as you’re able to eat more (this is supposed to happen) & you get closer to your final weight (your new set point) & closer to consuming the number of calories your body needs to function effectively. When it happens to you depends upon those things & some other factors. I reached my goal at 6 months. Like @ms.sss, I too took a while to work out what my maintenance calories were & to be able to eat that much so also did not intentionally mean to lose more. I continued to lose for another 11 or so months. Definitely noticed slowing down at about 5 months (maybe a little before & it got slower & slower. I lost another 11kgs over those last 11 months & in the last of those months I was losing grams in a week and maybe half a kilo a month. So I lost for about 18 months in total but it was obviously where my body wanted me to be (my new set point). I ate a bare 900 calories at 6 months. Got to around 1300 at 18 months. I eat about 1600 calories a day now yet I still weigh the same as I did when my weight stabilised at 18 months.

I believe we should get the the bodies we want, and that doesn't necessarily stop at weight loss surgery. It's wonderful your husband thinks you're perfect, but he's not living in your body. And, yeah, you may want more procedures, but why not? If you can get a body you're comfortable in through plastics, why is that a bad thing? I've had two sets of plastic surgery (but not an arm lift). Recovery sucks in the short term. But what's a few week vs. being happy with your arms forever? Additionally, there is a study that shows that those who get plastics after WLS are more apt to keep the weight off. Anecdotally, the group of women I am in touch with on here who have had plastics, and all 5+ years out, and all have had no significant weight gain, outside the normal bounce.

If all you're having for breakfast is a protein cold brew, that won't stick with you for long. I have a smoothie in the mornings and it packs a good nutritional punch. I recall even from before surgery that a smoothie would keep me going until lunch. My new go-to, after some trial and error, is 150g frozen fruit, 30g baby spinach, 1tsp each of hemp seed, chia, flax, and raw sunflower seeds, 100g drained and rinsed canned beans (cannellini, white beans, black beans, chickpeas will all work), plus 2 scoops unflavored protein (20g), a scoop of beetroot powder and a scoop of Benefiber. I fill with as much water as my 20oz blender cup will hold. I add a squeeze of the bottled grated ginger to kind of mask the bean flavor, and I blend the heck out of it with a Vitamix so it's really smooth. It's about 360 calories, 30g protein, and has 16g fiber (11 from ingredients, 5 from Benefiber). It takes me about 45 minutes to drink it at 9 weeks post-op.