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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'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.

@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!

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!

Ok, so there are lots of posts out there about concerns about speed of weight loss, amount of weight loss, how much is too much weight lost, how much is too little, etc. etc. The same responses inevitably come back, about how we are all different, we lose at our own rates, genetics, starting weight, height, gender, age are all factors, don't compare, etc. etc. But the reality is that no one really cares about the reasons for the differences, we all seem to just wanna see the NUMBERS. And then compare them to our own. Le Sigh. Sooooo....being a one who personally LOVES numbers and data and spreadsheets, I thought I would start a little project. I want to collect stats from any willing members and i will compile the data into a lovely spreadsheet and graph(s) organized by certain variables. Doesn't that sound like fun???? 😂😂😂😂 So, for FUNSIES, send me the following info (if you are willing!), and i after i collect a good-enough sized sample (say at least 100?), I'll do my thing. It may take a week, a month a year, depending on how many people participate. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery * the final report will have names/usernames removed in an effort to a bit of privacy if you don't want to reply to the thread with the info, feel free to DM me ** of course this will not be in any way some definitive scientific report! - ms.sss

I feel your pain about the pool our local was close for two long years as it was rebuilt - where I live the gym I’m a part of is part of the council group ‘city of greater Geelong’ so membership is for all centres - they are all within 25 to 30 mins away and I do classes as two of the other centres regularly (splashdown and leisurelink) but nothing quiet like having one 5 mins from home 😀 as a bonus the newly opened centre which opened 2 days before I had surgery has a warm water pool (25mt) which is only for 16 years and over and separate area from the main pool. I told my surgeon at the 2 week mark I had returned to aqua classes…. He was pleased fortunately but told me to take it easy lol just waiting for full clearance for Body Pump class haha

My program skipped pureed foods and went directly to soft proteins with the instructions to chew thoroughly. But your best bet for purees is blended soups. You can make a very flavorful soup and puree it, and it will still be tasty (as opposed to pureeing meat, which is gross). Bean soups and butternut squash bisque work well. You might also try a ricotta bake in that stage, which can be made by mixing a cup of ricotta and an egg, spreading this in a greased baking pan, and topping with a non-chunky marinara and some mozzarella and parmesan, and then baking at 350F until the cheese is nice and brown, maybe 30-45 minutes. As for protein drinks, you should plan to be supplementing with those for quite some time, at least several weeks. Some people can get what they need from food really early, but others need at least one protein shake a day for several months. You also might want some plain, unflavored protein powder to add to things like soup or smoothies to increase protein.

First time posting on these forums, so hello everyone. Glad to have found this space to talk about my experience as I find it very hard to communicate with everyone else in my regular day to day life. I'm exactly 15 days post op (Gastric Sleeve) as I type this. And honestly, after reading many replies on here, I almost feel survivors guilt, but I do feel blessed as I thankfully did not experience many issues whatsoever. 24 hours after surgery I walked out of the hospital on my own, sore, but proud. I guess my biggest issue has been sleeping as I move around a lot while I sleep and at the beginning it would wake me up from pain for twisting and turning while I slept, and even then, that's no longer an issue. But, I never had nausea, or vomit, did not take any pain medication past the first 48 hours, I'm not trying to brag, just feeling fortunate after reading some stories on here. Everyone has their own stories and journeys, for me I was obese my whole life. This was ok through my 20s as I felt invincible, and eventually those checks I was writing on my body came back to collect. Back pain and diabetes were first. But it wasn't until a week before the world shut down that things went really off the wall. A long term relationship ended, and as the world closed, it kept me from my support groups, and led me down a dark path of basically eating and drinking myself almost to death with nowhere to go. At my absolute heaviest I thought I would die at a staggering 407 pounds. Poetic as that's the area code for my city lol. Knowing I had to make a change or I would not make it to 40 I went to a doctor, which led to a cancer scare. At that moment my life changed, and I knew change needed to happen now. I began diet and working out and made it down to about 375-380 where I had been hovering for over two years. Bariatric surgery is what I knew I needed to help me, and after fighting with insurance for two years, I finally got a new job last November, and the insurance there covered the surgery 100%! So I began the process in January. And on May 30th, 2024, at 10AM, I went in for surgery. To say that life has changed, for the better, is an understatement. In two weeks I have dropped almost 30 pounds. I'm feeling amazing as far as my stomach (kinda weirds me out to say pouch lol) is concerned post surgery. Still in the liquid diet though looking forward to chewing something this weekend, as I'm absolutely sick of Jello. I am still not hungry, and almost feels like a miracle. My blood sugar is stabilizing without medication. My blood pressure is improving almost daily. Walking a mile a day does not leave me searching for oxygen, and I can't wait to start the gym on June 30th and really kick this into high gear. TL/DR: This is a second change at life, and I will not waste it. Look forward to learning more from others through this process. Onwards and upwards.

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.

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.

@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'm currently almost 3 weeks post op and am on 2 oz servings of purees, but I don't know how many per day. I find that I'm not very hungry during the day but by around 7pm, I am hungry. By that time I've already had a "breakfast" puree and a "lunch" puree and will have "dinner" but after that, I am just hungry. Continuing to meet my fluid goals with water and Jello don't really do anything to help. I feel like I need more substance but I am unsure how many servings of 2 oz purees in a day I should be consuming.

nah, i get it, i'm a numbers gal myself, and i LIVE for tracking and data and spreadsheets! ok,so if i were to respond to this specific statement then, my surgeon made his calculations with my weight when i first got accepted into the program...which was 2+ YEARS BEFORE my actual surgery (long story, but i backed out twice before i finally went through it). granted, for ME, it didn't really make a difference because i was the same weight on my acceptance date in 2016, as i was 2 weeks prior to my surgery date in 2018. but im sure many others could not say the same if they were to use the same barometer. long story short, "excess weight" is arbitrary, and the calculations are different depending on who you ask. your best measure of success and progress in the endeavour of weight loss is yourself. is your weight loss graph trending down? yes? then YAY! again, you are doing great...but you don't need me (or anyone else) to validate that, you can see it yourself in your numbers and hard work ❤️ .

Hi! I had VGS on 8/23/23. 4 weeks from surgery TODAY! I feel great. The past few days have been weird, though. I can't eat or drink as much as I have been able to the past 2 weeks. I used to be able to somewhat easily get down a protein shake in 30 minutes. Now it takes me a few hours. Does that sound right? I don't feel sick or anything. It just feels like I am going backwards. Should I be concerned about this? Anyone had similar experiences? Thanks for your help!! Melanie

I appreciate you responding and your suggestions. I don't know about beef jello..I have texture eating issues. Is it just like regular jello? My day goes like this: Breakfast: Coffee w/heavy cream (1 tsp), my multivitamin chew, 1 calcium chew, .5 mg taurine, 2.8 grams magnesium glutamate, 2 tsp collagen protein w/hyaluronic acid all in my coffee, 1 pro/prebiotic 3 strips turkey bacon at 30 calories each and one egg or 2 egg white egg bites with 1/2 teaspoon red pepper Lunch: 1/2 cup turkey chili w/mushrooms and teaspoon G. Hughs chili Thai dipping sauce (no sugar 5 calories 2 carbs) with 1 tablespoon Fage Greek yogurt or Atkins protein bar. Dinner: Fairlife Core Elite protein drink (42 grams) or above chili 1/2 cup or 3oz chicken breast w/broccoli florets - 2 IF I have a snack: its .5 cup fair life chocolate elite core creami protein ice cream 10+- protein grams. This is all I eat for a max of 800 calories. I lost 21lbs before surgery (started diet before surgery May 29th) and lost 50lbs since surgery on August 21 to today. I just don't understand why I've only lost 21 lbs in three months and only 3.8lbs this last month.

Greetings. My name is Jacki, 41 years old from Norther California and I am new around these parts. Here is what my weight is looking like. First visit with surgeon after referal sent over, 11/28/23 I was 373 pounds. 4/19/2024 was 353 after my doctor told me to lose 20 pounds before my next appointment. My scale at home lied to me by like 5 pounds so we will go with the office scale. I left that appointment on the 19th with a surgery date of May 9th, 2024. Nervous and excited is an understatement. I start my 2 week pre-op diet tomorrow 4/25 and it is gonna suck because my birthday is 4/27 but I know this is the best birthday gift I can give myself. This is like the last piece of my puzzle of taking over my life and figuring out who I am and who I want to be. Anyways, I look forward to getting to know all of you guys. Have a great day.

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! ❤️

Just wanted to say I'm starting Day 13 of my 2 week preop liquid diet and it's not so bad at this point. I mean, I wouldn't recommend it to friends, but my energy levels are good and the hunger isn't terrible. The first few days I was tired and cold all the time, but it is winter and I live near Boston, so cold comes with the territory. 4 weeks would be hard, but you can do it! I suggest getting any source of temptation out of sight, and keep yourself busy. Also, if you're like me, you will start thinking of the most random food-related things, like a food you like or a restaurant you went to one time 10 years ago, just totally out of the blue. Avoid cooking shows. I stupidly was halfway through an episode of Great British Baking Show before I realized what I was doing! OMG, why am I watching someone cook a tart right now?!? If you're allowed it, get the chicken soup flavored shakes (I know Bariatric Fusion, Unjury, and Celebrate have versions, if those brands are available to you). That has been such a life saver as I'm really tired of everything being sweet. Sugar free jello is lovely and only 5 calories, so it should be fine for you to have. It's almost like chewing, sort of. Good luck!

For me personally, I stick to 3 days of heavy weight lifting and it works for me and my goals, and I have always done the same. My goal is to maintain a good muscle tone (currently my inbody analysis tells me that my muscle mass is excellent and so is my lean body mass). I've always loved the slim but toned look on myself and I am not a fan of being on the bigger muscular side for me personally, although I admire that on other people. There were periods where I worked out with weights 4 times a week and I gained some weight (albeit muscle) and I wasn't 100% happy with the way I looked. My point is it depends on your goals, if you're trying to build as much muscle as possible then 4 or even 5 days will do you good, however if you want to maintain and cut down on body fat then 3 days are more than enough. Sometimes I add a strength and conditioning day (these are my favorite), and I realize Pilates is a form of resistance training so it all works out. With that being said, I used to do much more HIIT and intense cardio prior to surgery but now I stick to light jogging reaching my step goal and sometimes I'll do a fun trampoline workout (which burns a ton). I try not to rely on cardio to lose or maintain but on a good diet regimen to maintain a lower body fat and my strength training for building muscle and altering body composition. You are not as sore because you are building muscle and getting stronger, I suggest mixing strength and conditioning during your workouts so if you're training legs your supersets can be deadlifts + jump rope, reverse lunges + high knees and so on. This would particularly work wonderfully with upper body workouts.

Some great advice from the others. Heartily recommend Drs Matthew Weiner & John Pilcher too.They are great sources of information. Try not eating until you feel full. Aim for had enough. I ask myself do I need that next bite or do I just want it. Remember to keep eating slowly too. It takes a good 20 minutes for your full message to get through (mine can take way longer than that). So by the time you feel full you can easily have eaten more than you need/should. Wouldn't hurt to check your portions & track your calories for a couple of weeks just to ensure you are not over estimating - it’s easy to do. Also, maybe check in with your dietician to review the best portion sizes & calorie goals for you for where you are now.

In another weight loss attempt I went on an all liquid diet for 4 months (yup months). The first week is the hardest. After that the routine was kind of set. I found it very helpful to keep busy. It was especially important to keep my hands busy. Hobbies, like playing solitaire or crochet, and physical activities that you cannot eat while doing were helpful. I also focused on just counting down the days. Reminding myself that I only had "X" number of days to go helped me focus on the end game. And water. Lots of water. Best wishes!

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.

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.

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