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Hello and congratulations on your surgery Nobody is totally prepared for this surgery. After all we learned to eat as a baby. We never gave a thought to the fact that we might need to re learn these skills. Add to this all the rules that we are told we have to adhere to and then we have remorse. It doesn't last long. Soon you will have it all figured out. Give yourself time to heal. Drink as much as you can, my intake was way off for the first month but as soon as I reached my teams goals, I felt much better. I had pain in the middle of my chest, not my stomach. I was advised on here to drink slower, try hot, cold or frozen drinks and do not gulp in air. If your pain is in the stomach area, if you are allowed try to, vary the temp of your drinks. Cold drinks sometimes cramp up your stomach. I never had gas pain but have read on here that it is usually in the shoulders. It might take you a while to eat all your fav foods but you will be able to soon, mostly. Over sweet, greasy and stodgy are all foods that are off my menu now. My pre surgery favs were salmon and mussels and I heave just thinking about them ! Why, I do not know. I am not bothered about the loss tbh. There are lots of foods to eat instead. I love that I can eat the tastiest morsels and leave the dross to others.

Thank you for your reply. Yeah, I focus on the most I’ll eat is maybe 4 ounces I measure it out as like a half a cup. It just seems like after I eat that half a cup couple hours later i’m “hungry” again. I think a lot of that is that I just want to eat like meat or something like that. I was a big meat person before surgery. I mean the last meal I ate before surgery was almost a half a pound of primary rib. I think that’s what I’m missing. The most is the meat. I’ve been adding canned chicken in the blender with my broccoli and cheese then have a half a cup of it. I made salmon salad , instead of tuna salad, and it came out to be a half a cup. I’m using my half cup measuring cup for everything. It just feels weird. I do notice that if I eat something too heavy or maybe a little bit too much I hiccup. I also use my digital scale for stuff that I have to weigh that’s not puréed like cheese, or the tuna, salmon stuff like that.

Be gentle on yourself. You’ve never done this before so of course you have doubts & worries & questions & … Walk, walk, walk for gas pains. And yes arm movements will help too. The surgical gas is in your abdominal cavity (not in your tummy or intestines so gas-x doesn’t really help & neither does trying to burp or fart it out) & rises to sit behind your lungs putting pressure in nerves causing the shoulder pain. The gas is then absorbed into your lungs where you breathe it out hence why the activity is helpful. It’s usually all fine within a week. While you are healing (takes about 8 weeks to fully heal) & while you are losing, it’s important to follow your plan. You’ll have the best success that way. And ask questions of your team (or here) if something doesn’t make sense to you or you’re confused. Go slowly with your eating & drinking (sip, sip, sip) especially now & for the next months. Your tummy is healing. It’s very sensitive. Yes try different temps - I found warm drinks more soothing as cold drinks made my poor tummy cramp. You may find for a few weeks your tummy is very fussy & doesn’t like certain foods, flavours or textures. Even the smell of somethings can turn you off. It’s temporary & passes after a couple of months. In the long term you may choose to eat a lot of your old favourites. Smaller portions, less frequently, or variations of a favourite (ingredient swaps or changed cooking methods). That’s up to you & how you want to eat in the long term. In a few months you’ll look back & realise what you’ve achieved & how worth it it’s been. All the best.

Add me to the list of cheese lovers. I told my husband just yesterday that I should cut back on cheese (a little intolerance to lactose), an hour later I made a chaffle with gouda and herbs. It was so good. My defense- gouda is easier to digest. I only do full fat cheese, but I TRY to eat it sparingly.

This has been immensely helpful! I have surgery on Tuesday and just realized today that I’d been spending so much time preparing for how to eat-not how to feel. Thank you for sharing your experience and uplifting words.

yep - the others are correct. It's the added sugar that they want you to avoid (or really limit). Most of the sugar in yogurt (unless it's got added sugar in it because of the flavorings) is lactose, which is naturally occurring in milk. I eat yogurt every day and have since my surgery nine years ago. I eat very little meat, so having Greek yogurt for breakfast starts my day off with a good amount of protein.

I went through three sizes of new knickers & 3 sizes of bras. Gets expensive. Yikes! My advice is to do get properly fitted for bras. You may be surprised how much the shape of your boobs change. And yes empty breast are real but I see you’re thinking of having a breast lift in the future so empty boobs won’t be a long term thing for you.

This has been so exciting! I am starting to feel good about myself and more confident. I cant wait to see how the surgery helps me continue my journey!

I shopped my wardrobe for most as I had kept a lot across sizes (US6-12) but in many cases I missed my window. Wrong season or dropped before I had a chance to wear them. I just bought odd things to fill in gaps. Didn’t spend a lot of money. Thrift & consignment stores are a great option too & then you can donate them back or sell them again. Go for elastic or drawstring waists or stretch when you can which will cover you for a couple of sizes. I also belted a lot of things. Better to go slowly because you never know where you may actually settle. When I reached my goal & was wearing a US 6/8 I started buying a lot more & really restocking my wardrobe because I thought yay I’m done. Bad mistake as I kept losing & those clothes became too big. I had to buy new bras, new knickers & clothes all over again. So be careful.

for clothes in general, I'd shop thrift stores since you're going to blow through sizes pretty quickly. Although leggings are cheap (and hard to find in thrift stores, too...)- so maybe I'd buy a new pair or two of those every couple of months. But more expensive clothes, no. In two months they're going to be too big for you.