Tufflaw

Another good low-cost high protein option is fat-free refried beans. A can at Target is 85 cents and you can get 4 or 5 servings out of it if you're only a few weeks post-op. I heat up about 3.5 oz in the microwave, then mix in about half ounce of shredded cheese and pour on a little taco sauce and it's delicious. I had that for dinner several days a week for the first couple of weeks post-op.

Several people have mentioned that at this point 800 cal/day is too low, your body is probably in starvation mode. Try to increase to 1000 cal/day, same type of food but slightly larger portions. This will help you feel fuller while hopefully kickstarting your metabolism again. Drink a LOT between meals to fill up your stomach too (but wait at least 30 minutes after eating before drinking anything). I personally hate drinking water so I drink lots and lots of crystal light lemonade. It has almost no calories and is still 99.99% water. Try supplementing your breakfast with a protein shake. That will help you reach your protein goals while also filling you up. I drink one Premier Protein every single morning after breakfast (Chocolate flavor!) It feels like I'm treating myself and I'm adding 30 grams of protein every day. That usually keeps me satisfied until lunch. You said you're logging now - are you also weighing your foods? If not, you are likely grossly underestimating your portion sizes. My wife made a chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight and I decided to have some - I weighed out 4.5 oz into a bowl and it looked like a VERY small portion - she was shocked when I told her how much it was, it was actually a little more than I've been eating lately (3-4 oz per meal). It was actually really filling though, but if I just eyeballed it I almost definitely would have eaten too much and not even realized it. The "surgery is a tool" can mean several things. For some (most?) it provides an automatic restriction so that you physically can't eat as much as you used to without getting sick. For those who had gastric bypass, it also provides an incentive for what you're eating to be healthy in order to avoid dumping syndrome. Bypass patients also get the benefit of malabsorption. For others, it's the knowledge that you underwent major permanent surgery as a last ditch effort to get healthy and that can help change your mindset about eating. I'm in the position to have gone through both major weight loss surgeries. I had the sleeve in December 2016 and lost about 120 pounds in about six months. I was a regular on the forums here, I tracked every single bite (my personal recommendation is My Fitness Pal - I also weighed myself every morning (which is not always recommended) and took a full body photo with the app once a week to see my progress), Then I had some personal/profession issues which screwed up my schedule and my mindset and slowly began to gain weight back. I stopped tracking, stopped eating healthy, and all of a sudden a few years later I realized I had regained almost all of the pre-surgery weight. I was depressed, upset, embarrassed, ashamed, but I decided to do something about it and I went back to my doctor (I had stopped going to appointments too) and he said I was a good candidate for revision surgery to gastric bypass. It's been just over 4 weeks since that surgery and I'm down 36 pounds so far - not losing as quickly as the first surgery, but still losing. I still track religiously, and follow the meal plan exactly the way it was given to me (first month, soft high-protein foods with no fruits and veggies, no sugar, no bread, pasta, etc.), just starting my second month by adding some veggies to every meal. I had a couple of brief stalls but I kept with the program and they went away. I've been slowly increasing my daily calories and that has helped as well (still below 1000 most days but I've gone as high as 1200). In order to feel like I'm not depriving myself of sweets, I have one or sometimes two containers of sugar-free chocolate and vanilla swirl Jello every day. Last time after a few months I added a small portion of Halo Top ice cream as a daily dessert - very low calories, low or no carbs, and delicious. It's important not to feel that you're depriving yourself. Another thing to look at is your sleep - are you getting enough sleep? When I get a good night's sleep I lose about a pound over night. The times when I don't get enough sleep are the days I notice a stall or even a slight increase in weight. Given your starting weight is there a chance you have sleep apnea? I was diagnosed with sleep apnea several years ago and started using a CPAP, my sleeping improved dramatically. Ultimately, the surgery is not a magic bullet, although when things are going well it can seem like magic, but that happens when you put in the work. It's not bullshit, or useless, it has helped many many people who have tried everything else (myself included). You said you lost 30 lbs so far, that's great! That's 30 lbs you probably wouldn't have lost without the surgery. Now you have to figure out how to kickstart the rest of your journey. To summarize, here's what I would do if I were in your place: 1 - Increase your calories - same healthy foods for larger portions 2 - Increase your protein - add a protein shake after breakfast if necessary (wait 30 minutes after eating first) 3 - Increase your liquid intake - drink water if you enjoy it, or mix up some crystal light lemonade or something similar, drink ALL THE TIME 4 - Get a good night's sleep 5 - Keep tracking everything - make sure you WEIGH everything you eat, never eyeball. You can get a basic food scale for 10 bucks 6 - Don't give up! I know it's frustrating but based on your posts you're in a tough headspace right now. If you keep going on about how the surgery is bullshit, useless, etc. it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Good luck!

I'm going in next Wednesday for revision from sleeve to bypass, very excited to start this journey again! For those who went through this already, I was curious about eating/drinking after the surgery. After my sleeve, they had me eating real food the next day, starting with eggs for Breakfast and then for other meals chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, blended very smooth. I was able to take in about 4-6 oz per meal with no problem, also got my liquids and Protein in. I know that the bypass pouch is significantly smaller than the sleeve, so I was wondering what the diet is like after surgery. I know they want us to drink 64 oz of Water a day, but is that even possible with such a small pouch? Thanks!

I'm going in next Wednesday for revision from sleeve to bypass, very excited to start this journey again! For those who went through this already, I was curious about eating/drinking after the surgery. After my sleeve, they had me eating real food the next day, starting with eggs for breakfast and then for other meals chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, blended very smooth. I was able to take in about 4-6 oz per meal with no problem, also got my liquids and protein in. I know that the bypass pouch is significantly smaller than the sleeve, so I was wondering what the diet is like after surgery. I know they want us to drink 64 oz of water a day, but is that even possible with such a small pouch? Thanks!

I had my original sleeve done in 2016, went from 290 pre-surgery to 195, felt fantastic, no problems at all, they even invited me to have my picture taken for the doctor's advertising! Then I had some personal and professional problems and managed to gain EVERYTHING back. I met with my doctor and he recommended revision, which I am scheduled for some time in November, currently getting my clearances. He said after my endoscopy we'd discuss whether to re-sleeve or convert to bypass. He said if my sleeve was still intact it would have to be a bypass, but if it was dilated I could choose. I had my endoscopy last week and the sleeve is indeed dilated so now I have to make a decision. Another factor is I've had GERD for over 10 years and take esomeprazole daily which helps a lot but I've heard it's not great to take that forever either. I've also heard that bypass usually cures GERD, so that's another consideration. I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone who has either been re-sleeved or converted to bypass so I can have a better understanding of both options before I meet with my doctor again, Thanks!

Thanks for all the comments. The endoscopy revealed that the sleeve was dilatated so I could either be resleeved or convert to bypass. After speaking with my doctor he recommended the bypass because of my GERD, and I took his advice. My surgery is scheduled for 11/17 and I'm excited to restart this journey!

I had the gastric sleeve surgery on December 21, 2016 and lost over a hundred pounds in about five months, then a few more, bringing me from 315 pre-surgery to 196 at my best. It was amazing, it was like magic. I posted here a lot and my whole story can be found in my profile. Then I had a series of personal setbacks including but not limited to losing my job, having a child diagnosed with a medical issue, starting my own business and then losing my own business. Along the way I have ballooned up to, as of today, 296 pounds. I'm horrified and ashamed of myself. I worked so hard and was doing so well, and I completely blew it. I've been feeling that way for a while, and finally decided to do something about it - I met with my original surgeon today and am officially on board for revision surgery. Under my old insurance I had to wait 6 months from my first consultation, under my new insurance it's only 3 months so he said it should be in early November. He doesn't know which type of revision they will need to do, he said they need to do an endoscopy to see if the original sleeve is still in good condition or if it's stretched out (I think he used the term "dilated"). If it's stretched they can re-sleeve. If it's not they would need to do the bypass. I've had GERD for over 10 years and I've heard the bypass cures it so I wouldn't mind. I know what I need to do because I've done it before. I also know what I need to watch out for because I screwed up before. Part of the pre-surgical requirements is to speak with a psychologist, but I think I'll find one and start going regularly to help me work through a lot of the issues that caused me to be in this position again. I didn't want to have to re-take this journey but I'm excited to be back on the path to recovery.

I'll try to be as detailed as I can to help others about to go through this. My surgery was scheduled for this past Wednesday 12/21, I was told to go to the hospital at 7:30 AM. My wife had to take the kids to school so my mother brought me. No waiting, immediately they took me into the back to start getting ready, and my mom was able to come. They filled out some forms, put the IV in, gave me a shot of Heparin (blood-thinner) in my stomach (didn't hurt) and told me I'd get an additional shot every 8 hours until I got discharged. They gave me a few pills and some horrifically nasty stuff to drink (everything I had to drink in the hospital was terrible). Some of the nurses came by to introduce themselves, the anesthesiologist came by to chat. I had been concerned because I had been coming down with a cold but all I had left was a slight cough so it was fine. My doctor came by to let me know I would be going in soon. He had a busy day, at least 6 surgeries! I think I was number 3. So about 9:45 or so they wheeled me in. My mom was given a tracking number, and there was a monitor in the waiting room where you could find a patient's tracking number, and it would light up green when they were in surgery, and blue when they were in recovery. They said they'd call when I was out of surgery (they didn't). I went into the room and laid down on a very narrow table and got strapped in. My doctor wasn't in there yet, but they needed to prep me anyway. They put a mask on face and told me to breath deeply, and bam I was out. My next recollection was waking up in recovery with an oxygen mask (they give everyone oxygen via mask for two hours post-surgery) feeling very woozy and nauseous . I told them I was feeling sick and they gave me something that helped. Soon after, they brought my mom and wife back to spend some time with me, but I was really in and out. Shortly after, they had me stand up and walk around a bit, and then they sat me in a lazy-boy type chair for a while, then I walked around a little more. Walking felt OK, felt some tightness in my stomach around the incisions but it wasn't unbearable. Then they put me in a wheelchair and brought me to my room which I was sharing with another guy who got the same surgery from the same doctor that day (he arrived later). They put me in the bed and asked me a bunch of questions to get me admitted. After that it was mostly just sleeping as much as I could. Every two hours I had to get up and walk for several minutes. They got all the bariatric patients up together so every two hours it was like the world's worst conga line and we shambled down the hospital hallway. I made sure to go to the bathroom after every single walk so I wouldn't have to get up unnecessarily. They let me have ice chips and thank god for that. I didn't have a sore throat from the surgery although I'd heard some do. It was a long night, people kept coming in to check blood pressure, give me heparin shots, take blood once I think, maybe twice. The next morning some folks from the hospital came in to give me and my roommate a holiday gift of a poinsettia which was nice but I would have rather kept sleeping. In the morning they brought me down for a GI check. I had to drink some absolutely foul liquid four times while they took x-rays of my stomach (standing) to check for leaks. No leaks! So I was cleared for Breakfast. Breakfast was some Water, some orange Jello, and some Protein things to drink, they tasted completely disgusting and I couldn't finish them. When they saw I tolerated it well, they brought lunch, which was scrambled eggs, Powerade zero, and more horrible Protein drinks including one marked Prostat that I think I was supposed to drink but it was so awful I couldn't take more than a sip. I had noticed over the night that was having pains in my back and shoulder, I was told it was gas pains and they would go away, I just needed to keep walking. The surgeon stopped in at some point to check in, told me my surgery lasted just 26 minutes, amazing. He said I did a good job with the liver shrinking diet. About 2:30 or so I was discharged. I was able to dress myself which was nice. I had an appendectomy and umbilical hernia repair last December, and felt much worse after that, and couldn't dress myself when I left the hospital. The drive home was uneventful, when I got back I took a little nap, but I got up to walk every hour or so. For the first day or two I noticed some ankle and calf pain when I got up but that went away and today it's almost all gone. For dinner my wife made me some pureed tuna with low-fat mayo. I ate two ounces and could barely finish it. I drank about 2/3 of a bottle of Protein shake (the Premier Protein, same thing I drank on my two week liver shrinking diet), took me a looong time to drink it. Then drank some water, not that much, I was being very cautious. When I swallowed it felt very weird, like I could feel it settling into my stomach. Didn't hurt, but just weird. I didn't have any real unbearable pain. When I stood up it hurt where my incisions were. If I coughed it hurt a lot but that went away. Spent that day (thursday) just relaxing and walking and trying to get down some fluids. Sleeping was uneventful, I took some of the percoset they prescribed and that helped. I slept on my back the entire night which is rare for me. Friday I felt a little better. Ankles still hurt, and my neck was killing me, I assumed it was the gas pain. Breakfast was two scrambled eggs which took over an hour to eat but I finished almost all of them. I finished the Protein Drink and tried some powerade zero which was delicious. Lunch was the rest of the tuna (3.4 oz, ate the whole thing), and dinner was egg salad with low fat mayo, and a little bit or paprika and mustard for taste. I ate 3 oz and it went down pretty quick. At some point during the day I took a shower which was great. No problem at all standing for several minutes. Sleeping was again uneventful. Today I woke up late, so no breakfast. I had more egg salad for lunch and it went down fairly quickly with no adverse effect. Drank a protein shake (11 oz) and 16 oz of powerade zero, no problem at all going down. Before the surgery, the doctor said it should easier and less painful day after day, week after week, and that's been true so far. I had read about "sleever's remorse" and yes I've felt it too, starting with when I first woke up in the hospital, and it comes back several times a day. I think once I reach the point where there's no pain, and I can eat solid foods again, and get back into my regular routine and see the effects of the surgery it will go away. I know that this was the right thing for me to do, and even though maybe right this second I feel like I wouldn't do it again if given another chance, I'm pretty confident that I'll be happy with my decision in the coming weeks, months, years, etc. So that's the journey so far. I'l be happy to answer any questions anyone has, and good luck to anyone who is still pending surgery!

Good luck! I bounced back up a few pounds today, not sure what happened, should even out tomorrow.

Hey sorry I haven't posted in so long, didn't realize it's been over a month, a LOT has happened, I think I may have posted in another thread about it, but I should keep up with the updates here too! First, I made it to ONEderland! That was amazing. I've been fluctuating slightly between the 1's and 2's but that's fine, a little plateau isn't going to hurt me, and the last few days it's started going down again which is awesome. Had a non-weight related life changing experience in May, I unexpectedly lost my job which was rough, and I was worried it would affect my weight loss but didn't even slow it down! My wife went looking for a job and found a great one with health benefits which was the most important thing we wanted, and I started my own business which is actually doing quite well. At the pace I'm at I may earn more this year than I would have at my old job so maybe it was a blessing in disguise. And a HUGE non-scale victory yesterday. I took my family to an amusement park for the first time since surgery, and I fit comfortably on every ride for the first time in a LONG time. That felt really great being able to ride with my kids and not worry about being embarrassed about squeezing in or needed some kind of extender or something. I'm .6 (that's POINT 6) away from my initial arbitrary goal of 197, hopefully will hit it soon, and then on to my more extreme goal of 179, which is possible. Hope everyone is doing well, I'll try not to stay away so long next time!!

Yeah I need to sit on cushions now, it's crazy

I haven't been posting here lately, been a rough couple of weeks (unrelated to WLS). Lost my job unexpectedly which sucked, but I started my own business and my wife was able to find work so things are looking up. And most importantly, as of this morning, for the first time in probably 25 years or more, there was a number 1 in the first spot on the scale! Down exactly 115 lbs in just about 6 months, amazing. Had my doctor's visit today and they said that the goal is to lose 70% of excess weight in 1 year, I'm at 80% down in 6 months, so they're very happy (and so am I!) Just felt like sharing!

Good luck!! In terms of advice, I posted a ton of it in my initial thread I made after my surgery, rather than redo it all, check this out:

Got some great news from the scale this morning, I'm officially down 100.4 pounds from my starting weight of 314.6 on 12/7/16. That was the date I started my pre-surgery diet, and my surgery date was 12/21/16. I never dreamed it would work out so well. So close to my ultimate goal, but this was an unofficial goal for two reasons. First, 100 pounds just sounds nice Second, when I did Weight Watchers about 10 years ago, the lowest I ever got was 214, so I wanted to get there again. Before that, I can't even remember the last time I was so low, maybe 25 years ago. Anyway, just wanted to share!

According to my entry in myfitnesspal, it's listed as "22 oz (56g), oven roasted turkey breast portion", and I added some low-fat mayo to it. It wasn't too bad actually.

I try to stay in the 50 or so carbs per day range.

Thanks! I haven't updated it in a little while but I posted fairly regular updates at my post here: But in a nutshell - I've been eating a pretty similar diet ever since I got off pureed foods. Every single morning since the day after my surgery I have scrambled eggs. For the last few months it's two eggs with one ounce of shredded cheese. I usually get 32 oz of water in before lunch, I drink most of it during my drive to work. I eliminated certain things from my diet, including soda (and really all drinks except water); most processed sugars, rice, potatoes, bread, pasta. Lunch might be some sort of leftovers from home, or a tuna or chicken salad. I can stomach about 5-6 oz of food per meal. For a few days the other week I decided to add some cold cuts to my diet so I got some nice sliced ham, turkey and cheese and made little rollups for a couple of days and dipped them in mustard. I did 2 oz of each and it was great. This week I'm eating barbecued ribs I made in an electric pressure cooker, I made enough for 4 or 5 days and just bring one in and microwave it. Dinner might be similar to lunch, although I do try to be more "dinner like". I might have a sausage or two, I love the bacon and cheddar sausages from BJ's. I will either have two and that's my whole dinner (and really fills me up), or just one plus some roasted brussels sprouts. Tonight my daughters wanted to eat out so we went to Wendy's and I had a small chili. I sometimes make zoodles (zucchini noodles) and have that with chicken and some pesto, it's great. I have totally eliminated snacks from my diet. Some folks at work have little bowls on their desk with candy and chocolate, etc, I used to graze on it constantly. Now I never touch it, not even one hershey's kiss (and they do look good!) If I'm hungry between meals I'll have a greek yogurt (I love the Dannon's light and fit boston cream pie flavor), and recently I started having 1 oz of almonds every so often. For dessert I almost always have a jello sugar-free chocolate pudding and a few pops, either sugar free ice pops or sugar free fudge pops. My daily caloric intake is usually about 1100, sometimes a little more. The most important macro, for me, to keep low is my carbs. I don't really care as much about the calories or fat. Exercise - right now I'm in the middle of something at work which consumes my entire day, but ordinarily I go to a planet fitness near my office 2-3 times a week at lunch time to do the circuit training, and a few times a week I go to the planet fitness near my house at night and do the bike for an hour. I've been extremely lucky - no stalls. I weigh myself daily in the morning and have noticed, every so often, that I stay the same for a couple of days in a row, or even go up a fraction for maybe a day or two, but always start heading back down. Twice I've been bad. On my birthday I ate some ice cream cake and on my niece's birthday I had cake. I regretted it both times, felt really yucky and sluggish. Although if I recall correctly I lost weight the next day both times. Maybe the sugar shocked my body into boosting my metabolism (but I wouldn't recommend it). Good luck!

Wow, this is more than malpractice, it's fraud, possibly criminal. Speak with an attorney and see if they think you should report to the police or at the VERY least the local medical licensing authority.

OK so I tried the zoodles again today with a new recipe. I had them cold this time, no salt. I spiralized a zucchini, mixed in 3.5 oz of chicken, and 60 grams of basil pesto sauce and ate it cold. AMAZING! It was absolutely delicious and totally filling. Looking forward to having it again soon.

Things are still going great, the weight is still coming off but slowing just a bit and I'm fine with that. I've been noticing loose skin which I was hoping wasn't going to happen, but if the weight loss slows maybe it won't be that bad. Either way, I'd rather be healthy with loose skin than the way I was before, so I'm happy. Found a new favorite snack - celery sticks! I was never big into celery before, but I love it now. I cut up a few stalks into little sticks and have it with hummus (I've been getting the Spinach Artichoke hummus from BJ's - delicious!) I had some the other day with some peanut butter as a dessert, and yesterday I found a chicken cheddar dip at Target (only 1 carb per serving! Also low fat and low cal), and had some of that with some celery sticks. I'm also making my roasted brussels sprouts regularly and eating them several times a week with my meals. I've noticed my calories are going up - still very low for my weight, but finally at the point that Myfitnesspal will actually record it (for those unfamiliar, it gives you a warning if you end a day with under 1200 calories). Something new too - I bought a Veggetti Pro (spiralizer) this week, it lets you take veggies and basically turn them into noodles so you feel like you're eating pasta without actually eating pasta. I bought some zucchinis and spiralized one into noodles (or Zoodles). It looked great, and I tried to make a garlic parmesan meal out of it. Ended up getting REALLY sick and couldn't even finish a few ounces of it. Not sure what happened. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the zucchini - I think I might have used too much olive oil in the pan, or too much salt. When I first made the noodles I put some sea salt on and a paper towel to draw out the water so they wouldn't be soggy, I might have overdone it with the salt. Next time I'll use regular salt and much less, and only a small amount of olive oil. I bought some pesto sauce at Costco so I want to give that a shot, maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling bold. Anyone who knows how to cook this stuff and has any suggestions, let me know!

I had regrets after surgery for a week or two, that went away as the pounds started melting off and the pain went away. Gas pain was totally gone in a few days, just keep walking around, it will go away.

Prior to surgery after getting my blood work done I was told to start taking Vitamin D, so I did (in addition to the Omeprazole I've been taking for years). After surgery, my doctor's office told me to start taking a gummy multi-vitamin and gummy calcium, so I started that. Once I finished the bottles the office said I could switch to regular tablets. After my first blood results after surgery they said to add a Vitamin B Complex, so that's what I'm taking now. They said any brand is fine.

Do you have insurance? I just went on my insurer's website and found a psychologist with a nearby office who does bariatric screening.

Wow, I haven't posted here in almost two weeks! I'm still here and kicking. Things are continuing to go very well, the scale continues to give good numbers so that's great. I "cheated" a little bit last week. It was my sister's birthday and I decided to have most of a piece of cake and two cookies. Didn't sit well with me later. I didn't get sick or anything, just felt yucky and sluggish so, lesson learned. Also I think my taste buds are totally changing. Went out to eat lunch today, which I've only done once or twice since surgery. Went to Buffalo Wild Wings to try their "Naked Tenders" which are basically grilled chicken tenders. I chose the Honey BBQ sauce which I've had a million times and is not at all spicy. This time I could barely eat it. WAY too spicy, and didn't taste very good. My friend tried a bite and said it's definitely not spicy, so it's just me. Anyone else notice more a sensitivity to "spicy" foods? Also, a little self-promotion if that's OK, I hope it's not against the rules. My wife and I have signed up to walk 39 miles in two days as part of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. Our team has pledged to raise at least $3,600 to help fight this disease. If you can spare any amount, your tax-deductible donation help support the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade's goal in fighting breast cancer. You can donate - or sign up to walk too! - here -> http://www.avonwalk.org/goto/teamk-rock Thanks!

I'm about 2.5 months post-op and one of my friends said something interesting to me today - he said it sounds like my voice changed since I've lost all the weight. I asked him what he meant and he said the pitch was a little different. Has anyone else heard this or noticed this? My voice sounds the same to me but I hear it everyday so I wouldn't notice any changes.