Arabesque

First the average weight loss statistic for sleeve or bypass is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthier range. Of course some lose more & some lose less. Now the why. The surgery will reset your body’s set point. This is the weight your body is happiest at & is easiest to maintain. Your set point could end up higher or lower than you’d prefer. Life. It can throw crap at you & make it more difficult to lose or maintain your weight (stress, emotions). Health conditions & medications. Some meds are notorious for increasing your appetite & causing weight gain & some health conditions limit your ability to lose all the weight you want e.g, restrict mobility. Personal choice. Some feel happier at a higher weight. Or they make food choices that better complement their life & how they want to live their life. Your body reaches a lower weight but resettles a bit heavier. A bounce back regain of 10+/- lbs can occur. And so on. I understand your fear of regaining. I mean we all have a lifetime of experiencing weight loss & the inevitable regain. This is the first time in my life (was almost 54 when I had my surgery) I have ever maintained my weight after losing for longer than a couple of months. The difference is I did not go back to eating in the sane way as I always did. I worked out a way of eating that I’m comfortable with, doesn’t make me feel like I’m missing out or making sacrifices, allows me to live my life as I want, is sustainable (very important) & works for me & my body. I changed my relationship with food. My choices may not work for you or others & some may think it too restrictive. I din consider it a die but just how I eat. I avoid as much sugar, sugar alternatives & artificial sweeteners as I can so no sodas & sweets only a couple of times a year (e.g. Christmas). If I want/need sweet I eat fruit. I prep & cook most of what I eat - mostly lots of whole foods & low processed ingredients. I rarely have takeaway & haven’t had fast food since before my surgery. I keep my carbs lowish & choose whole & multi grains more complex carbs. No bread or similar products pasta or rice (choice & also sit heavily in my tummy). I also chose not to exercise. I didn’t want to have to spend hours in a gym or run or cycle miles every week to maintain my weight. I’m happy with the stretches, resistance band exercises & sit ups I do. (Takes a total of about 25 minutes over a couple of sessions a day & wouldn’t burn 30 calories - LOL!). It works for me & my body seems happy at this weight (set point). I’ve basically maintained my weight since my surgery. Chat with your surgeon about a realistic goal weight after surgery & what you might experience & your dietician about how your future of eating might look. Research & avoid trendy diets - if they worked & were sustainable no one would have weight issues. You may find this video informative. You may find this video informative. Dr John Pilcher has many great videos on a variety of topics. Dr Matt Weiner is very good too.

Your tummy is still healing, very sensitive & learning how to function again. I described it as a petulant temper throwing 2 year old child. It may continue this way for a couple of months & then every now & again in the future. Liking something one day & not the next. Being able to eat your portion today but not tomorrow. And so on. Lots of fun & games. Cold drinks can make your healing tummy muscles spasm.Try room temp, warm or hot drinks - more soothing. Try swapping brands or flavours or avoid what upsets you for a week & try again. Sometimes it can be the texture - like your purées are too thick - try diluting them more. It does get better & easier. I’m almost 4 yrs out & recently my tummy decided it didn’t like tasty cheese anymore. Don’t know why. It may be fine with it again in a few weeks time.

As @catwoman7 said both surgeries are good & will work to help you lose your weight. And you’ll hear from people who swear one or the other is the best. But remember it was best for them. Do lots of reading including people’s stories & experiences here, ask your surgeon lots of questions & for their recommendation. The decision will come down to your personal health & medical needs & history & your personal choice on how you want to live your life. Both share some similar considerations in regard to dumping & malabsorption, the post surgical recovery & plans (differences are more from surgeons or your specific needs). Dumping & malabsorption are possible with both but a little less common with sleeve - luck of the draw - but both can be managed. I don’t dump but I do have some malabsorption (protein & some meds) but it’s from my lack of gall bladder not my sleeve & I don’t need to take additional vitamins. I was leaning towards a sleeve from my research and after my conversation with my surgeon, who thought it would work best for me, I decided it was for me. I had mild reflux which I managed 99% with dietary choices (still do, it’s different, need meds every day but is manageable). Decided if I needed to (for gerd, extra weight loss help, etc.) I could revise to bypass in the future. I didn’t want to depend on vitamin supplements if I could. I didn’t have any co morbidities. I lost all my weight & more with my sleeve & have maintained (+ 1 kg). All the best whichever surgery you choose.

Your surgeon & team will let you know what you need pre & post surgery including what vitamins you will need (we have similar & different vitamin needs). Eating plans can have a number of differences including what your pre surgery diet may actually be. Like mine was keto not shakes before surgery. Don’t worry too much about what you will need/be allowed to ‘eat’ yet but purchase things like over the counter non nsaid pain meds (Tylenol), immodium, stool softener or other constipation aid, electrolyte drinks, etc. Look at buying a scale with small increments, measuring cups & spoons, toddler cutlery or buffet sporks, small toddler sized plates & bowls or similar, a blender/nutri bucket or similar, a tea leaf strainer (handy for straining soups), small containers &/or zip lock bags for freezing & storing leftovers, etc. I’m sure others will add other suggestions too. In hospital, pack a couple of pairs pjs (so much nicer than the surgical gown, accidents can happen & you may spend an extra day in hospital), a couple pairs of knickers for the same reasons, toiletries (incl hand/face/body moisturiser, own soap/ shower gel, deodorant, toothbrush & paste, fascial cleanser, brush/comb), Biotene mouth moisturiser, lip balm, phone & other device cords. You can wear the same clothes home as you wore to hospital & the non slip socks they give you are enough to walk around the ward. When you do buy your shakes, buy a couple of different brands & flavours as after surgery your taste often change & one you liked before surgery can taste revolting after. All the best

Mac & cheese is such a yummy heart warming comforting dish though I’d expect Mac & cheese will be off your menu for a while. The macaroni, as with all pastas, are a big no while you are losing. Though some are allowed a few carbs they are more complex carbs & usually whole & multi grains. Pasta is a simple carb with little nutritional benefit & it swells in your now much tinier tummy. You fill up on the pasta & have no room for the protein & other nutrients yiu really need. You may decide to reintroduce it later if you want & may work out some alternative ingredients to make it a healthier choice like low fat milk & cheese & high protein macaroni.

I’d probably avoid the butter to keep things low fat but the little in your portion of mashed potatoes is probably okay. It is only one meal. But check your plan to be sure. Plans are so different - I wasn’t allowed potatoes, apple sauce or puddings & then I chose not to reintroduce potatoes (though a couple of times a year I may have a bite or two of a roast potato).

Sometimes random aches & pains occur simply because you’re aren’t moving much. As you lose weight your centre of balance changes - your body doesn’t need to hold itself in a certain way to compensate for your weight & you get pain as your joints & muscles learn how to move your smaller lighter body again. If you’re dehydrated your urine will be dark, you don’t pee often, you’ll have headaches, dry mouth, etc. How much are you drinking? (You can count your shakes, broths & soups in your daily total.) It doesn’t matter if you don’t hit your goal in the beginning as long as you’re close & are working at it. Pain alone is not a sign of a clot so breath. If you get additional symptoms like swelling, itching, discolouration, &/or warmth go to your local medical centre. Try adding an electrolyte drink to your daily fluid intake to help give you a little energy boost. Try to walk. It will help with getting rid of any surgical gas, get yiur body moving (which can help with any aches & pains from being sedentary. You didn’t have to walk miles at first. Start just walking around your home then to the end of your block & keep doing g more as you are able. I have stairs in my house so I walked up & down them a few times a day. All the best.

As @Starwarsandcupcakes said it’s only two weeks. Two weeks is nothing compared with the rest of your life. I wouldn’t worry about starting shakes now - you’ll be sick enough of them with the 2 weeks pre op & 2 week post op diets without extending how long you’re on them. Not sure what you’ve started doing airways but try reducing your caffeine, fat& carb sugar intake, drink more water, try healthier cooking methods, etc. Small changes do make a difference & may help with the withdrawal symptoms when you do start the shakes - they can be a struggle. I love how people say things do it yourself & just don’t put the weight back on. Don’t they realise if you could you would have done that the many times you lost weight in the past. They have no idea. Unless they’ve lived your life & experienced your battles with weight their comments are worthless. Congrats on your weight loss so far. I bet you’ve noticed an improvement in your health already. And congrats getting a surgery date. Yay!

Is it on a particular side? Gall stone pain is on the right side & radiates around your back. Your can mild pain or you can get severe ‘oh my avid am I dying’ pain. A cutting like pain across your abdomen can be excess acid. I’d push for some scans to be done sooner than later. It may only be muscle strain but better to be sure than not & be tested if necessary. No one wants or needs to experience persistent pain.

Totally meal prepped at home. Froze single, portion appropriate meals of whatever I cooked at night (yay leftovers) & it was simply a matter of raiding the freezer before I left in the morning. & reheating at work. I found mince dishes really easy (bolognese sauce, savoury mince, meatballs & gravy, etc.) as well as chunky soups from soft foods & then swapped to more dense foods like chicken tenders as I progressed. Threw in some cheese sticks, cucumber slices, a few grapes or similar. I’d keep packet soups on hand just in case.

Our taste buds often change temporarily after surgery & things we used to enjoy taste or even smell disgusting or upset our sensitive healing tummies. Try bone broths, consommés or cream soups (just strain them to ensure they are perfectly smooth). Blend a high protein yoghurt to make a yoghurt drink - add as much milk as you need to make it thin enough to drink. Protein waters are also useful. Often you can tolerate a different brand or flavour of shake.

Actually I could eat steamed cabbage & often had a small spoonful as my vegetable. I did bring up a slice of well cooked soft carrot (but could eat it in slow cooked soups, mince dishes, etc. - our tummies can be very weird & unpredictable). Depending upon how soft & fall apart the corned beef is you may be able to eat a small amount of that without the bun. Try a small piece, chew it well & see how you go. You may need some mustard pickles ( without the chunky vegetables) , sauce, etc. to moisten it a bit. Do take your shake, creamed wheat just in case. There’s a lot of trial & error to discover what your tummy will tolerate & it’s ever changing. Watch the sugar free puddings especially if they are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. They can often upset people & cause diarrhoea, bloating & cramping. And many are extra sensitive to sweet flavours & food can be too sweet.

Could be an oestrogen surge. Oestrogen is stored in fat & as you lose weight it is released into your blood stream & general messes your usual cycle up. Heavier or lighter periods, more or less frequent cycles, more or fewer PMT symptoms & for you maybe a breakthrough bleed. All very common. I’m menopausal & all my symptoms went away. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, they all came back when my weight lost slowed & I was close to goal.

Aren’t you allowed clear broths/consommés? Just water seems a little extreme but all dictums are different. It seems some experience constipation & others diarrhoea & some het a very I tersting combination. I had one very bad, no warning, extremely smelly & black diarrhoea attack. Literally got up to pee, took a few steps & whoosh. It’s the blood from the surgery, high stomach acid, all liquid diet & just your sensitive digestive system. It will get better … & then the constipation will begin 😉. My friend had quite a bit of diarrhoea (wet farts are real). Her surgeon advised her to buy disposable underwear before her surgery in case this happened - best advice she swears.

Ask for some portion size &/or calorie goal guidance from your dietician. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée slowly increasing to a cup at goal (6months) but no calorie goals. All plans are different but I wasn’t allowed any bread or similar products so wraps weren't allowed. Plus too filling in your small tummy. Remember eat your protein first then your vegetables and finally any allowed carbs if you are able.

I’m allowed occasional use too - not full dose & not for continuous days. But I have a sleeve & bypass could be different. Can you still give your surgeon a call & ask if you can? I rarely have need to take pain relief either, thankfully, but non nsaid meds like paracetamols don’t help at all if I do. I did try Voltaren gel for back pain but as my pain isn’t muscular (oozy discs) it didn’t help at all.

Yep, I’d go down the soup path too. Homemade or bought you’ll be able to get a better range of your needed nutrients & calories. I had Covid a month ago & continued to eat in my usual way. My taste & smell wasn’t affected. (Horrendous throat at night, congestion, cough & low energy only.) My appetite was a little affected so sometimes I didn’t eat all my meal though usually most of it. It will, however, depend on your symptoms & how they make you feel. Hope you feel better soon.

I too have lost weight many, many times but every single time I put the weight back on. So can you lose weight without surgery? Yes. The real question is can you keep it off. I always went back to eating the same way as soon as a diet was over so of course I put the weight back on. I also messed up my metabolic rate by doing those very low calorie diets too many times & practising meal skipping to ‘manage’ my weight. The surgery gave me time to change everything about what, why & when I ate, my habits & whole relationship with food. It was the best thing I ever did. I lost all my weight & more & have pretty much maintained that weight. Has it restricted my life in any way? No. Now some truths about weight loss surgery. The average weight loss after bypass or sleeve surgery is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthier weight range. Some lose less & some more. A lot of this is because of the new set point the surgery gives you (the new weight your body is happiest at & is easiest to maintain). Everyones set point is different & it may not be a low weight. Some lose less because a higher weight & new eating style better complements them & how they want to live their life. It may be because of age, gender, genetics, health issues, medications, personal choices, complacency, life events, bounce back regain, etc. The long term success of the surgery depends upon you & the changes you make to your eating, relationship with food & the head work you need to do to understand & manage those factors. It certainly is worth a conversation with the surgeon & then you will be better informed to make your decision. In the end, you are the only one who truely knows your self, your situation & lifestyle & your weight loss/gain history. All the best whatever you decide.

Oh & so can excess stomach acid (which you’re likely overproducing for the food you’re consuming now & your smaller tummy). Are you on a PPI to reduce acid?

Nope I didn’t & don’t. I prefer to know exactly what I’m eating from ingredients to cooking style. I portion out & freeze a lot of what I cook so I have a wide variety of meals a simple defrost & reheat away. All I have to prep & cook are vegetables & I can do that in a couple of minutes. I happily eat the same meal I’ve cooked for a couple of days & only cook from scratch every three or four days. At the moment I have multiple portions of beef & barley and chicken & lentil soups, zucchini noodle bolognese, pork schnitzel, lamb cutlets, steak, roast chicken, savoury egg muffins, etc. I’m adding two portions of lamb back strap tonight. My freezer is literally full of meals. But you have to do what works best with your family. Just check the nutrition information very carefully.

Tired yes is very common & it will persist for a while. I’ve had a fairly major surgery & yiur body needs to rest to heal & recover. Listen to your body & when it says stop you’re doing too much or time for a rest or a nap do so (I wish I could still justify an afternoon nana nap 😁). Hunger is harder to answer. Most of the area in your tummy that produces the hunger hormone, ghrelin, has been removed so you shouldn’t really feel hungry for some months (when your body works out a way to compensate). And nerves were cut so signals didn’t get through or dint get through in the sane way whike you’re healing. What you may be feeling is head hunger. This could be hunger from the habit of eating (volume, frequency, etc.). Because you consciously or subconsciously question how your body can function on such small amounts of calories/food, activity (watching tv, reading, etc.). The time on the clock (lunch, dinner or snack time), or emotions & to offer comfort can make you think you’re hungry. These are the false hungers you need to work thorough to recognise, understand & manage them. They can be very powerful & only you know if what you feel falls into this type. A simple distraction can help as can sipping a warm drink (green or herbal tea is you’re allowed are good). But some people do continue to experience hunger. And unfortunately there isn’t an answer on how to mange real hunger. Worth a conversation with your medical team (surgeon, dietician, therapist). Most of us find real hunger feels very different to what we thought were our hunger signals. For me I get restless, think something is wrong & takes a little time to realise I’m hungry. There is always a reason like I have skipped a meal or haven’t eaten much that day. Real hunger never makes me want to eat a specific food, texture or flavour. All the best.

I diluted them to make them more palatable though it was a taste & texture thing for me (so grainy & coated my teeth - ugh!). I never had another one when I got to purées.

I used (actually still do) an appetiser plate so a little smaller than a salad plate. Tapas plates & dishes are good too as are ramekins. Toddler cutlery is also useful. I used teaspoons & buffet sporks. I still use small plates & bowls as meals look so sad & lonely on a regular size dinner plate & I even eat regular portion sizes now. 😆

Your tummy can be very sensitive & can behave like a petulant, tantrum throwing two year old for a while. Remember too you’ve put your digestive system through quite a bit & part of its recovery is re learning how to function. For many the lactose intolerance is temporary. In the meantime try some of the myriad of lactose free/vegan products available these days. I struggled with lactose for decades thanks to a parasite & back then there want a lot of options (soy, rude bran, oat milk tasted awful to me) so I just gave up milk. I could tolerate small amounts of yoghurt & cheese. Though I think the surgery cut away the parasite, I only buy lactose free milk because I consume it every day & don’t want to risk it. Are you on a PPI? My other thought was excess acid which can cause a sharp, cutting pain across the abdomen &/or cramping & quite rapid onset diarrhoea which is often quite smelly.

I didn’t have external staples either just dissolving sutures. I have had staples in my head (I grow cysts so have had a few over the years). It hurt a little to have them removed - sort of a sting - but more likely because they were in my head. The freakiest part is hearing the ting of the metal staple as it’s dropped into the metal dish.