Jen2020MGB

At two months out from a mini gastric bypass I was just trying to get enough calories in to be able to function at work and the rest of life! I found it really hard to consume anything, even enough fluids. I was probably around 400 calories at that point, some days up to around 800. From a healing and metabolism point of view I am not sure much below 800 is very helpful, in my opinion. Could you get a second opinion from an independent nutritionist with bariatric experience? Edited to add: in the UK actually it would be a dietician rather than nutritionist, I don't know if you have that distinction where you are from?

This is an interesting thread. When I first had surgery, I didn't feel I deserved to have a healthy and slim body, I just wanted to feel a bit better. Now much of my excess weight has come off, I am so sad for the pre surgery me, who was so low and underconfident she couldn't even dream of being a healthy weight. Funny how things change. I have been feeling a bit fed up with my dietician saying it's not likely I'll hit my own personal goal (which would be a BMI in the region of 22-23). I hit 29 with little effort (beyond surgery, not eating much, and the challenges that come with a tiny stomach of course!) and am now enjoying exercising in a variety of ways. I am 9 months out, and while I appreciate weight loss will (and has) slow down, I didn't go through all of this to remain at an unhealthy weight! I may not get to my ultimate goal, but I'm certainly not going to give up before I've tried. We have gone through a lot to get to where we are now, and we deserve to succeed. So I say go for it - set your goal and work towards it. Set smaller goals on the way (the first 25, the next hundred bracket, lower than 5 years ago, that sort of thing) and celebrate each win. As you get closer to goal, you can always revise it if it doesn't feel right.

As many have said, I just regret not having it sooner. However, the year of covid delays actually were a good thing for me as I went into it totally certain it was what I wanted, and I was as mentally prepared as I could have been. If I'd had the surgery as initially planned, I might've felt some regret as I just don't think I was mentally ready and it was all a bit rushed for such a big decision (2 months from initial consult to first surgery date). Now that I've had it and experienced good weight loss (although not done yet), I do have the occasional thought of 'why couldn't I just do this without surgery', but I always go back to having struggled for 20 years, I know I couldn't have done it without and my food addiction would've continued for the rest of my life. I regret needing it in the first place, but I don't regret having the surgery.

I can see the veins on the back of my hand (and elsewhere) now! A huge plus, before it was always really horrible having blood tests, noone could hit a vein apart from one wonder nurse. Straight after surgery I had two anaethetists struggling too! But now it's easy, and I don't have to be a human pin cushion for routine tests.

I wondered how everyone was doing with follow up appointment and how covid has affected this? Since my surgery (UK, private) at the end of August 2020, I have had no blood tests, no consultant follow up, just a couple of dietician appointments. What would be considered normal in terms of tests and appointments? I feel well generally, and have no problems other than a really slight niggling discomfort under where one of the incisions is, so don't *need* any appointments as such, but I'm starting to feel that I should have had something given the nature of the surgery and whether they are not doing it because of covid? I'm kicking myself for not finding out about this in advance, I was just so focused on getting to the surgery I didn't spend much time thinking about afterwards!

Glad it was helpful. How are you getting on? Hope you're having less pain now. I'm losing weight quite obviously quickly now, and students have started to mention it (in a positive way) which was both a surprise and nice.

Iced latte with a milk that also has protein, so cows or, as I have it, soya milk. That is my go to in the morning as I never want food until lunchtime, so I at least get in some fluids and protein. The coldness also soothed my stomach early on after surgery.

It didn't hurt as such, but just felt a bit sloshy and tight inside when I took too much fluid in and made me feel nauseous. Someone on this board gave me the idea of using a shot glass to measure water and fluids so you don't over consume, and setting an alarm on phone for every 10 minutes to drink. I don't really have to think about water now though, I can taken reasonable sized gulps and get enough in no problem. So at 8 weeks out I finally completed a qualification I'd been working on, and my friends threw me a surprise celebration with champagne and a beautiful homemade cake!! I held the glass, and sipped it very slowly. I had a sliver (2mm) of cake that I picked at over two hours. They know I'm watching my weight, so didn't say anything. It wasn't in my plan, and not ideal, but I went with it and was careful and I'm so glad I did because I hadn't seen them all since March and now we're in another lockdown. Like what catwoman7 said, my normal sized friends would have done similar sometimes. So after that I felt like having a social life and celebrating special occasions were things that i could do, even if I didn't consume as much as my old self, and that made me feel so much better. I was also very scared of dumping, but I haven't experienced it yet. You will be fine, and so glad you did it afterwards 😊

As I mentioned I was struggling to consume enough, fluids and food, didn't like the taste of anything, trying to work normally and felt pretty tired. Nothing disastrous, but my mind was full of "what if this is it for life" type thoughts, and I also had a stall (expected, but still) and just mentally wasn't in a good place. It did pass! I also scared myself reading the worst stories out there on Facebook and message boards, I'd have been better off just listening to my surgeon and dietician. Still, no regrets and really happy I had it done. You're going in this week aren't you? Is there anything you're particularly worried about?

100% happy that I had it done, weight loss as expected, I am average in most aspects of life including this apparently!! Don't get me wrong, I had serious buyers remorse between week 2 and 6/7, catastrophising and wondering if I'd ruined my life. But now I feel great - I have more energy, my joints don't hurt as much, I can bend down and tie my shoes without holding my breath, I can fit into my more normal sized clothes and I don't hate my image on camera. It's been worth the sacrifices and changes to life, which I wasn't really living before anyway. I even went swimming last week, which I haven't done in years. Another 6 stones to go before I can do the main non-health thing that's been motivating me, and go horse riding again.