SomeBigGuy

This varies greatly by state, as each states' laws govern what is essential vs cosmetic medical procedures. For example, my work insurance is based in Tennessee, and all bariatric procedures are 100% cosmetic, so no coverage at all! To further complicate things, individual companies within these states can have varying coverage depending on how much business they get from your employer. Even if a company like Blue Cross or Aetna cover it for employees of one company, they won't for others.
You will really need to look into the offerings you have available, and call them directly. You may have to get assertive with them to get a straight answer. I had one make me go through programs and jump through hoops to prepare for it, only to tell me they wouldn't cover anything when I went to schedule surgery. One even told me they would not cover any future medical procedures if I have it done anyway!
I'm with another company and insurance plan now which didn't cover it either, but they didn't blacklist me for having a self-pay procedure.
Good luck, hopefully you're more successful than I was with the insurance company.

Congratulations on the surgery and improving your health! Sounds like you are doing well!
Just a heads up, you're approaching the dreaded Week 3 Stall, as its known, but don't get discouraged. Everyone hits a wall for about 2-4 weeks around that point, but that's just your body recalibrating itself to deal with the rapid weight loss. It will retain Water and try to hold on to fat because its panicking from sudden change. Keep the same diet and stay the course, and it will release that fat once it realizes its safe.
Expect the same temporary plateau around the Month #3 and Month #6 marks as well. Our body has to readjust periodically.
Weight loss will resemble stair steps, with a brief regain of a kg or two before resuming loss, instead of a straight downward line. Just remember it's normal when that happens! You're doing great!

Agreed! We all have a baseline weight from parts of our body that just have to be there (bones, organs, skin, etc). On top of that is muscle (good weight) and fat (we need a little of this, but excess fat is what we're fighting here). That's why tracking percentage weight loss is more important as we get closer to our goals.
An example I was given, just using big/easy round numbers, is pretend your start weight is 300 and your goal is 200. That means you would have 100 pounds of excess weight to lose, and the 200 is your base weight your body needs to survive (again, just using easy numbers here, not an actual guide)
So if starting at 300, and you lose 50 out of the 100 excess lbs, that's a 50% loss.
After that, you're starting at 250lb over the 200lb goal. To lose 50% of that (25lb), you would have to put in the equivalent amount of effort that helped you lose the previous weight, because its 50% of excess. This is why it feels like we have diminishing returns on our work. 25lb total loss at this stage feels like its not much, but its still a 50% excess weight loss!
That's why weight loss slows as we get near the goal. Our metabolism readjusts because if we kept losing at that original weight, it would put our body into shock since it can't adjust that quickly. Just expect it to slow down and taper off, but track that percentage rather than actual pounds.
One more thing, as you put on more muscle, that will likely keep you from hitting the exact goal if it is too low. Muscle weights in excess of 1.5x as much as fat per volume. If you go to the gym now when you previously didn't, you will gain more muscle weight, which is a good thing. The more muscle, the higher your baseline metabolism, which burns the excess fat off quicker and keeps it off.
The scale doesn't tell you everything. You're doing great, keep up the good work!

I was 118kg back then till 27th Jan 2024. 10 days prior to my surgery, the liquid diet plan was quite challenging but managed well. I lost 5kg at Day 10... I was discharged from the hospital 26hrs later as 12hrs after surgery i started to walk with the support of my wife.

Im on support of Multi-vitamins, calcium citrate + D3, blood thinning injection for 1 month, and Gastric medicine for 2 months. All Vitamins or medications need to be crushed from solid pills to compound or powder base before consuming. This has to be for only the first 1 month of post surgery.

Being just on liquid diet, plain Water for the first 2 days, 3rd & 4th day took young coconut water, 5th till 7th day took sieved apple orange beetroot carrot & celery juice (200ml every 2 hourly) and by end of Week 1 post surgery, i lost another 6kg.

Week 2 post surgery, continued with liquid diet by consuming Protein milk shake 100ml at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 6pm. At 8pm and 10pm i take same sieved juices 100ml only. By end of Week 2, i lost another 6kg.

However, this is my Week 3 post surgery, continued with liquid diet by consuming protein milk shake 150ml at 8am, 10am, 8pm and 10pm. At 12pm and 6pm i boiled small piece of cabbage and cauliflower, then i air-fry a small piece of chicken breast with 4 small slices of egg-tofu. Total weight of my lunch(12pm) or dinner(6pm) meal is within 80 to 100 grams only. This will be the diet for my Week 3 & 4. I weigh myself on a weekly basis. So let’s see by next week how much i lose again…😁😁😁

Down 122lbs and 7 jean sizes

It sounds like you're doing fine. Congrats on your weight loss victories!!!
Part of the reason they leaned in heavy on it was because they want you to succeed, but also to a degree, they're covering their own liability and don't want to be sued for not giving you the proper advice. I would try to increase both the best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you come up shy one day. Look for more protein-dense foods and shakes to make up the difference if you can. I like the Fairlife Protein Shakes that have either 30g or 42g, depending on which is available. One of those can be half your Protein content for a day, plus its 11-12oz of fluids!
Too little protein can cause your body to run a deficit, in which it will burn off muscle rather than fat, which is not a good thing. The more muscle you can maintain, the more fat calories your body will burn to feed them, which helps with the weight loss. The increased Water intake is to keep you hydrated, but it also helps you flush out the waste from what your body is breaking down during your weight loss, preventing it from backing up in your kidneys and leading to problems.
But keep up the good work! Sounds like you're getting through the "regret" phase, which I'm convinced we all go through that first month or so haha. It looks like my surgery was a week before yours, and I'm already feeling much better. Hope you are too!

GENEPRO has unflavored Protein Powder and it dissolves pretty well into things and it doesn't really have much of a taste. It is my favorite plain Protein powder. You can put it in flavored water or tea or milk or whatever... Just be sure to count the protein count on the nutrition label, don't believe the "nano absorption" bull crap they advertise. LOL

You could be craving fat. Beef is one of the fattier meats and a low carb bibimbap dish would have been full of fat from the oil everything is sauteed in, and the egg, and the dressing. Plus Korean food often has fermented veggies which are really good for you. I crave Korean food and Japanese food a lot. I finally realized part of the reason why is because they eat a little bit of a lot of things. Banchan and Bento boxes! *swoon* Quantity doesn't satisfy me, I hate eating one thing per meal. I need a bite or two of multiple things to feel satisfied. A little fat, a little Fiber, a little carb, a lot of protein...something crunchy, something sour or pungent, something a bit sweet, something creamy. I have to hit multiple of those categories to feel satisfied in a meal. So I eat a tablespoon or two of numerous things. Then I'm satisfied and happy, even if I'm not bursting at the seams full... So you might be needing more variety and a bit more fat?

I'm 3 months out from Gastric Sleeve surgery and have the same issue. I had constant hunger before and that never really left. The difference is now my stomach has a governor in place and will fight me if I give in. The 3rd week stall was discouraging but it passed and I lost 15 more pounds before hitting another stall now.
I'm trying to change up my diet some and try some new foods, in case I'm deficient in some sort of nutrient and my body is craving it. I did eat some Korean food, sort of a low carb bibimbap type thing, and it seemed to get rid of my head-hunger and my stall broke when I was eating it more frequently, but that lasted about 3 weeks before returning. For some reason I'm really craving beef right now, but my Iron levels are actually too high.
I find myself constantly wanting to graze while working at my desk, I'm guessing more out of a stress relieving habit rather than true hunger, but it feels real. When I get that urge to graze after a meal, I'm making myself drink a 16oz bottle of Water and chew some very flavorful gum to distract from it. It's not a cure, but instead of constant cravings, it seems to buy me 2-3 hours.
Good luck, and congrats on your surgery and your progress! Definitely share with us if you find a way to curb the head-hunger feelings.

I have the best luck with the Fairlife 30g shakes and their 26g and 42g "core" shakes. They dont' have that chemical taste that most other shakes have, and taste closer to a Nesquick. They do have Monk Fruit and sucralose in them, but I've been able to tolerate them. I am sensitive to a lot of sugar alcohols (sorbitol and xylitol in particular) which trigger a bad insulin response for me, but I haven't had that experience with the Fairlife brand.
Premier Protein isn't bad, but I think Fairlife tastes a lot better. They can be hard to find, but I've had the best luck checking at Sams Club (or costco / BJ's Wholesale if they're in your area). They sell out fast, so I check in the morning and place a pick up order for after work.

I agree with the others stating the importance of having a therapist or coach to walk through this with you. Dieticians and nutritionists are very helpful with making a tailored diet plan for your needs, but don't always address the issues in our head, since that's not in their job description. See if you can get your insurance to cover sessions in therapy or counseling, if nothing else, just to have someone to vent to that is obligated to not judge you . If insurance pushes back, check with local therapists that offer "coaching" sessions at a lower rate. I had to do that until my insurance rolled over at the first of the year.
I'm only 10 weeks post op, but I'm dealing with constant head hunger and cravings. I'm learning now that I used the act of eating, and not the feeling of fullness, as a way to deflect stress. At least now, if I overdo it, my stomach will rebel, which is its own problem, because I don't want to put stress on the staples. My therapist is helping me practice ways to listen to my stomach, and not listen to my mouth, if that makes any sense. When those two are fighting, the stress and feelings of being a failure appear to me. I have to remind myself that despite hitting a stall and dealing with the cravings, I'm already much healthier for having decided to have surgery!

Congrats on the 16 years of success! As we get older, our metabolism likes to mess with us, haha, but this is common. My surgeon told me that after a while, some weight regain will occur, but the best way to restart things is to redo your pre-op diet for 2 weeks, just to jumpstart things.
His plan is at least try to get 64oz of Water a day, start with 2 Protein Shakes for the two meals a day where you typically eat less. On the "big meal" each day, try to get in 6 oz of meat/protein of your choice along with as much leafy greens/broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers as you can. Cut out breads, starchy veggies (potatoes, carrots, etc) for the 2 week duration. Target 60g-80g of Protein, and under 50g of carbs per day (not quite Keto levels, just reduced). Calorie target was around 600-1000 per day, but it is meant to be temporary and not long term, just a jump start.
From my personal experience, sugar/starchy carbs tend to send my cravings off the deep end for up to 3 days after eating them. I'm having to avoid bread, Cookies, cake, candy, tortillas, wraps, potatoes, carrots, rice, and oatmeal whenever I start to regain. Some artificial sweeteners seems to set me off too, but I am a recovering Type 2 diabetic. I haven't isolated which ones affect me yet, but I can drink Fairlife protein shakes without having that sugar craving, and it has Monk Fruit, Stevia, and Sucralose. First day is absolute hell, but after 3 days it eases up considerably.
Give that a try for 2-3 weeks and see if that helps with the weight loss. After that time, start working in your normal foods again, but give them a few days to see if any are triggering the new weight gain to happen again to see what's worth keeping. Slowly increase your calories to find the amount that works best for you long term. You want the range that lets you have the energy you need without weight gain. Some people may be only 1000 calories, others 1200, and others may be closer to 1800, so there's no exact number that works for every single person.
Good luck, and I wish you well on your journey!

I agree with Arabesque, this sounds like a post viral syndrome. I'm so sorry you are going through this! You were doing so well!! What many people (and doctors) don't understand is getting any sort of virus that hits the body hard can result in a number of conditions afterwards, some caused by trying to recover from the virus, some caused by opportunistic viruses showing up when your system is low from one virus already, and some can actually be autoimmune conditions that are triggered to show up from a viral infection. Any of these could be contributing to your condition.
A few years ago I got cat scratch fever (that's what I get for fostering litters of kittens! LOL). I was sick with it for a few weeks. My immune system had already been behaving badly that year, I have an autoimmune disease that flared so bad it effected my digestive system, my eyes (I was having vision problems), as well as my joints. But the virus kicked my butt royally. Then a few weeks later I started spiking high fevers at night out of the blue. I was so exhausted I started sleeping more and more every day until I was sleeping about 18 hours a day. My doctors were absolutely useless and said it was probably chronic fatigue syndrome caused by the autoimmune flare and started putting me on courses of steroids. My bones started aching so bad I would cry. I could barely walk to the kitchen to get a glass of Water. My GP made out I was pain med seeking so I fired her, her lack of support was appalling. I started fainting when I tried to shower. I had vertigo all day. After fainting twice with temps over 104 I ended up in the ER where they did labs and said nothing was wrong, it was probably a virus and to go home and sleep it off. A week later I ended up in the ER again where a wonderful doctor said I was experiencing acute kidney damage from dehydration due to the fevers and that I was NOT leaving the hospital until someone figured out what was wrong. I was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks, two different hospitals where I continued to run fevers at night up to 105, it was absurd.
Then suddenly one day the fevers and pain stopped. The infectious disease doctor was baffled. But when my advanced labs came back they finally understood what was going on---I had atypical Epstein Barr Virus. Atypical because mono didn't show up when tested for in the ER and I only had one lymph node swollen on my whole body, a tiny one behind my ear. Apparently atypical presentation doesn't show up on mono tests, only the two week test. Epstein Barr Virus is notorious for showing up with other viruses and generally making a pain of itself.
It took me another two months before I could reliably get out of bed, and honestly my body took several years to return to a new normal. They thought I had POTS but turns out it was just severe physical deconditioning from the virus and bed rest.
All this to say--if you still can't figure out what is going on after a couple of months, you might want to consider talking to an infectious disease doctor or immunologist, whoever is in your area that can treat long Covid and can test for other viruses that might be complicating the picture, as well as autoimmune conditions. Your symptoms sound so viral or autoimmune in origin. My Dad ended up with post viral arthritis. Viruses are such weird things and they can really give our bodies a hard time!
Oh and one suggestion. You might want to give this device a look, it was made by two guys, one who had long Covid. https://www.makevisible.com/ I've considered getting one as I love that it helps track your activity in relation to pacing which is shown to help with post viral recovery, and in managing autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, fibro, etc...

Thanks! I did get evaluated for Orthostatic Hypotension and POTS with my primary care doctor doing the tilt table test and with the balance specialist, but both tests were negative. I used to have the Orthostatic hypotension previously but it was caused by my blood pressure medicine. Since I've been off of it, that particular dizziness has gone away. Now its more of a persistent feeling of motion, almost like its someone jiggling my glasses.
It's just frustrating because I keep trying walking to exercise, but I'm stuck to using the treadmill or sidewalk and not going too far from the car. I'd prefer walking in the woods on trails, but I don't want to get stranded where my wife couldn't help me back.
The brain fog is no joke. I had a lot of trouble with it before the surgery, had a one month or so break, then after covid, it came back even worse.
Regarding other viruses and vertigo, I'll check back with my doctor when I go back next week to see if they can prescribe anything for that.
Hoping you're doing well and feeling better yourself! Thank you again for replying!

Orthostatic hypotension is common after the surgery. That is your blood pressure drops on rising & then resettles again. Did they check your blood pressure sitting & then standing? I had a tendency towards low blood pressure before surgery now it’s something I experience every day & am almost 5 years post surgery.

Periods of low energy while losing isn’t that uncommon either. I remember at around the 3 month mark suddenly feeling so tired again. At the time I thought I really should get more active & started to walk on my treadmill. But I couldn’t do it. Was so tired I worried I’d fall asleep as I was walking & I was wreaked after a couple of minutes. That nixed that idea.
Plus the doughiness in the head & inability to focus can last well into the second month too.
However, what you’re experiencing could be related to having had Covid. Back in the day it was known as a post viral response: lethargy, low energy, cold sweats, blood pressure issues, etc, I used to get burning on the soles of my feet too. Could last for months after having one of the more severe viruses like glandular fever, influenza A, etc. I’ve had two bouts after having pityriasis rosea & then human parovirus. I remember struggling to walk up the two flights of stairs to my apartment & I had a chair placed in front of the white board in my classroom because even standing was exhausting. Now of course everyone calls it long COVID but it’s the same thing.
My last thought is you’ve picked up the vertigo virus. It’s a parasitic type virus that attacks when you’re run down post another virus. I got mine after influenza A. The vertigo, lethargy, etc. wasn’t pleasant. Occurred randomly for a couple of years after the initial bout. Generally over the counter anti nausea meds manages the vertigo otherwise a script for stemetil or similar helps. I carried it in my bag just in case I had a vertigo attack.
Just some suggestions. Hope you start to feel better soon.

Thanks for sharing everyone. I actually just got back from a cruise. I definitely adjusted my diet and didn’t go crazy but I also enjoyed the food I did eat. I actually intentionally exercised several mornings and ended up losing a few pounds over the week. I’m down about 14 inches in pants size and about 50 pounds from surgery.

My two word response to anyone who comes at me with anything other than less than 100% support... f**k off.
It's not my job to educate you or seek your approval. Get on board, or get out of my way.

For Constipation, my doctor had me take Miralax daily for the first month. If that didn't work, taking a tablespoon of olive oil 2-3 times a day seemed to fix the issue. It took about 8 hours after the first "dose" but it helped relieve my problems.

And here are my stats! I cannot believe I am 1/3 of the way towards my goal and that I've lost 76.5 inches from all over my body!! I definitely feel it!

Okay, so keep in mind I took these photos straight out of bed because I was rather cranky about taking them at all. LOL But I'm glad I've kept up with it!! The grey one is pre-op to 3 months post op, the green top is 1 month post op to 3 months post op! I love you guys but I am not posting my underwear photos. 😂

I'm so jealous. I also had surgery 1/24 and have lost 7 pounds. One of the reasons I did the VSG was because when I would try to lose weight, it would come off so slowly---like it would take maybe 6 weeks to lose 5 pounds. It took me 8 months to lose 30 lbs and that was with Qsymia and eating about 1000 calories a day. I would get so frustrated and just give up, I'd go back to my regular diet (which wasn't crazy--usually 1500 - 1800 calories a day) and everything I'd lost would come back. Now, given my usual speed of weight loss, 7 pounds in 9 days is great. But on this liquid diet where I'm getting 300 400 calories a day max, I thought I'd lose more quickly. I was hoping for at least 10-12 lbs by now. Still, I'm happy that I've done this; it's going well and I know that I will succeed. I was just hoping for it to be quicker!

I had surgery 1/24 and this morning was my first post op appt (9 days). I lost 18 pounds! Like, WHAT!? It’s not even 2 weeks. I was so shocked I wasn’t even emotional. Today, I am celebrating me for doing this.

Wow, that’s really hard! I applaud all of you who can do the full 2 weeks liquid only.

My two weeks liquid diet allowed me to have one small meal a day. It was lunch or dinner with 1 hand size flat lean Protein and same portion for veggies. Allowing to be able to have one small meal helped a lot for me and then 2 days before surgery the last mean at lunch then next day no meal and full on liquid till surgery.

5 more days of "regular" eating before my liquid diet starts. I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night and to a diner for Breakfast over the weekend. I don't plan to go crazy with it, but I do want to have a couple nice meals to think back on over the next month of Protein Shakes and broth! I might split a dessert.

Congrats on the surgery! Expect the first month to be a roller coaster of emotions, hunger, anger, and a day or two of regret. That's a rite of passage for us, where I think everyone second guesses their decision. By week 5, I finally started getting a better handle on things and I'm still very happy with my decision. 10 weeks out and I'm in better shape than I've been in decades!
As others have said, you feel hungry because you are hungry. Your body is used to the previous amount of eating, and panics when it realizes you're not eating what you used to. Since you were a candidate for surgery, then your body has enough fat cell reserves to live off of that for a few weeks, which is why they have you focus only on Water the first two weeks, while working in more Protein to prevent you from burning muscle. However, our bodies don't understand that logic and kicks into survival mode. It only understands "food" or "no food".
The first six months is critical to the process because that's when we have the best opportunity to retrain our mind and bodies to adapt. In a sense it is traumatic to our bodies, and it will fight until it understands that this new normal is safe, because that's its job, to keep you alive!
Once you're back to solid foods, that's when recognizing head hunger becomes more important. Around that time (somewhere around weeks 4-6), you'll have worked up to eating enough calories to be sustaining metabolism, while still running enough of a deficit to burn fat. At that point, your body will try to tell you "hey, we're close to the old normal again, go ahead and eat more!". As my therapist reminds me, remember to listen specifically to your stomach, and not your mouth. Practice eating enough to where your stomach feels full, and not pressured from too much, but at the same time, study your habits to see if you're eating to stay busy, to deflect stress (I'm guilty of this), or just because your body thinks you should keep your stomach topped off.
During that period, if you feel like your stomach is craving more, double check what nutrients you are getting. If you're deficient in Vitamins or minerals, you will develop insatiable cravings, but your body can't tell you exactly what its missing. It just yells "I'm Hungry!". Check with your doctor on which supplements to add or remove, and also branch out with different styles of food as long as they fit your calories/macros. I felt like I was starving for most of last week, then I got some Korean food (sort of a bibimbap inspired kale and cabbage salad with beef) on Friday, and the cravings stopped. I'm still trying to figure out what itch that scratched, but obviously I was missing something in that!
Also, be very careful with sugar, starches, breads, rice, etc. That can send you into a craving spiral that lasts 2-3 days. Some sugar alcohols like Sorbitol and Xylitol also trigger that for me, while Monk Fruit, Stevia, and Splenda don't. Everyone is different, but pay attention to those ingredients, because that can make the hunger feel worse!