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This is my first post here. I am Lisa. I am 42. I am six months post surgery (Duodenal Switch) and I have some questions. Did anyone just NOT lose the weight afterwards? I had to do a diet three months prior to surgery and I lost about twenty pounds doing that. However since surgery in February, I have only lost 9.2 pounds. Yes, you read that right. I am so frustrated. Even in the first two weeks post surgery where I religiously followed my liquid diet, I GAINED weight. From what my doctor told me, most people lose during that period. I have tried to follow my plan of 700 calories and no snacking since then but I haven't done the greatest at it. The PA and I have discovered I may have a eating disorder. I eat when I am not hungry. Sometimes when I feel full (never to the point of getting sick). I am an emotional eater. I eat my feelings so they are sending me to a therapist to try to help with that. I know most people would say "well that is why you aren't losing" but the thing is, MOST DAYS I follow my plan pretty well and I am still not losing. Especially not like I want to. I had hopes of losing big numbers and being way closer to my goal by now. Can someone please tell me there is still hope for me? Is there someone who has been there and went on to have a success story?

In the summer, I'm a huge fan of "bowls" for lunch/dinner. Take a base of your choice like rice, brown rice, farro, quinoa, etc, add whatever veggies you like and then your protein of choice. If desired, you can also add some sort of sauce/dressing. The nice thing is you can easily meal-prep these and even vary the ingredients slightly in every single bowl just by having a few different base/veggie/protein choices available. It's also easy to adjust them to your tastes, as well as change the proportions to fit your macros. Also, for the most part you don't even need to heat these up. I eat them cold (or more often at room temp), all the time. I'm also a big fan of soup (yes even in summer), because it helps me rehydrate (due to the salt and fluid), as well as get some food in me after my workouts. I totally realize that for many people, the thought of something warm post workout seems odd, but it works for me. As to the amount of protein you're eating, I think that's okay (and not likely dangerous), but honestly is a bit higher than you actually need. I know in some gym circles, they push as much as 4 grams per kg of body weight, but there's not a lot of evidence that even strength athletes need more than about 1.6 to 2 grams per kg. Keep in mind that your body can't store excess protein, thus what it doesn't use for muscle repair just goes to waste or gets stored as fat if you're eating in a surplus. Another consideration as @WendyJane mentions is that your ability to metabolize protein is limited. While I think the rate at which it can be metabolized is actually variable and likely somewhat dependent on overall bodyweight (some studies suggest it's around 0.3 to 0.4 g/kg/bw), the net effect is that it may actually be a lot less than 50 grams for most people. For this reason, it would be ideal to actually plan on eating about five meals a day, rather than the traditional three. Further, keep in mind that the ability to metabolize protein IS NOT the same as the rate at which your body can induce muscle protein synthesis (i.e. use protein to repair repair your muscles). That rate may be as low at just a few grams per hour! That said, there's not a lot of evidence that high amounts of protein hurt the kidneys in healthy people. Yes, certainly if you have kidney disease, you should follow your doctor’s advice and limit your protein intake. For everyone else, the danger is pretty limited (or even nonexistent). I would say that if your higher protein intake is coming exclusively, or almost exclusively from meat (especially red meat), this is a lot more likely to potentially cause renal problems. Now keep in mind that when we look at whether or not a high protein diet can cause kidney issues, scientists always look at EXCESS protein. In other words, it's not the total protein intake that matters. It's the amount in excess of your needs. As someone involved in strength training, you do need additional protein to repair your muscles. As I pointed out, your actual needs may be less than you think. Like a lot of things, it's best to not assume that more is always better. Obviously some protein is essential, additional amounts can be beneficial for some people, but there are potential downsides to eating more than you actually need. Certainly your call, but you might try dropping that down to ~125 to 140 grams. This will open up some options to get some additional veggies or whole grains in you that will help with athletic performance, while still supporting your goals regarding body recomposition. FYI, my statements about protein needs for athletes is based on the latest Nutrition and Athletic Performance position statement from the American College of Sports Medicine. Sorry for yet another long post. I geek out on this stuff and just wanted to share.

I think I'm going through what they call postop blues or postop depression. This is week three and my left side, which was my smaller boob and smaller side is perfectly fine but the right side where he had to manipulate it more and do my under arm fat is giving me hell. Well, I guess one good thing is I'm not turning to food. In fact I really don't feel like eating and it's really bumming me out. I think because I can't really work out and do the things that I normally do around the house, I think that's what it really is. It's annoying the **** out of me to be honest. And I really also hadn't had any surgeries in my life that requires a lot of downtime so this is new for me as well. With my bariatric sleeve hell I was up walking in the very next day. I think I walked like 3 miles and I walked pretty much every day ever since then and that was a year and a half ago so yeah.

Lemme see here....what order to roll with....I'll start with the No-Can-Do List. Gonna sound cornball...but then again....cornball is my wheelhouse, lol. Okay...here is the Top 5 that come to mind over my morning coffee: skydiving. hell to the NO. Added to that anything that involves heights. It wouldn't be cool for them to see me pass out from terror......although I did have a great conversation with a gal yesterday afternoon who has professional live saving medical skillz. So....she could probably take me to death's door....and bring me back. But no planes, roller coasters, wall climbing or the like. Wind tunnel is about the best I can consider.... Years ago she took me out for margaritas...took my arse out. We found solace as two souls in marriages that were struggling, no sharks. I grew up near the coast...snorkeling and scuba diving frequently.... continued it through college. At some point in my mid-20's I began to have sinus troubles equalizing the pressure when diving...made for painful surface intervals between dives. My Uncle had been through the same a few years prior. He tried surgical remedy....but it didn't help. My late wife, her brother, his wife and some other friends all took their diving certification stuff....and then for various reasons,...each of them dropped out of the class. I'd resigned myself to give the sinus surgery a chance....surgeon was also a diver and he felt like success was most probable. During my years diving I've been close....crazy close....to sharks a plenty. It was all good as I was most often near rocks, reefs, shipwreck structure, etc. Cover was close, if needed. The exposure and sketchy periods were when getting to the bottom & when resurfacing....there I sometimes felt like bait on a hook. Since then I have had some close calls when I was simply swimming on a beach day.....going for a swim to cool off from the sun. One time I had my early teenage son with us....We saw a sand bar a couple hundred yards off shore.,...there were surfers out there. He was deadset on making it out there. I finally caved in and told him we could go but he had to listen to me...currents and such. He agreed and out we went....all was well until it wasn't. I found out the scary way that baitfish were schooling in spots between the sand bar and the shallows. We were swimming amidst the schooling baitfish....joining them on the freakin menu. I saw one, two then three sets of dorsal fins surface in between waves. Then one came too close....got my son's attention and lied to him....told him to get in close with me and we were headed back to shore because I was cramping. He was pissed, but he did what he was told and then gave me a dose of ribbing later on...."Dad you wanna hand me a drink.....oh no...don't do it....you'll cramp up", "Dad....you want me to take the cooler back to the car....don't want you cramping up", etc. My favorite kind of vacation is to sandy places. Don't want to become baitfish again, though....ever. Never thought it would be an issue until recent weeks. Met a gal who is a diver....kept my shark aversions quiet, lol No yoga....period. Could be the greatest thing ever.....but I'm sidestepping. Same could be said of other types of group excursive. I'm a no-class sorta dude. Not going to line up and get into some torture. I prefer to do my torture in solo....lick my wounds and gain the benefits results. I have to protect my shout out knees and right shoulder and keep pre-habbing them until I can get schedules aligned to have joint replacements done. My geriatric-bariatric sorta gym stuff would likely have younger womenz laughing their butts off. So yeah....the gym is where I need to go it alone....for now, at least. Nothing illegal...or at least keep it mostly legal. I'm not robbing banks...but if she asked really nicely and had a killer smile....I may be her getaway driver and lookout. Snakes are off limits. So if they are into snakes as pets.....it is gonna take a HEAP of Dr. Phil-esqe counseling to make that something I can ease up on. My time in the woods has me averse to snakes. The part of Georgia where I live has many varieties of rattlesnakes, copperheads, moccasins, etc, etc. I've had some sketchy moments with 'em all and I went to guns every time. Probably wouldn't go over well with a date who had pet snakes. ......................................... Note that karaoke is now off the list. I'm averse to it. Averse as all hell......but developments yesterday have me sliding that one off my radar. I met someone who sings. I mean, sings at a high level, in formal events, etc. When the subject came up in conversation I was coy....thinking, "here we go with the freakin karaoke silliness"....but I kept my mouth zipped as she was discussing things she enjoyed....music...making music via singing wasn't a hobby....but a passion. My coy arse ...when asked about likes...simply said something cornball regarding singing. "Well...it is highly ironic that we have met...you being a singer, and all." Winked and nodded...knowingly (even though I no nothingsss...strong is my ignorance). She bit and wanted to know more. I deflected and said something about having a small bit of singing experience.....at a professional level....but didn't want to bore her with details....wanted to find out more about her. So it went for a few minutes until she went back to my singing and pressed the matter. "Well, young lady....here is the cosmic irony on this matter....you are clearly impassioned & talented with your voice.....so very odd that we would meet.....you see...you are now looking at the WORST singer on the face of the Earth.....or at least in this county.....I suck.....I've even been paid to NOT sing....had dollar bills tossed at me to put the mic down.....so there it is....I am in awe of your courage to stand up and rock your voice......I am in awe and I'm hardcore untrainable in that area". She laughed and took it all in stride. "So what can you be trained to do....." Mr Cornball here replied with something dumb like, "For starters, I am housebroken...errr mostly housebroken. I can bark...or not bark...roll over, shake and play dead, fetch....you know, stuff like that". She laughed again...but not laughing in the way of "somebody come save me from this nerd....somebody, anybody". Humored laughing....dare I hope, acceptance laughter....is that even a thing ? When I say we laughed....I mean throughout the afternoon and eventing we laughed. Either this gal is challenged or she was actually amused at my dipshyt self. I was intrigued of everything she volunteered about her life, likes, loves, views. @GreenTealael had recently stated major bigtime advice that was THE SURE 'NUFF TRUTH. it pertained to core values being integral to compatibility. Not realizing it was occurring, this lady and I spent hours yesterday covering so much ground that it was unreal. By dawns light this morning I am still shaking my head in amazement. Without me realizing it had occurred....we'd checked off a pile core belief simpaticoisms....yep that is now a word. Simpatico-isms. I was open and honest and simply went with it. Each topic was a new discovery of our views and feels about stuff. Been down this road a good bit lately....and there were always stumbling issues or categories where divergent views may be a red flag. I'm not talking about politics or stuff like that. I couldn't give a rip about that. I appreciate different viewpoints. I mean the bigger issues... Here are some of the hurdles or outright roadblocks that I've had recently in this bachelor living...and this is with even short term fun: No married women. As tempting as a couple have made it...No-Can-Do. I am NOT about to go there. DO NO HARM is the hill I will die on....regardless of the temptation. No coworkers...or at least within my work "zone". There is an engineer and another administrator in another "zone" where some interesting recent conversations have occurred. Even then, I waded much more cautiously than other situations. My sobriety will not be compromised. Long story...shortened version: haven't had a drop since February 2019. Quit for practical reasons to be a responsible caregiver 24/7. Considered myself a casual drinker...social drinker.....but in the years since I saw where I'd used alcohol as a crutch...a tool...a mechanism to distance myself from work stress....or marital stress... I later acknowledged it was a simply delaying those stress & ultimately combining them. So, after my wife passed in 2021...I maintained the sobriety...realizing it was in my best interest. Since then I have benefited hugely from it. I can go out with a girl and am A-Okay with her having a drink or three....I'll have my coffee, water and am just fine. I won't open a bottle or pop a top again, though. Matters of the soul. Didn't seem like this would be an issue for initial attraction and such. But I found that even in casual contact it can and does surface and diametrically opposing views are a non-starter....even if physical attraction is main the component the main draw. Back to yesterday's first meet with lil' Miss Singer....it--was--wonderful. Wunnerfull....I didn't want to be pushy,....or forward....but....wow. So refreshing, I was thirsty for more....and it was shared, clearly. She even stated such....boldly. Stepped up and put it out there....interest demonstrated. She made the first commit. I had been keeping my desires reserved...she was... different. I was having different feels and did not want to rush into anything. This was someone that, yes, major physical attraction is there...but all my no-can-do stuff were non-issues...taken in stride....acceptance. She probably has guys hitting on her all the time and I didn't want to be another schuck trying to come on to her. I mean...I DID want to...but there seemed to be "more than that" taking shape. Everything was.....different. Yeah, I know I said that already...having difficulty finding correct verbiage to accurately describe. Your ever had the thought that you'd love to go back in time and slap the cowboy shyt outa your past self..and do so at a most specific moment and change the outcome and improve the trajectory of past self ???? Yesterday at some point after an hour or so...it was almost as if I felt a hand on my shoulder....a warning hand...it was telling me to slow the roll...be real....look at the bigger picture....and boy howdy, there is a strong hint there is possibly healthy structure for a bigger picture. The hand on the shoulder clenched down more than once....the physical desires needed to be reminded of the cosmic slap that was needed. Dumb as it may sound.....and for whatever reason I can be grateful for....I was calm and didn't blow it....wasn't "that dude". It was rewarded with hours more talking, laughing, disclosing, supporting, etc, etc. --------------------------- So.... we have an actual, real deal, no kiddin' super official date next week...Wednesday. We had to plot through our work schedules to figure it out...but it is set. A date. Not a hook up.

I'm glad you don't have the 12 week milk diet. It was difficult and I slipped up occasionally, but it was helpful for losing weight and shrinking the liver. Because of the 12 week diet, I lost 12.9 kg (28lbs) in those three months. My NHS trust just flat out said "no ozempic" At the time, it was because it hadn't quite been approved for the NHS But I wouldn't have wanted that anyway as it would mean injections for the rest of my life and a lot of people have endless diarhoea on those meds. I had one session with an NHS psychologist and one group session. I don't really know about what tiers I had. I asked for a referral for the weight loss team, then I had an information session which was via zoom where each the nurse, dietician and psychologist gave some advice about the programme. Then I had an individual session with each one. Once I was approved, I had fortnightly appointments with the medical team to check how my weight loss was going with the milk diet, pre surgery vitals and then the surgery itself. I had a one month and 6 month follow up with the surgical nurse. Next month, I have a phone call with the psychologist. It sounds to me like you are getting a lot more psychological support than I did, which I think is great. It really makes a big difference.

One other thing I should have added is to schedule in a deload week every 4 to 6 weeks. For the deload week, I want you to do ONE of the following: Just do the 4 core exercises and skip the accessory exercises Reduce the working weight. In other words if you were doing a particular lift at 100kg, you might do this particular exercise at 70 or 75 kg instead. Do the same for all the exercises Keep the weight the same, but reduce the number of sets to two instead of three for each exercise The main reason for this is to program in some additional rest since it's actually when resting that you grow and get stronger. It's totally up to you which one of the approaches above to use. Pick whatever sounds best to you.

It's really hard to properly design a workout program remotely since a lot of the things I would normally recommend would require some instruction. I also have no idea what sort of equipment you have available. That said, I'll try my best. Workout Splits: You really need to hit all the major muscle groups at least twice a week and preferably three times. Currently you're not doing this since you're doing an upper/lower split and training twice a week. That means most of your muscles are only getting hit once a week which is not sufficient for growth. If you can only lift twice a week, each of those days needs to be a full body routine. If you want to continue doing upper/lower splits, you'd need to lift 4 days a week (2 upper & 2 lower). There are other ways to break up workouts such as a Full/Upper/Lower, but those are really considered to be more advanced techniques so not really needed at this point. Out of all the possible options, I'd probably suggest Full Body on Mon/Wed/Fri as the most sensible. You'll get the best hypertrophy from that as a newer lifter. Exercise Selection & Programming: I'm going to base my suggestions off the premise that you'll be doing a full body workout as suggested. I also mostly picked from the exercises you were already doing because there's nothing wrong with those exercises and I assume you already know how to do them. Day 1: Lat Pulldown -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Leg Press -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Chest Press -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Hip Thrust -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Bicep Curls -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Calf Raises -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Tricep Pulldowns -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Day 2: Upright Row (Cable or machine) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Hack Squat (or Leg Press if not available) - 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Incline Chest Press (flat is also fine if this is not an option. I mostly picked this because it will hit the upper pecs a bit more, as well as pull in the shoulders) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Smith Machine Elevated Reverse Lunge (if needed, Hip Thrusts will be fine as well but single leg work is great for a lot of reasons) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Machine or Cable Fly -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Pallof Press (Cable or Bands) -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Kickbacks (Machine or Cable) -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Notes: Make sure you introduce this workout plan SLOWLY. For the first two weeks, only do exercises 1-4 on each day. It's also fine to do a bit lighter weight than what I listed for those first 2 weeks. Make sure you're warming up properly. One of the biggest mistakes newer lifters make is not understanding how to warm up for lifting. Do some light cardio for 5-10 minutes, then do some dynamic stretching. Also, before starting your work sets, do one set at ~20% of 1RM, one set at about 40%-50%, and then maybe another at about 55-60%. This means you'll end up doing five to six sets total for each exercise. I'd probably suggest 20-40-60% for the first 4 exercise, and 20-50% for the last 3 exercises. The numbers like 75% of 1RM mean to do the exercise at that percentage of your 1 rep maximum. In other words, you need to determine what the maximum amount you can lift is and then do the math to determine how much weight you should be lifting for that exercise. RIR means Reps In Reserve. If it says 1-2 RIR, the idea is you need to be going until you think you can only do 1 or 2 more without failing. This is important because we don't want to go all the way to failure most of the time. Doing so creates a lot of load on our central nervous system and makes recovery more challenging. You'll notice that I changed the # of reps, % of 1RM and RIR for the last few exercises. This is because these are what we call "accessory exercises" and are somewhat less important. I want you to focus on the first 4 exercises the most. I didn't prescribe rest intervals on purpose. Between sets, just take a few minutes to let your body recover. If you find you can't get through the next set, try resting longer next time. Because there are day 1 and day 2 exercises, but 3 days a week you'll be lifting, you need to simply alternate. This means week 1, you'd do Day 1 on Monday, Day 2 on Wednesday and Day 1 again on Friday. The next week, you'd do Day 2 on Monday & Friday and Day 1 on Wednesday. it's important that you continue to push yourself in terms of the weight you are doing. We call this progressive overload. If the exercises start to feel easier, you need to increase the weight. If you don't, you'll stop growing. Rest is CRITICAL, so I'd suggest skipping the Les Mills classes. I just don't think you can properly do the above exercises at the weight you should be doing them at, and then turn around and participate in a class like that. I'd expect you to be worn out after the above sessions, and if you're not, then you're not lifting heavy enough. Don't do this for more than ~3 months. At that point, you need to change things up again. No lifting program is perfect and all of them will have some areas that could be done better. Further, some people respond better to certain exercises and not others. This is why having a trainer is honestly the best way since they can judge how well you are responding to certain things . We change things every now and again to even out imbalances, as well as make sure you are not stagnating. If you just don't like any of the exercise selections, there are always alternatives because regardless of what social media may have led you to believe, there's no such thing as "the best" exercise for any specific body part. This means if you find that one of these just isn't working, or you just can't stand doing it, we can change it. If you do stop the Les Mills classes, you may need to up the cardio work. I'd ideally like to see a minimum of 3 hours a week (3 one hour sessions), though don't try to jump to that amount right away. It would also be good to mix up the type of cardio you're doing, While uphill walking on a treadmill is good for you, it's pretty one dimensional. I'm obviously a big fan of running, but if that's not something you want to do, maybe biking or the elliptical would be good choices? Rucking would also be something for you to look into as there are lots of benefits to getting outside the gym for at least some of your exercise hours. As you can see, I could probably go on for a lot longer here, but this is enough for now. Best of luck and let me know if you have questions.

Being 3 weeks out, you do probably still have swelling from the surgery inside your body, and thus you need to sip and eat carefully. Not sure what diet stage you are on, but certainly you have a post-op visit coming up, I would definitely bring it up to the team and see if they want to do further testing. Three weeks out is still newly fresh post-op, and things should get better in time, but certainly bring it to your teams attention if it persists.

A high protein yogurt was my go to in the puree stage & you can make it into a smoothly y simple adding some extra milk. Add powered flavours or protein if you want. That an instant oats (very milky),runny scrambled eggs (again lots of milk to keep therm thin) and soups. Your tummy can be very fussy in there first couple of months and your taste buds and sense of smell can become very sensitive. For me shakes were unpleasantly grainy and many foods were too sweet or too salty. Also I struggled to eat any meats I pureed but if you go down this route ensure to add enough gravy or stock to keep the pureed meat thin ( slurping off a spoon thin). So beware & tread warily when introducing new foods. Yes plans can be different. Mine was probably the most common of two weeks liquids, two weeks, puree, two weeks soft food but there were differences in what foods were allowed or not allowed at the stages from other plans. Another thing to consider is we all heal at different rates and while your plan may say you can move forward to the next stage at a certain time your digestive system may not be ready. Don’t be afraid to stay longer at a stage than your plan says if this happens to you. If you don’t reach your protein goal in the first weeks don’t panic too much. As long as you’re making an effort and getting closer as the weeks pass you’ll be okay. The volume of food you’ll be able to eat those first weeks alone hinders your ability to get all your protein in. It would take me three days to eat 2 scrambled eggs and the same for a single serve of instant oats. But work extra hard to get your fluid in. I could count shakes (but I stopped them after liquid stage) but I also did things like count the extra liquid I added to soups or yoghurt, the extra milk I added to the instant oats and scrambled eggs - not the recommended liquid you might have to add but any extra I added. All the best.

Hi everyone! Sorry for the information dump, I'm just incredibly overwhelmed right now and would love to hear any experiences you've had. I've been talking with my surgeon about all this. I just need to get some thoughts from other people who've been through it. I'm in my 20s, autistic and ADHD, and got the SADI early May. It's been 5 weeks. I've basically failed almost every instruction (except to lose weight, I've done great with that! I've lost over 30 lbs post-op). Like protein shakes. I'm very lactose intolerant, and intolerant to several fake sugars, AND allergic to yeast (which is in every soup known to man). After surgery I became intolerant to every fake sugar, even stevia. The three shakes I had managed to tolerate became intolerable post op. Two have things that burn my insides now, and one just makes me puke because it tastes gross without too much sugar for me to tolerate. So I tried a bone broth and then eventually foods (in line with the stages) to try and get protein. Lactaid didn't work unfortunately so no cheese, creamy soups, ECT. Meats are hard to tolerate. Eggs are ok, and vegan Greek yogurt, but after eating anything consistently (like every day) it makes me nauseous. I wasn't picky before surgery, and actually had a protein shake daily, so I wasn't prepared to find food I tolerate literally vomit inducing after a few meals of it. I have massive food aversion now. I get nauseous anytime I think of food, or smell food, though I manage to find something to choke down with my pills so I don't get more nauseous. I've tried to force myself to eat/drink things, but it always ends in dry heaving at best. Its mental, I'm sure, but I liked eating the same foods pre-op so that's confusing for me. Water was fine when I was in too much pain to sleep and had all that extra time, so the first week, but now I'm mentally and physically exhausted and want to sleep a lot. Or even just lay down, and with the GERD that means not drinking while laying down. With all the meals and the not drinking around them, I get 40-48 oz of water a day. I'm not exercising (another ding) so I don't actually seem to be too dehydrated? But once I hit the 40-48oz I stop being able to drink, even if I stay up 2 extra hours to get some more down much more slowly. It just makes me nauseous past the amt mentioned. I don't know what that's about. Also intolerant to the anti-nausea pills btw. For some reason they make the nausea worse and give me stomach cramps to boot, yay. There's more issues, but that's the gist. There's so much to juggle, and it seems like everything I try to fix my issues leads to nausea. How do you do all of this? And not go crazy? And please tell me it ends soon?

Popped into the local grocery store yesterday to pick up some yoghurt & on my way to the arctic zone I spied a garlic and Parmesan chicken parcel ready meal. I hesitated but picked it up. Can’t say it didn’t puff well but maybe that’s where the 19g of protein listed on the nutrient panel was. It certainly wasn’t in the almost non existent barely 2 level tablespoons of the creamy garlic Parmesan chicken filling. I have no idea where the chicken actually was either - I saw two or three small shredded pieces. And it tasted unpleasant. I know why I avoid these mass produced processed ready meal foods. The second one is in my fridge though it may be in the bin later today. At least my usual vegetables were yummy.

I had two strictures - at 4 weeks out and again at 8 weeks out. But I was told that they almost always occur during the first three months after surgery, so it's not very likely that that's what's going on with you. If it is, though, it's a super easy fix. Both times I felt like I had acid reflux. The first time I was puzzled since bypass usually cures that. After a couple of days of that, I suddenly couldn't keep food down, so I called my surgeon's office and they told me it was probably a stricture and they set up an appt, but they said if it got to the point where I couldn't even keep fluids down, to go to the ER (it never got to that point). The second time I knew what was going on because I had that acid reflux feeling again, so I made an appt to have the stricture "fixed". I never had any pain either time, though. It was an acid reflux feeling (which progressed to not being able to keep food down when I had the first stricture)

I haven't had any issues with my sleeve. Out of the blue about a month ago I had what I thought was the flu, didn't throw up but had bad nausea and intestinal pain. Then I went to urgent care and they said I was dehydrated and gave me Zofran. I thought I was doing better. I was at work and had excruciating pain in the top right of my abdomen. And then it stopped. The next day I was so tired. Had brain fog. Could only eat soft bland food, lots of intestinal pain. I went to the ER 8 days ago and they said that I had a hiatal hernia and gave me more Zofran and bentl. And they just said to follow up with the gastroenterology department. They did a CT and found a teratoma on my ovary and my main dr said that that is what is making me so sick. I went to the gyn yesterday and he said no way this thing is making you so sick and said I should get a vaginal ultrasound which I can't get for three weeks. I had to apply for short term disability which isn't going to pay the bills. My main dr said to get in with the GI department and they sent in a referral. I don't live in the same city where I had my surgery. I'm wondering if anyone has had symptoms like this so far after surgery? If I eat or drink anything that is spicy or acidic or has a lot of fat or fiber it hurts so bad. My whole abdomen feels swollen. Even when I eat soft foods it hurts my whole abdomen. I'm fatigued, I have brain fog, I have a headache every day, it hurts to bend over to pick something up. I cry almost every day because I can't do anything and there are no answers. Maybe I should try to get into a bariatric practice here?

Hi, NeonRaven! Thank you so much for your reply and sharing your experience! I find it so helpful to hear how other NHsers have experienced the process since it seems so much more elongated from the U.S. process. And you make such a good point about the London privilege - now it makes more sense why I’ve seen more internet presence and response from London NHSers. (And quite a few from the far north of England as well!) About three or four years ago during my annual diabetic review, my nurse had suggested bariatric surgery and that gave me a lot of hope - she was able to refer me for Tier 3. I had my dietitian appointment yesterday and it went really well! It was about 30 minutes and went over the Tier 3 lifestyle changes, continued lifestyle changes (balanced meals, regular exercise, blood sugar monitoring, weight maintenance, etc), medications, and then any questions I might have. She was very positive and said she would be recommending me to go forward for surgery when the MDT meeting happens 🥲 (once I meet with the next consultants - psychologist, anaesthetist, bariatric nurse, and surgeon - how soon? No one knows.) Needless to say, I am so relieved, so happy, and so excited to be moving forward even if it’s one step. I’ve found out that my hospital trust now does their “one-stop” clinic as separate virtual appointments, rather than in-person. (So, perhaps it will be quite some time before that MDT meeting?) And then the endoscopy and ECG will be done at the pre-op assessment once a surgery date is confirmed. I am so glad to hear your NHS experience has been so good and positive. I am so sorry to hear about your mother's complication and her passing, but it is so hopeful to hear she was able to put her diabetes into remission (that’s one of my big hopes!) Congratulations on your weight loss and wishing all the health and success! 💕 PS - funny enough, I have not had any group sessions whatsoever in this process. I am wondering if I’ll have a group session with the bariatric nurse?

Anyone who has ever flown commercial has seen the safety briefing, right ? "In the case of cabin pressure drop....an air mask will lower itself in front of each passenger.....put your own in place before helping those beside you" Took me quite a while to realize that our own personal health condition is no different. The WLS provided a wild ride for about three years. Surgery yield excellent weight loss results. Faster than I was ready for. I didn't make the best of decisions and never missed the opportunity to go have fun. One day....I woke up from the hubris and took inventory. My marriage had somehow survived...as it had survived tough times well prior. I was a dad to an insanely gifted son. I had a good job surrounded by great people. Mostly, though....my wife was there at my side and patiently waiting for me to get my head extracted from my arse. I did. We then had what can only be described as the best years of our marriage....like we were dating again. I was blessed and the first to acknowledge such. She had some health issues arise and we discovered it was worse than we were expecting. Diagnosis was cancer....treatment began right away but it was a terminal diagnosis. She fought hard...superhuman efforts. Her pain tolerance was simply beyond my compression. Cancer took her in April of 2021. I maintained my promise to her to keep on with the sobriety. I failed in most other ways. I had zero desire to cook as it was too painful. Anytime I'd try the sense of loss would be overpowering. We had so many fun times in and around the kitchen....I'd cook and she'd help me clean up my mess. Music always on....every day together was alike a date night. I remain so very grateful to have been given those recent great years together....but I chickened out when it involved anything we'd once do together. No cooking of anything other than maybe a quick breakfast.....no music....no movies or shows we once enjoyed, no gym, no maintaining of friendships......just went to work each day and came home....existing off fast food and vending machine garbage at work. Three and a half years went on like that. As the fourth anniversary of her death loomed, I once again took inventory. What I acknowledged was ugly. The mirror sucked, the way most of my clothes fit sucked, my annual checkups with our primary care doc sucked....and I owned every single bit of it. I owned all that suck. I also knew that she would kick my ass for letting myself give up like I had. I've never quit anything in my life....yet there I was....quitting on pretty much everything. I pissed myself off so badly. I made the decision to crawl outa that hole and do what she would have me do if she was here to push & pull on me to get my shyt together. She fought so hard to live....and there I was... giving up...no fight, no attempt, just giving up like a punk. So things began to improve greatly when I started jumping on what I could gain control of. My health was a perfect place to start..... And so it has been going the last few months. Daily macros are improving more each day. Essentially keto but am supplementing with fish oil, fiber, turmeric, powdered greens, multi-vitamins.....trying to shore up every aspect of daily good stuff taken in. I flipped the collective bird to all the fast food restaurants and their drive thru windows. Screw 'em all. Found the stereo again....whether in the truck or at the house. There is music. Took over the yardwork....and there is a pile of it needed. Joined a gym. Bought some new ear buds and gym clothes....and a heap more new music. In short.....I acknowledged that throwing my own health away was what had been selfish......taking control of it was imperative. The loss is still there....but my response to it is now different. Now I am doing much more to honor her by living as she wanted me to. She wanted me to live....all aspects of living. Health first, foremost and always.......and the other aspects of living are becoming more clear each day. Life is a gift. Squandering that gift is a crime. Longwinded answer.

Routinely knock out 60hr weeks. I think I took three weeks off after the sleeve and that was largely due to a massive abdominal hernia that was repaired at the time of the sleeve surgery. It was my 3rd such repair...and has held up great these last 9 years. You may be able to flip the script......and make those 80hr weeks your best weight loss weeks. There is going to be a time when the protein shakes are the ticket...then maybe those small foil packs of tuna and salmon. Food won't be an issue that occupies your thoughts. You'll laugh at the vending machines and shoot 'em the bird. Make sure you buy all your necessary supplements & shakes and tuna packs and load up your desk or locker. Having those on hand will be one more way to keep food off your mind. You'll not be wondering what you are going to have for lunch every day. You'll have that covered. 8 weeks will be a great amount of time to recover and acclimate. You'll lose a pile of weight in those 8 weeks, too. Those 80hr weeks are going to feel much, much shorter from this point forward. Congrats. Go kick some ass. You got this.

The doctor responded to my question in writing a few weeks ago that there is no good answer because there is no way to know, but saw the value of having access to my stomach to monitor, i don't think she had a chance then to review the EGD pathology report and now suddenly I have a meeting with her. The program coordinator couldn't explain to me why it was so early. 15 years ago I had a bladder cancer scare, and the urologist reacted the same way after they got a pathology report. In that instance they had access to my bladder and did a scope and did not find anything really abnormal. I know the risk is rare, and I look forward to learning about the alternative ways to monitor. And I hope you're correct. RYGB in general would be something I'll have to warm up to because of the increased complications associated with it. The great news is there is a lot of data on it, and surgeons are very familiar. Sinceit's not novel, and if I move I will surely find a doctor familiar with it vs SADI-S or even BPD/DS. For example in my area very few surgeons do either of those two. My insurance doesn't cover SADI-S or OAGB. My preferred surgery is SG. If I'm not a good candidate for it, then I'm glad I'm waiting because I need to do some deep thinking. Dumping sounds terrible. Arthritis runs in my family, and at time even at my age my knuckles and joint hurt. Nevertheless the nephrologist advises against NSAID but they are not off limits with RYGB they would be mostly off limits. I'm not SG or bust really, but I just had a relative share they have precancerous cells in their stomach. That two of my father's siblings with either stomach cancer or precancerous cells. It is a little too close to home. I may be, however, more at risk of dying by slipping in the bath tub, or driving on the highway than getting stomach cancer in my remnant stomach. So I have to be realistic. If I do nothing and get kicked off of Zepbound my weight will return, and my heart will enlarge, and I could die of heart failure or a stroke (in the last 5 years 3 close family members had strokes, and my grandfather die of a stroke years ago). Those are conditions I have now. The enlarging heart may not get worse, but it likely will. My cardiologist is why I aggressively started losing weight to lose 40 lbs since my bariatric first appointment weight-in in February. I've now been taken off one of my four hypertension meds, but I'm still on three. My other concern about RYGB is how will it impact my ability to take sustained released meds. all this I'll talk to my surgeon about in my meeting Tuesday. I've been considering bariatric surgery since 2018, and i put it off. 2022 after a few health scares and being diagnosed with mild but concerning LVH I started seeing a dietician and working out. Later I battled shame to start Wegovy in 2023 and worked with an obesity specialist's practice. In 2005 due to insurance I switched to Zepbound. After my cardiology follow up in January I went for my first bariatric consult. I briefly considered ESG, but after researching decided against it and insurance doesn't cover it. I witched Weightloss clinics and aggressively started tracking and living in a calorie deficit. I'm under no illusions about being able to keep this weight off w/o surgery long term. I don't know if the co pays next year will be even higher already $500 $360 with a coupon, or if my financial situation will change. ifI do nothing, the I'm not sure if I'll make it to my mid sixties if I go back to 315-320. So I have to do something, the question is what.

if you lose a ton of weight, you're likely to have some loose skin. I had a ton of it (I had mine surgically removed three years after my bypass). No one but me (and my husband and doctor) knew it was there, though - it was pretty easy to hide in clothes. Even if it didn't have it removed, though, I still would have taken loose skin any day of the week over weighing 373 lbs (and yep - we had the same starting weight).

there really isn't malabsorption at all with sleeve. There is with bypass - that's why we take more vitamins than sleevers. But the vitamin thing is really second nature after a while - you just go on autopilot. major complications with either surgery are pretty rare. With sleeve, the most common one is GERD, but not everyone gets it, and for most who do get it, it can be controlled medically (e.g. pantaprazole, which you said you're already taking). Some people with severe GERD do revise to bypass, but it's not a huge percentage that have it that badly. But yes - it IS a potential issue. The most common issue with bypass (besides dumping, which about 30% of us deal with (I never have), but that can be controlled by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting, which we shouldn't be doing anyway). The second most common is a stricture, but those are an easy fix. They just do an endoscopy and stretch it out. I had one. Happens to about 5% of us, according to the PA in my surgeon's office (if they're going to happen, it'll be within the first three months after surgery - it's very rare for them to occur after that). if you need more time to think about this, though, then take it. It's a big decision. But as SpartanMaker said, you almost never hear anyone say they regretted it. The only regret most people have is that they didn't do it sooner. I had it at age 55. I wish now that I'd done it at least a decade earlier. P.S. I had GERD prior to surgery, so I went with bypass. I know the chance of having it get worse (for those who already have GERD) with sleeve is only 30%, but I didn't want to risk it. Besides, sleeve was still pretty new when I had my surgery, and I was a little afraid of it turning into "lapband 2" - but it's been around long enough at this point that I wouldn't have had that particular worry. It works well and it's safe. But I still would have chosen bypass for myself because I was afraid I'd be one of those whose GERD would get worse.

I just want to know when is a good time to start exercising and I mean more than walking. I'm three weeks post op and my energy is starting to come back. I've looked up bariatric chair exercises on YouTube and more, but I'm a little concerned if they'll bother my stomach with the knee lifts

By your logic we should also call DS & SADI sleeve gastrectomies. Heck, it's even in the name for SADI-S: single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy. Either way, both surgeries probably have more in common with sleeve than traditional bypass in that they retain the pyloric valve and the bulk of the stomach is removed. Yes, they all bypass a section of the small intestine, but RYGB only bypasses the duodenum whereas traditional DS bypasses the duodenum, jejunum, and proximal ileum. SADI-S sort of splits the difference. Where and how much of the small intestine is bypassed makes a HUGE difference in nutrient absorption since the various parts of the small intestine affect absorption differently. Grouping them all together just because they bypass a part of the small intestine makes as much sense as grouping them in with sleeve gastrectomy since they also are pyloric-sparing surgeries. Aside from the technicalities of the surgeries themselves, In practice DS/SADI are pretty rare, so trying to group them in with RYGB just seems really odd to most of us here. Heck, the name of the surgery specific board here is "Gastric Bypass" not "Roux-en-Y gastric bypass". If that's not enough for you, just do a Google search for "gastric bypass". Pretty much every result you get is going to be one that is using the term interchangeably with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Let's get back to the question at hand and why I called this out. By you grouping all three of these surgeries together and claiming they all need additional supplementation of vitamins ADEK is factually incorrect. Gastric Bypass patients do not need this. For someone that seems concerned about taking vitamins that "aren't needed", please don't spread misinformation about what others need.

Actually, all three are gastric by passes. But RY is the least malabsorption.

I'm preOP. After reading form the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Manual of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (December 2024) I am confused by the diet supplement recommendations there which are very different than those from my program which they say are from ASMBS (and of course different than the statements of the vitamin sellers). The SAGES Manual of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery says 1 or 2 regular multivitamins, calcium citrate 1200-1500, 2000-3000 IU vitamin D, at least 18 mg of iron, at least 12 mg of B1, and 350-500 mcg B12. I talked to dietician from my program today and she admitted they recommend the bariatric vitamin to everyone to keep things simple and she said it helped with compliance. I kinda feel misled because. The bariatric vitamins are not cheap, and aside from the calcium, Kirkland or Equate multi-vitamins with iron, a B1, and B12 would meet the basic needs per the SAGES Manual. The price of those three pills for a year costs as much as one month of some of the bariatric specific multivitamin supplements (not including Calcium Citrate).

I'm wearing a new pair of jeans that are a size 14 (uk or size 10us) I have NEVER been a size 14 in my life! When I was a kid, I went from a kids 6 to a juniors 11 to a 16! Even when moving to the UK as a teenager and taking into account size diversions, I've never been this size. I'm not supposed to wear jeans to work, but my manager was so happy for me, she let me today! (I guess also because my last week is next week) but still. It's been an amazing 7 months! Three years ago, I lost my stepfather, two years ago i lost my mother and I was at my lowest point mentally and couldn't imagine light at the end of that tunnel, and now I'm happier and healthier than I thought I could ever be again! Thanks to everyone on this forum as well when I've spiraled and you've kept me inspired.