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At 5 months post-op, 500 calories per day might signal your body to be in starvation mode. Most programs seem to recommend between 800-1000 calories as a benchmark until you reach maintenance. For example, my dietician told me 80g protein and that protein should be 40% of my calories, which works out to around 800 calories per day. Do you have any theories on why you can't eat real food after lunch? You should be able to eat most food by now. I'm only at 3 months post-op and the only foods I've been told to be careful with are asparagus (very fibrous) and steak (but ground beef is fine). Have you tried crockpot chili, or pulled chicken? Maybe navy bean soup with ham? Greek yogurt and fruit? I also like tuna salad or smoked salmon.

@Noelle74 What an amazing transformation! You look terrific! @RonHall908 That's good info about the protein after workout. Not that I exercise hard enough to need to worry about it, but if I ever decide to... @BlueParis Amazing cliff hike! I'm jealous of the beach time, although it's finally warming up this week so I guess summer really is around the corner @gracesmommy2 I have a feeling the hair loss will be coming for me, too. Mine is so thin, and I remember it being shocking a few months after having my kids that it would come out in handfuls. I actually bought a bunch of headbands recently to help hide it if it thins. I'm heading to my annual physical today and my 3-month appointment tomorrow. Looking forward to what the doctor has to say about progress and any changes I should make. I weighed in at 200.6 lbs today. Will I ever get below 200?!?!? I swear this is the hardest milestone. I hit 201 lbs 13 days ago and was so certain I would be under 200 by now.

I don't post too much on here anymore because I'm 2 years and 3 months post of from bypass. Life has pretty much normalized and I've reached my goal weight. I would like to get down to maybe 195 lbs but I'm not sweating it too much because I feel the best I've ever been since starting this whole process. I am six feet tall and sit around 198/199 at the moment. I started this journey at around 340 lbs. I lost 30 lbs before my surgery. I have lots of loose skin on my belly, my thighs, and my arms. Unfortunately, I can't afford skin removal but I'm saving to do my arms next summer. After a while, sometimes you have days where you no longer connect to your old obese self. I have days where I feel huge and ugly still. It's easy to forget where you came from or how far you've come. What helps me is now and then I check my old photos and make comparisons so I can see my progress. The body dysmorphia is so real and something I know most of you if not all can and will relate to. Losing the weight did not fix my body image but it's different for everyone. Some things IT DID improve however: -Improve my joint health (daily knee pain gone). -Took up running. Avid runner now. Have done races and run regularly outside. -Lowered my blood pressure. -Lowered my heart rate. -No longer profusely sweat or turn red from basic activities. -No longer use alcohol and food to cope with anxiety. -So much energy to move and do chores/tasks. -Healed my obsession with food. I love seeing everyone's progress and reading your stories. Getting the surgery is not a fix-all. We have to do the work to eat the right foods in the right portions and get exercise regularly. It's easier the first year but I can tell you it gets harder and harder. Every day is a battle when you're trying to escape obesity. That's not a bad thing. It's rewarding and you learn so much and become a more resilient and deep person. So keep remembering why you did this, where you came from, and how much better life is getting for you!

Hi all, I just can not believe that gas is soo much money and people just continure to go go go gog og og og og googgggggggggggggggggggooooooooooooooooooooooo never once slowing down.....I for one am riding my bike to pick up little things at the stores like Kmart, Walmart and Shopko...My husband works close to home, so he rides his motorcycle to work. I am going to ride my bike to the university this next semester when school starts back up. I am sick of having to cut back on other things so we can fill up the vehicles...we have a Pontiac Bonneville which gets between 19 and 30 MPG and an older 84 CHevy pickup that gets BAD mileage...use that to go camping with...I have to drive and hour away to go get fills and this is JUST going to affect me this next week...I am pissed that gas is almost $4.00 a gallon.. Just wanted to know what everyone else is doing to keep the gas budget under control...Deanna

Not everyone is given calorie goals. I wasn’t. There are some discussions about calories & a push to concentrate more on the quality of food you are eating. 500 calories is 500 calories regardless of wherever it’s a meal of steamed fish & vegetables or a burger & fries. However the nutrient difference is significant. However, if you would feel more comfortable with some caloric guidelines for as you progress, you have every right to ask for them. Beware though you may not be able to meet the caloric goals for a while & that’s okay. As long as you’re hitting those protein & fluid goals & slowly incorporating some vegetables you’ll be fine. I was given portion size guidelines: 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup from purée slowly increasing to a cup at 6 months slowly increasing again to be about accepted recommended portion sizes. So for example 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables which is where you likely will be around maintenance. Your advice may be different but our needs are likely different too. But it may be a starting point until you get a more definitive response from your dietician. PS Congratulations on your surgery.

Am I your brother? joking My levels have remained the same (low-normal but I don’t have a lot of fat in my daily diet except 1-2 weeks per year) I not sure of the metrics used to measure in Australia? Is 5.7 very elevated? What would be optimal?

Woohoo way to go, great end to the week.

@gracesmommy2 I'm so sorry about the insurance issues. What a nightmare! Praying it is resolved soon. As for the goal weight, I used the weight loss calculator on the Pound of Cure website and took the lowest weight in the range, which also happened to get me to a "normal" BMI. So, it's pretty arbitrary but it sounded good. I based it on the weight I had reached before starting my pre-op diet, which was after dropping about 12 lbs from my highest point. My own doctor didn't discuss goals or percentages with me, although I don't know if that's standard practice for him or not. My experience has been odd. First, I was with a different weight management center for years, first managing through diet and meds and then switching to the surgical route, but it closed very suddenly. I had my December surgery canceled 3 weeks prior to my date and had to rebook for February with a surgeon at a sister hospital. So I came in very last minute and only met the surgeon and nutritionist at the new place twice so they could sign off on me as quickly as possible. And right after I had my surgery, my surgeon had a nasty ski injury and was out for several weeks, so I did one follow up with his colleague and one with him via video. I'm glad I was able to get the surgery in a timely fashion and they did a good job, but I sometimes wonder how my experience differs from if I had started off in their program. A nice NSV today. I had a dress I wore on my birthday back in March that fit me but with no room to spare. This was a victory in March because I had purchased it for a trip out of town the year before for my birthday but the dress didn't come close to fitting me back then. Well, today I needed something nice to wear to my daughter's dance competition only it was cold and rainy so my summery stuff wasn't going to work. I remembered the birthday dress, which is long sleeved and has a sweater. I put it on and it was so roomy! I'm actually glad I got a second wearing out of it because I'm hopeful it will be much too big when the fall rolls around and I need cool weather clothing again. In fact, my summery dresses that were skin tight two summers ago are already very loose, too. It's the little things that keep you going when the scale decides to stall, right?

Good afternoon all! I just was thinking of all the surprises I've experienced since WLS...and I wanted to ask others what's surprised them about their weight loss/surgery journey that they weren't told by their bariatric team?! I'll go first: 1. All the aches and pains in my hips and butt. My butt hurts now when I sit since I'm missing my butt padding! Also, since losing weight my posture and gait have changed so now I'm in PT for hip abductor pain. 2. The ever increasing and changing locations of skin irritation. The skin now droops in places I wasn't told to expect and I get red irritation under my butt creases from over lap - sorry for the unpleasant visual! 3. I've shrunk..so driving I now need extra padding to be at my former "sitting height" I feel like a kid driving my parents car now. 4. I've had to buy new glasses, mine were stretched out from digging into my fat head 😋 and now they keep falling off when I look down. 5. I've had to buy new shoes, all my old shoes no longer fit. They just flop around. I was expecting new clothing..not shoes. 6. I feel more clumsy and weak despite working out. My manual dexterity is horrible now. 7. I still feel hunger 😔 These are just a few of the changes I've experienced that my bariatric team never mentioned. Do you have any to add that can take the surprise out of it for people just starting their WLS journey?! I eagerly await your responses!

Please don’t apologize! I’m so sorry to hear your insurance are being dicks. I hope it gets sorted soon. As a European I can’t imagine the stress that must cause. I personally find that the US health insurance system is evil incarnated and will pray that whoever is responsible for temporarily refusing your claim has ingrown toenails forever more. As a smoker I feel you. I haven’t given up because I don’t feel strong enough yet, I just avoided smoking 3 weeks prior to surgery. But hold strong, it’s worth it. Take care and be kind to yourself and keep on posting here! I’d read a novel!

@TwinkleToes87 you know yourself and your weaknesses best, but for most people, never having sugar again after surgery is probably taking it too far. I'll grant that there may be some triggering foods that some people would do best to avoid, just as a person in recovery who is addicted to alcohol will avoid drinking, not even a little bit. But giving up all sugar forever, foe most people, is the type of idea that sounds really great when you're planning how perfect you are going to be after this life changing surgery, and quickly becomes way harder and more punishing than you thought it would be when you are on the other side and realize the surgery was on your stomach but not on your brain/personality. I definitely have a sweet tooth, and unfortunately, gastric bypass did not make me hate sugar the way some people do. It still tastes good. But it also takes a lot less to satisfy me now. I can't physically eat two scoops of ice cream. I can eat about 5 bites. So instead of buying a big container of ice cream for home, which could quickly get me in trouble (because I can eat 5 bites at a time, but I could probably eat it 5 times a day, too), I save that treat for when I go out to my favorite farm stand with amazing homemade ice cream. And I split it with someone else so I'm not tempted to take it home for later. I don't buy a big bag of Hershey's Kisses for the house, but I will buy a single truffle from a chocolate shop and savor it. I won't buy packaged cookies, but I'll buy a single cookie from a good local bakery and eat it over two days. For me, the indulgence is now in the quality of what I am enjoying, not how much of it I can consume. It's not "no sugar ever" but "if I am eating sugar, it better be the best and only a little." And just so you know, the day before I had to start my 2-week liquid diet, I went to a restaurant and ordered a massive meal made up entirely of fried appetizers. I felt so sick and gross after, and it was that similar thinking of what if I never have this again. We all have those moments.

Just over 2 weeks since my sleeve surgery. On pureed diet now. Things seem to be going really well. My energy levels are building back up and I have no pain at all, except for my normal joint pain. Incisions almost totally healed. I am tolerating 1/2 cup food at each meal. Loving cream of wheat and refried beans. Also love my popsicles. Is everyone who has had their surgery doing well with diet advancing? Good luck to those of you still awaiting surgery. It will be over before you know it and you will be on your way to a new and healthy life.

Hey yall! Anyone else in my shoes??? So it’s been about 15 months since my vsg! Maybe 6-8 months ago I started having irregular cycles, very painful cramps and odor. I have never ever had these issues prior to my vsg. I clean my private very well so when I started noticing an odor it instantly had me scratching my head. I haven’t changed partners, std free, same soaps and laundry detergent as well. My cycle would be between 2-3 times a month which is stressful and alot to deal with. The cramps have been painful to the point I'm bent over in pain or balled up in bed- neverrrr ever had this all my years of menstruation. So of course I mentioned it to my surgeon who said oh give it some time your body just went through a major surgery blah blah- cool. Well time turned into more time and decided to see gyn. Who ran std test which came back negative for everything, she did the endometriosis test which came back normal as well. So now I have to get a D&C done tomorrow for more “diagnostic” testing. They have yet to do an ultrasound hmmmm. I have a friend who had the same surgery vsg as me and she is also experiencing the sameeee exact symptoms as me. She has found out that she have cyst on her ovaries and need to have them removed. Have you or anyone else you know that have had weight lost surgery have any of these complications? What was the findings? Any success stories and or updates? Freaking out and stressing over this bc of course they are making it seem like it’s no big deal when it is to me!

That's an amazing amount of weight loss in such a short time (even if it may feel like longer, lol). You look incredible. I'm so happy for you! (re: lbs vs inches, I've always cared more about the size measurements rather than the weight. I only care what the scale says because it's easier to track how I'm doing on a given week -- but I'm much happier when my clothes start to feel too loose compared to anything I see when I look at the numbers between my toes)

Just here to let you know that I took some advice. I was craving pasta so badly. A few of you told me to try Chickpea Pasta. I was very unsure about it. I bought some, and it was in my cabinet for a couple of weeks. I kept saying that I would try it the next day for dinner, but then I would talk myself out of it. LOL Well, I finally bit the bullet last night. I made chicken sausage, with peppers, and onions, then put it into low sugar spaghetti sauce. Boiled up some of the "pasta", and it was absolutely delicious! It was a little bit harder than regular pasta, but it took the craving away. Now I can experiment with it some more. I love this site because a few of you have given me some great ideas to try. Thank You, and keep them coming. ☺️

My dietician only gave me protein and carb guidelines. She told.me not to worry about calories. She has me at 100 grams of protein and 59 grams of carbs per day. I also workout everyday. Even if its as simple as walking. So I always go over the guidelines But it's not enough to say im over doing it. 100-130 is where I normally stay 50-65 carbs. Depending on what food I eat the calories range from.1200-1400. Again, calories aren't the important issue. Getting your protein and carb goals in is what you need. Along with staying hydrated. I'm 3 1/2 months post op.

Hello everyone, I’m 9 months out from my sleeve surgery. Had an easy post op without complications. However for the last 4 weeks or so I have moments where I get such bad gas (not flatulence, but painful, loud, trapped gas). I haven’t figured out exactly what causes it although the other night I ate some hummus and I immediately knew it didn’t go down well and felt full and like I had a rock in my tummy. After that happens it’s like 12 hours of pain and huge loud thumps and thuds. Then my insides feel like they’ve went through a war and they feel pain for a couple of days. I’ve now lost a little too much weight because I’m so scared to eat anything that will cause this. My hair is still falling out, I’m not eating enough and I’m usually in pain. I have an appointment with my surgeon but in the meantime I’m desperate. Anyone else have any experience with this?

18 days post surgery and I'm feeling great. I'm excited to start mushies this week but not as excited as I thought I'd be. This week I added zero fat yogurt, pudding, and creamy soups to the menu, thinking I'd just be snarfing them down. Nope. Anything more than a quarter cup and I start to feel my throat seize. I'm becoming more food apathetic but I'll still add eggs and tuna. Down 40!

Have you checked to see if you have any uterine fibroids? I'm asking because I ended up having an abdominal total hysterectomy because I had 3 extremely large ones and they couldn't do anything laparoscopically. My stomach was the size of someone who was 5 1/2 months pregnant. We never noticed it when I was over 400 pounds because EVERYTHING was fat on me. But once I lost a ton of weight, I finally agreed to a pap and they found the enlarged uterus. 1 ultrasound and abdominal ct later, and it was confirmed. I had the hysterectomy and my stomach is a lot flatter. Looks like it's supposed to.

Hi all. My name is Carrielee. I am 33 years old and have been on the fence about WLS for the last few years. I have struggled with obesity since I was quite young and the weight keeps piling on. I am 5 foot 1 and just hit 325 pounds. I now have a BMI of 61.4. I have uncontrolled Hypertension on multiple meds, uncontrolled Type II Diabetes, and high cholesterol, sleep apnea, severe arthritis, IIH, angina, fatty liver disease, past history of PE. I can barely walk and have been told if I don’t lose the weight I likely won’t live to see 40. I’ve backed out of this so many times but now that I’ve surpassed the 300 pound mark I know I have to do this. I’ve ended up in the ER twice in this last week with abnormal EKGs and the idea of having a cardiac event before 40 terrifies me.

I had the sleeve almost 10 years ago, and yes, it does get bigger. However, I still can’t eat near what I used to eat in a sitting. For example, I can eat 3 pieces of pizza now. I used to be able to 5-7. It happened over time, though. I second those who recommend therapy. I am about to have revision to RNY, and I have been in therapy for several months to help me be successful this time around. In my case, because I didn’t truly deal with the reasons I eat, I regained almost of the weight. Best wishes to you!!

I’m a believer in slowly incorporating better eating habits & food choices back into your day. Aim to work towards how & what you were eating in those first few years after your surgery. To begin may be start tracking your food to see what may need to be adjusted. Then work on hitting those protein & fluid goals & portion sizes. After a couple of weeks change something else like reducing your snacks or change up a cooking style. Work through what ‘rules’ you have become complacent about making a change or two every couple of weeks. Making changes this way is much easier to adopt and adapt to.Also don’t think of them as ‘rules’. That sounds restrictive, inflexible and limiting. How you eat should complement your lifestyle, be sustainable & flexible. Maybe get in touch with a therapist to talk through what may be happening that may be influencing some of your food choices & habits. Maybe get in touch with a dietician too just to check your on the right track again. All the best.

was sooo hungry last night...i dont normally eat past 8pm, but i was hungry, AND i was determined to binge watch Bridgerton season 3, part 1 (spoiler alert: i did lol) so i fixed myself a plate of leftover thai food and ate it over 3 or so hours: clockwise from top: thai basil crispy pork belly, chicken massaman curry, deep fried taro tofu with chili oil sauce, coconut rice and a piece of roti. im totally guessing maybe 600 cals for the plate? imma also gonna guess i ate about 2/3 of it (i didn't like the curry so left most of that alone, and just had a taste of the rice and roti. pretty much ate all of the rest. p.s. am now waiting impatiently for june 13, when the remaining episodes of Bridgerton are released!!! i love me a period show.

I don't think you are going bald, just going through what so many of us have had to cope with. I had long thick straight hair pre-op and thought I was doing really well when I got to month four with no hair loss and then it was like a horror movie for two months. Clumps would come out if I washed my hair, I would cry in the shower when I saw what was in the drain and my hand after just a light touch wash. I kept my hair tied back and washed just once a week during the two months but you could tell where I had been by following the trail of fallen hair, I seriously shed more than my cat! I was so self conscious about it as had bald patches but thankfully others couldn't tell it was mostly underneath. I ended up cutting my hair up to chin length so it was not as obvious. After six months the hair loss stopped and now it is about regrowth, it is nearly as annoying though not in anyway upsetting. I have been getting my hair cut every couple of months so that my existing hair is as close in length to the new hair (which is coming in with a curl) and I have to put mascara in my hair if I go out in public as there are baby hairs sticking up all over the place, looks like static hair. I took special bariatric vitamins for hair for three months, no idea if it helped but I was prepared to try anything. I also got a couple of wigs but ended up not needed them. For washing my hair I used a really soft shampoo made from oat milk. Basically I just want to let you know that what you are going through is normal after the surgery, you couldn't have prevented it, it just happens to most patients as the body is coping with the weight loss and it will get better.

Really interesting to read about the “starting weight”. I booked my surgery on January 30th and was 96kg (my highest ever weight - stepping on the scales and seeing I was closer to 100 that to 90 was a real shock - I dug out some insurance papers from February 2020 - I was 58kg then and allready heavier than I like to be). My surgery was 3 weeks later because I had to stop smoking first. The day of surgery I was 91.1kg so I lost 5.9kg in the three weeks prior ( I basically did a broth fast and didn’t eat anything solid, only clear broth and tea and coffee). Im now 70kg so since January 30th I’ve lost 26kg (57lbs) in 16 weeks (average of 1.6kg or 3.6lbs a week) so I’m very very happy with the weight loss even if I’m over the weather! I do have a goal weight which is my pre pandemic weight of 52-55kg (114-122 lbs) because I know that that is the weight at which I function best and that feels the best for my legs ( I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have very minor cerebral palsy - I have the impression that the extra pain I have for every gram I weigh over 55kg just isn’t worth it and really impacts my standard of living and my mobility. Because of the CP I have very minimal flexibility so being even slightly over weight just makes moving so so much harder for me as I can barely bend my knees as it is and have no upwards ankle flexibility what so ever. I’m easily out of balance and I fall over often ( the best way to picture it is to imagine the mobility of someone who has had about 3 beers too many), I’m used to it and my physiotherapist always says I’m a very good « faller », a part from bruises and a bruised ego I’ve only ever seriously broken things ( shoulder, wrist and double arm fracture all in one go!) once since being an adult. But being heavier has meant having more issues getting back up after falling over and more and bigger bruises. So my goal isn’t an esthetic one ( even though it will be nice to not be the fattest person in the room anymore - and because I live in Paris where the average female BMI is 21.3 the bar is low!) but a functional one. So I have 15kg (33lbs) left to loose, I know the rate of loss will slow, but I’m hoping to be at least nearly there in September when I take a new position, I really want to do my transition speech feeling ( and looking) like my old self ( just with some extra wrinkles and grey hair). My handover is September 16th - that leaves 17 weeks so I’m not sure I’ll be at 55kg by then because it would mean continuing to loose an average of 0.9kg ( 1.95lbs) a week which is a lot given my current weight. However if I manage to loose an average of 0.5kg (1.1lbs) per week ( which seems a more attainable bar) I should be 61/62kg by then, and I can live with that! ( I’m an unapologetic numbers girl - I don’t track what I eat because that’s not sustainable for me long term - I try to eat protein but other than that - YOLO - but I do track my weight every day if I have a scale and my steps and my activity) A very long post once again. Thanks all for being here. And here is a picture of a Greek island morning! That’s the 9.30AM light!