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Happy Birthday!!! I was also very complainant in the early stages post op. I looked through my archived photos and I can’t find any evidence of a food related birthday (and I take pics of everything). I definitely hung out with friends and family but there was no food was around. Weird. These were also during the times I would carry a spare protein shake in my bag just incase I needed one so I’m not surprised. I’m willing to bet a made an iced coffee with a protein shake. I still generally prefer non food based events/parties/celebrations because I can always eat before or after.

"McCormick cake batter extract is also a delicious addition to vanilla bases and is available at most grocery stores" this sounds amazing! I never knew they made such a thing!! I decided to buy the deluxe too, for the size of the containers and different options. I've already made Fairlife core elite (42 protein grams) ice cream and it was wonderful...A nice change of texture from just drinking my protein! Thank you for responding to this post, amazing tips!

I know exactly how you’re feeling! I get the feeling of food being stuck in my stomach pouch. It’s very uncomfortable. The only thing that makes it feel better is throwing up. I’m okay with soft foods (mashed potatoes, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, pudding, protein shakes). The only solid food that I’m confident in eating is Ritz Toasted Chips. I can stuff myself with those chips and dip and have no problems. Only recently have I been able to handle chicken, and even then, I have to be careful. Beef still gives me problems, although ground is better. I have to try the trick where you add water to ground beef.

I have a huge restriction, lucky me. At almost 2 years, I was only on about 800 cals a day. I had to eat so many protein yogurts to get in my quota of protein. After 2 years I decided to call it a day and upped my cals to 1500. This gives me a good number of cals and as I am not a great exerciser, could do more if I wanted more food. Counting my 3 week pre op diet, I lost about 90 lbs at 6 months out

Happy birthday! I had my surgery less than a week before my birthday, so I was still on liquids for my birthday. I didn't (and really couldn't) do anything food-wise for my birthday that year. What else do you normally do to celebrate your birthday? Do your friends and family give you gifts? You can still open gifts on your birthday. Maybe instead of going out for a birthday meal, you can find another (non-food-related) activity to do with your friends and family, like a movie or show, escape room, spa day, mini golf, etc. Something to consider with respect to a birthday treat is that you might have a bad reaction to it, so think about whether you want to risk getting sick on your birthday. Maybe instead you can find a bakery that makes sugar-free cupcakes, or a health food store that sells protein brownies, or make yourself a sugar-free protein mug cake.

I got the Deluxe because (1) it has bigger containers (24 ounces for the Deluxe vs. 16 ounces for the other models) and (2) it has more programs than the other models. To be honest, I don't fully understand the difference between programs, and I'm not 100% convinced it matters (e.g., what's the difference between light ice cream and frozen yogurt programs?), but it's nice to have options. I like the bigger containers because it allows more flexibility in what recipes I can make, and I usually eat half and re-freeze the other half for later. A few pro tips: Buy extra containers. You have to freeze the mixture for 12-24 hours, so you'll want to be able to make it in advance so you don't have to wait until you consume one to freeze the next one. The machine only comes with two containers (unless you find a deal that includes extra containers), and I bought 4 more for a total of 6. My extras are not Ninja brand but they are the same shape and size to work with the machine, at half the price of the Ninja brand. Re-spin! No matter what program you use, your ice cream will probably come out looking like powder and you'll think something is wrong. Put it back in the machine and re-spin at least once, sometimes two or three times. Some people say to add liquid before re-spinning, but I recommend NOT to do that, because as it sits at room temperature during the re-spins, it will start to melt into its own liquid, so if you add more liquid, it will get too soft. Also, this is kind of confusing, but if you save some for later, you have to re-freeze it in the container and then creamify it using the applicable program (e.g., light ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, etc.), NOT re-spin. In other words, never use the re-spin button when it's frozen solid. You'll probably need to add sweetener and/or flavor. When people are dissatisfied with recipes, I suspect that it's usually because of insufficient sweetness. YMMV, but I like things super sweet, so I always add sugar-free sweetener (erythritol and/or Splenda) and lots of it. People say that freezing and creamifying it makes it taste less sweet, so when you taste the liquid before freezing it, you'll probably want it to be on the verge of too sweet. Same goes for flavor -- it tastes weaker after freezing and creamifying. There are some great flavorings available that can really enhance your creations. Lorann, One on One Flavors, and Bakto flavorings are available on Amazon and offer a ton of variety. McCormick cake batter extract is also a delicious addition to vanilla bases and is available at most grocery stores.

Ooh okay this is so interesting to read, actually! It is nice to hear it from an honest and upfront perspective, so thank you for sharing your experiences I definitely know that surgery will be the only way to actually get rid of any potential loose skin, and I am already saving up for that eventuality, as I know you shouldn't really get surgery to remove that skin until your weight has plateaued, so probably around 2 years I imagine! I think one of the main things for me at the moment is just preparing myself mentally too - I am trying to cut down on the amount of snacks I am eating, upping my water and protein intake, and making healthier choices. I just want my body and mind to be a bit more prepared for being hungry and healthy!

Today (January 16th) is my birthday. 🥳 This year I opted out of the birthday dinner’s I’m usually taken to by friends and family. I am 40 days post op and while I am now in the “eat whatever I can phase” ofc I’m following the low carb / high protein / no sugar diet I’m advised to follow by my bariatric nutritionist. So for my birthday this year, I didn’t want to go to a restaurant knowing I can’t eat too much food right now + I didn’t want to be tempted by restaurant foods. But I did want to know if anyone else had surgery close to their birthday like me and if so, did you allow yourself a birthday treat? Like a cupcake 🧁? I haven’t had sugar (other than my protein shakes and yogurts) since late November so idk how it will affect my stomach either but I was thinking of just getting a little birthday cupcake 🧁 for myself tomorrow. I’d love to hear others input or experience. Thanks! ☺️

I was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months (almost a cup of food for a meal depending on what it was & one snack) & at my goal weight. But my stats are different from yours. I’m likely older, definitely shorter & I wasn’t & still aren’t overly active. (I eat about 1600 now to maintain my weight.) You have every right to ask for greater guidance around calories, portion sizes, macros, etc. from your nutritionalist if it makes you feel more confident about your choices & comfortable about what you’re doing. If they refuse you may have to find another one who is willing to support you. Yes, I know calorie counting is considered out, but for us it is an important consideration especially until we feel more secure in what we’re doing & helps us to lose/maintain & maintain our health. We need that guidance now as most of us didn’t know what the hell we were doing in regard to appropriate foods to eat, nutrients our bodies needed, appropriate portion sizes, etc. We’re new borns about a lot of this in the beginning. If we knew it all & could do it we wouldn’t have needed the surgery. Honestly, I wasn’t given calories goals or specific macro except protein 60g for me. Just portion size, and low carb, low fat, low sugar. I was okay with that though I would still randomly check for my own interest. I did a lot of my own reading, and was very careful with what I chose to eat & checked with my dietician at every fortnightly appointment. As I said, you have to feel comfortable & confident about what you’re doing. After those first heady weeks of large weekly weight drops &, regardless of our starting weight, our rate of loss slows. One to two pounds a weeks is okay especially as you are on the homeward path now. Remember that 1-2lbs a week is generally considered a healthy rate of lose for anyone losing weight. Wait until you’re almost there & you’re losing ounces not pounds a week. Believe me, the last few pounds to lose are a b*tch to lose.

Our heads are often our worst enemy. Making you crave certain foods, flavours or textures, making you want them more simply because you can’t have them, trying to convince you that this tiny portion of food simply can’t be enough for you to function, … In time you work out strategies to help you manage this but it’s not easy at first. Many of us find distraction helpful. Read, craft, check social media or this forum, ring a friend or family member, go for a walk, play a game, clean out a drawer, cupboard or pantry (get rid of the clothes that are too big & foods you can’t eat or may be tempted by), etc. Even sipping a warm/hot drink can be helpful. The change in our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell can make it challenging to find foods you can tolerate for a while. I found the shakes disgusting (too sweet & grainy), bone broths too salty. Thank goodness for cream soups. I also diluted my shakes so I could tolerate one a day. Try making your own smoothie with yoghurt, milk, protein powder & an appropriate flavour. The change in your taste buds can have the reverse affect too & foods or flavours you didn’t like before suddenly are okay so don’t rule out something because you didn’t like it in the past. All the best.

I am a little over 6 months post op, how many calories are you eating now? I am getting about 900-1000 calories, 80g of protein, 50g of carbs. Anyone else have a starting weight at 360ish at 5'9", how much did you lose at 6 months? My surgeon doesn't offer an aftercare support team and the nutritionist (had to get a referral from my primary) that I am seeing doesn't like giving numbers. I also don't feel I can ask him as he will just refer to the paperwork he gave me at the start, which just says under 1200 calories and 60-80g of protein. I am very happy with the weight that I have lost so far, 100lbs since surgery, but it has been very slow the last 2 months or so. I still feel that I should be losing at a faster rate than I am which is only about 1-2lbs a week. Is this just an average weight loss when I weigh 263lbs at 5' 9", haven't been down to this weight in over 15 years.

Really enjoyed reading your update. This is quite the learning curve isn’t it. All this AND snowy adventures 😅. It has started snowing here in Scotland too, hopefully no power cuts for me. Distinguishing when I am actually hungry has become a bit of a thing for me too. Unfamiliar territory for sure. I am now 6 days post op and it’s been remarkably smooth for me, initially felt cheated as I fully expected to suffer and was adrift when I did not suffer beyond a few reminders now and then I had actually had surgery. No particular desire to suffer but at least I know how to cope with that… (endometriosis has dominated my life for years). Last night I spent several hours ruminating over putting back on weight I have yet to loose. 🙈. The mantra for today is one day at a time 😂. No cravings per se, I am instead having soups, protein shakes, I had a soft scrambled egg which was delicious, soft cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais. Today has been busy and I did not eat until 6pm, (1x 500ml protein shake and 800ml of water though) when I had a vague feeling of my stomach being empty. Tomorrow I was nourish myself better issues I have encountered, a favourite yoghurt is no longer a favourite, eating jelly is not for me, eating slowly is better. Best wishes to everyone. Lily2024 hope your power is back on soon xx

Interesting. That's right within the daily protein I've been told, and only 4oz short on the fluid. I'm not sure why they would want to make you feel you weren't doing well. It sounds like you're doing just fine.

I am getting 65-80 protein a day and 60oz of water a day..

I am getting 65-80 protein a day and 60oz of water a day.. I was cleared to use a straw to help with water.. I guess I need to meal plan more to get my protein in..

Today is 11 days post op and I’ve had serious cravings over the past two days. I started having a protein shake again which also helps the leg and foot cramps, then added a 4th meal a day. I also had a cup of broth in case I just needed salt. Yesterday it got so bad and I realized that I’ve been eating only yogurt and puréed cottage cheese so I got some smoked salmon and ate one ounce of it, that has set me back to rights again. Woke up feeling so much better this morning. It’s been an adventure, we live in the Midwest and lost power Friday evening, we’ve been in a hotel since Saturday. I brought my scale and a small container so I could portion out yogurt or cottage cheese but didn’t have any meat or fish. i don’t really feel hungry in my belly anymore, just a vague feeling of alarm that I need something. Most of the time I can just reassure myself but yesterday I knew it was hunger and that I needed something more substantial. The smoked salmon is very soft and I chewed it for forever, and I loved every moment of it🙂. (Note: I’ve been on purées since the day after surgery, tomorrow is my 2 week post op appointment, and I would have blitzed the salmon but I’m just making do the best I can with the snowy adventures. I also ate scrambled egg at Denny’s, I measured out 2 ounces and just fork squished the heck out of it and that went well too.)

Congratulations on your surgery and great progress. You are over the worst. The liquid and puree foods go through your new tummy really quickly. Are you remembering the no drink rules? Your tummies nerve endings have been severed and your full signals are missing. I would sneeze when full. So as they say on here just because you can eat it does not mean you should. When your new tummy stitch line has healed and you begin on real foods your restriction will kick in and oh boy will you know about it. Its like a long lost friend coming back but now it has rules of its own. Over eat at your peril, it feels awful for hours. This is what we mean when we say bariatric surgery is not an easy option.

I just had surgery on 1/4/24 and I am struggling. I never used to be obsessed with food and now it's all I think about. I am so sick of the Protein drinks and jello because everything tastes too sweet for me now. It feels/tastes like I am drinking sweetened condensed milk from the can. I am limited with broths I like, so that's an issue. I couldn't take it anymore, so I broke down and has refried beans yesterday (I'm not supposed to start pureed food until Tuesday). I regret having the surgery, and am resentful about not being to eat the foods I want. I have been on the liver shrinking diet 1 week before Christmas, which was awful watching everyone eat all those delicious Christmas treats, while I just watched. I think between that and the liquid diet post-surgery has broken me. I am emotional and miserable. Am I the only person to feel this way?

I’m three weeks out of surgery. I’m feeling kind of the same way technically. For my tracker I weigh twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. I noticed this week from Wednesday to Sunday I didn’t have the weight loss that I was kind of expecting. I’ve also started the purée stage where I’m actually eating stuff now. One of the Support groups that I’m in there is a woman there and she said that this is normal and I talked to my doctor and he said it was normal so I guess it’s normal. I know I’ve heard of the stalls that happen within the first few months. you’ll have stalls as your body adjusts to the new eating habits. Just make sure that you’re eating your protein, getting your water, taking your vitamins, and eating foods that you should be eating, such as puréed vegetables, or soft foods, or whatever that are healthy. Your body will adjust as time goes on and will all feel these kind of oh my God moments. But we got this we’ll get through this. I’m not gonna start worrying about the stalls until I’m six months out and not losing any weight by then, your body should be on the role of losing. I hope that helps.

The first year is where you will have the most success setting a new baseline weight, so avoiding excess sugar is important. I will say from personal experience, and recovering from Type 2 diabetes, if I have sugar like I did over the holidays (cookies, egg nog, cake), I would start to crave it constantly. It would take about 2-3 days of avoiding it to stop being "hangry". If I didn't make myself focus on high protein and savory foods, I would crave sugar, bread, and starch constantly. For special occasions you can have some after your restrictions are lifted, but just be aware it will temporarily make you crave more, and can get out of hand if you let it.

How much protein and liquids are you getting in?

I had both and got the bypass. I was post menopausal so I can’t say it helped with most PCOS issues. I swung the other way 2 years post op and got hyperthyroidism! So my team figured it’s a vitamin imbalance and I’m monitored more closely. (Lower vitamin D can increase thyroid levels). PPI can interfere with vitamin absorption, so does caffeine, so planning your vitamin times counts too. Talk with your team about best practices for your vitamins. I have found that I need extra iron with vitamin C at lunchtime and I can be consistent with it. That extra iron is just because my iron levels tend to be low, most people don’t have that issue. I take calcium, vitamin D and magnesium at night, B vitamins and Flintstones with iron in the morning with decaf coffee in my pea protein shake. If I stay really consistent with my water intake I can avoid PPI s for now. For me, it’s really a balance and worth the shock of being a little hyperthyroid for a month! Great luck to you both! May you have good skin, lovely hair and surprising energy you deserve!

Had my surgery on Monday. My pain only lasted a few days. Gas-X really helped for me. Not even taking Tylenol anymore. The more you move around the better. Small sips of beverages was the key for me to not overload. Not having any problems getting my required amount of liquids. Right now only doing one to one and a half protein shakes a day with a coffee cup full of strained cream soup. Hot decaf tea really helped me. My doctor told me it would be hard to get 60 plus grams of protein in the first week just to shoot for 30 to 40. I'll be on liquids and soups until next Thursday for my post-op appointment.

This is my daily routine day 3 I will sip 20ml at a time in that lil cup which has the measurements I aim to have 60ml in the hour protein water I have my multivitamin at 9am as well as my anti reflux You can’t have the calcium/vitamin D 2-3 hours past multi vitamin and it’s best to take that with food for best absorption . So 12pm bone broth (chicken yesterday was yummy) that one ouch I will split into two containers and I will sip over the course of four hours. The other half I will have at 5ish for two hours again. Whatever I can’t finish I just chuck 4pm another multivitamin And that’s it :) I stop liquids around 8-9 depending on how I feel and try and sleep