Search the Community

I worked with a dietitian for six months. She had me gradually make changes so my eating looked more and more like how I would be eating post-surgery (not like you're eating the first couple of months post-surgery, but after that, when you can eat more types of food). We started off with having me stick to 2300 calories a day (that in itself was kind of a challenge since I'd probably been eating 3000 or more to maintain my weight). I gradually moved to eating more protein and fewer carbs. Three meals a day, plus two snacks. More fruits and vegetables. Less processed stuff and low-nutrient stuff. More fluids. Getting some exercise most days of the week - even walking was fine - but I also did water aerobics a couple of times a week. I lost about 40 lbs in that six months (knowing I'd have to meet with her once a month and get weighed (by her) helped, too - accountability!). Then I lost another 17 lbs in my two-week pre-surgery liquid diet (although that would have been mostly water, of course) . So down 57 lbs by the time they rolled me into surgery. the point of this is that they want to see if you can stick to a diet long-term, not so much how much weight you can lose (although they may be giving you the 10% goal since that's the only way they can objectively tell if you've been sticking to a diet or not). And unfortunately you WILL have to monitor your eating after surgery, too - as people say, it's just a tool. You do your part, the surgery does its part, and you'll succeed. It's not much different than being on a diet (although having a smaller stomach and losing your hunger (as most of us do) for a few months definitely helps!). The difference is, this time your effort will pay off. I could never lose more than 50 or 60 lbs on my own. This time I lost over 200, and have managed to keep most of it off for eight years. Never would have happened without surgery. P.S. and you will have to monitor your eating for the rest of your life. If I slack off for more than a handful of days, it shows up on the scale. But honestly, this is no different than a lot of my never-been-obese women friends. A lot of them have to watch what they eat, too, unfortunately. There aren't many people who can eat what they want and as much as they want and never gain weight.

Also the food choices I eat are nutrient-dense for example lunch or dinner is two slices of Daves Killer thin slice bread, toasted with hummus, sprouts, avocado, tomato and either 4 slices of turkey bacon or vegan bacon. I might eat rice with shrimp and asparagus, with strawberries. Breakfast is something like one thin slice of Dave's Killer bread, avocado, egg, and everything bagel seasoning. I found that I have a McDonald's egg McMuffin breakfast with coffee and no ham and it does not negatively affect my weight. I also on the advice of my bariatric nurse, who also had the surgery eat one big meal every once in a while, it helps me drop a couple of pounds by the next day.

TL;DR - more cardio, no snacking, eat on schedule 3 times a day. I had to do this, I have not had my surgery, I am just waiting to be scheduled. The surgeon has gone over all my labs and tests and approved me for surgery. I had to lose 5% of my body weight and keep it off while I wait for everything. I struggled like no other to do this, which was wild because in the past, and as recently as the last fall I had dropped at least 30lbs super quick. Basically, I changed my eating, but this time I wanted to learn how to eat food without being on some kind of restriction, like no carbs, or low fat, no sweets ever, cabbage only, two shakes a day, and a sandwich for dinner, type thing. I knew I did not want to live the rest of my life after surgery struggling with continued "diets". I started seeing a nutritionist, who was not much help, but she did get me on scheduled eating, having a meal within one hour of waking and then eating every 4 hours for a total of 3 times a day. I was already drinking 96 oz of water a day, but I bumped it up to 150oz a day. I lost 10lbs in 2 weeks doing that. Then it stopped losing and I still had not met the 5% goal. So I added exercise, I started weightlifting and swimming, 1 hour of weights, 1-hour swim and my weight did not change. However, my clothes started getting loose, but I needed to meet that weight goal. So I stopped swimming and just focused on weights for 45 min and 20 minutes of walking. still my weight stalled, but my clothes got looser. I had a week before my final weigh-in and I stopped exercising, drank less water, took laxatives and water pills, and basically ate air. I made the weight goal. After that I was like okay what is going on? I started back with weights and eating my weight went up 5 lbs. Finally, I learned that I was more than likely gaining muscle ( I was getting stronger) The muscle gain weight-wise was canceling out the fat loss, so my weight remained the same but my clothing was loose. This is great, but not so much when you need to be at a certain number in a certain time frame. I switched things up to 30 minutes of elliptical x mode and 30 minutes of stationary bike, put 30 min. dumbells for arms and my weight started dropping again. I am currently 10lbs below the approval goal I needed to be at and I have kept it off during the 2 months the incompetent office lady lost my paperwork, I would have already had surgery two months ago if it wasn't for her. So I have lost 9% of my starting weight. After surgery, I plan on resuming weightlifting since muscle creates a metabolism change.

From what I understand the main reason for the pre-op diet (aside from the 24 hours or night before surgery diet) is to shrink your liver, or rather to get rid of the fat around your liver to make it easier to operate. IDK if they showed you a diagram of what's going on inside of your abdomen, but your liver and any fat around it is basically in the way of where the surgeon needs to go. With that being said, based on your profile stats, I do not think sneaking the pickles or a "few" pretzels will make a difference. I think you will still lose enough around your liver with the calorie deficit. However, please be honest and aware with yourself, regarding how much you really are sneaking. Also, do not sneak food during the time right before surgery, your surgery could get canceled over that because you could aspirate on the food during surgery. Maybe see if you can find a more savory-flavored protein shake, I have a coffee-flavored one I enjoy. Also, call your team and get some clarification on the tomato soup and ask them for some suggestions, like can you have sugar-free jello. You may also try some chicken or beef broth, as those are not sweet at all and are relatively inexpensive. You got this, one day at a time.

Yes --- Walden farms has a big selection of low fat and sugar free food. That's what I use now.

Before surgery,I was supposed to be on a total liquid diet. I misunderstood and thought I could have some solid food as long as it was under 500 cal. a day . I thought it was supposed to be "MOSTLY" liquid . I still lost 8 pounds and everything was okay. I ate a couple shrimp , a bite of chicken, a bite of this and a bite of that. After surgery,I asked if my liver was soft enough and it was. I don't think that little bit of solid foods made a difference.

Just because your surgeon (or dietician) told you do something, doesn't mean that it's actually possible. They usually don't think about their guidelines that hard. You kind of have to work through it yourself. To meet these requirements, you need to get 80 g of protein in 12 oz of food max, but realistically more like 9 oz to accommodate the volume of your veggies. You need protein food with at least 8.9 grams of protein per oz. If you go for the most protein dense solid foods, you can do it, barely. 3 oz of chicken breast or egg white (not the whole egg!) has 27 grams of protein. So you eat 3 oz of egg whites for breakfast with 1 oz of veg, and 3 oz chicken breast + 1 oz veg for lunch and dinner. You can't really afford to eat protein foods that are less dense (like shrimp, tuna, lean beef) unless you give up on the veg, so chicken breast and egg white are pretty much your only options. (If y'all know of another food with 27 g of protein per 3 oz, please let me know!) If you cut back to a half an oz of veggies per meal, you might be able to get away with some of them. Does this sound absolutely awful to me? 100% But if you want to follow your surgeon's recommendations, this is, mathematically, pretty much the only option. And you can do a lot with cooking methods, spices, and mixing up the veggies to make this a little more tolerable. It is unlikely that the surgeon has thought through the practical requirements of their recommendation and done the math. (Less than 350 cals per day at over 3 months out seems a little severe, even to me.) It's unlikely that they expect you to actually follow their recommendations. It's much more likely, imo, that they think that protein shakes equals processed and processed equals bad, that they had a patient once who liked cheese who didn't lose weight after surgery, and that they expect you to eat utter garbage at least 25% of the time so a strict, highly restrictive diet the remaining 75% of the time you're compliant is the only way to succeed.

Hi All, I new to the forum and this is my first message of any sorts on this site. I am getting ready to have Gastric Bypass procedure on Oct 2 and I am currently on 4 week liquid diet. I have completed 1 week and 3 days of the 4 week diet so far. My questions for you all :- 1. Is eating pickle slices or cucumber slices considered cheating? I am asking this as the protein shakes I am taking are super sweet because of the artificial sweeteners. 2. Can I have tomato soup or tomato based broth ? In my pre-op instruction it doesn't mention anything related to it. 3. Will my doctor know that If I cheated with a pickle slices or 4-5 mini pretzels ? I need all the advice and help... I am crossed over that stage of not having food is fine... but I just want to chew on something that is not sweet and not protein until I am in the mush stage. Thank you all in Advance.

Thanks for the responses I thought I was doing something wrong but it has subsided and start to normalize, I begin soft food today such as pureed food and oats and cream of wheat etc. I hope that would help solidify my bowels a bit more and also help with me drinking more water.

I'm officially right on the edge of being back into the 200's for the first time in about a decade, I'm also now closer to my goal than I am my heaviest weight, so that's pretty exciting. I've been slowly learning to take smaller bites, way more chewing, and taking more time with meals. I know that we're not supposed to be eating fast food, but I had a regular McDonalds cheeseburger a couple days ago. It was the first burger I've had in four months, and even though it was from McDonalds, it tasted great and I was able to finish the whole thing over the course of about 30 minutes. I'd say that's progress. At one point, my surgeon had told me that it was okay to start incorporating lunch meats and I tried boars head roast beef and it made me so sick that I swore I'd never even try beef again, but I did and it seemed to work out. Most days, I see myself mostly eating string cheese and various nuts. This has definitely been an interesting journey so far.

My friend experienced this for about a fortnight until things started to settle & she was eating denser foods (purées). Be wary the wet farts though!! 😉

My friend experienced this for about a fortnight until things started to settle & she was eating denser foods (purées). Be wary the wet farts though!! 😉

most of us have the other problem (constipation), but some do have diarrhea. It could just be a fluid in/fluid out thing (in which case, it'll clear up on its own once you start eating real food) - or it could be a reaction to an artificial sweetener in the shakes.

I am just starting to get all my testing done for surgery.Trying to think of food as medicine is difficult for me. My whole life has revolved around food.

I had terrible diarrhea for 14 days after surgery ! The doctor said "Liquid in,liquid out" and not to worry. As soon as I started solid food , it gradually went away. It IS miserable ,isn't it?

Started the 2 week pre-op diet today. My plan is basically liquids for the two weeks. I can have occasional cheese stick or egg. Like others here, I had a goodbye (for now) food tour over the last two weeks. On the way home from my “last” meal of a vegan burger and tater tots, I really started to feel panic for the first time in this whole process. I’m an anxious person, but this felt way more than my usual anxiety. Glad to have this community of others going through the same stuff.

I have the same situation ..... I had the sleeve done 3 months ago and I'm going 4-5 times during the day and even during the night. I've gone from being constipated all my life , to being an "efficient food machine" - food in - food out. When I mentioned it to the dietician , she said I'd self regulate in time.

I can relate to that mindset. I used to kid people pre-op that all I had to do was look at food and gain weight. And it was kind of true. But now after your WLS and sticking to the doc's plan, you will see the results on the scale. Fears will subside. Mine did. GL going forward.

it shouldn't complicate it at all. Once you're out a ways, other than eating less food than before, things are pretty normal...and often much easier than they were before surgery.

I’m 25 days post gastric bypass and I’m still having abdominal pain every time I try to eat anything off the approved list. Every morning, like right now, I’m going to have 1/4-1/2 cup of scrambled eggs but like every other day I end up throwing it all up. I’m afraid to eat anything now because I throw up anything I try to ingest. Now that I’m reaching my one month mark I’m not going to try and eat what is suggested. I’m so weak and hungry but I hate that I know it Wil just all come up. Depression has set in along with detachment from things i loved before: taking my family to the lake, walking my dog, etc. i just lost any interest because mainly I’m so angry that I can’t eat even the simplest things. I’m asking if anyone here has gone through this or is this not supposed to happen and I should see my bariatric physician? The one food i can eat without retching is a small tub of ready made sugar free chocolate pudding cups from Jell-O. Looking to some help or answers to my problem. One more thing at times my chest feels so much pain it feels as if it wants to burst open so my doctor put me on hydrocodone for the pain but I rarely take them for fear of addiction and/or accidental overdose. I’m a mess and more than often I regret having this surgery even though I lost 54 lbs in 3 weeks and haven’t needed to take insulin for my diabetes-it’s been in very normal levels between 95-120 daily and my most painful neuropathy in hands and feel don’t hurt that much anymore. Thanks for reading my TedTALK and hopefully there’s a solution out there for me.

It really is! I've lost (and gained and lost again) 100lbs since I started this whole thing, but I have PCOS and "fat folk genes" as my PCP says 😂 I know Now that if I had been approved for surgery 10 years ago, I likely would have not done very well or would have been someone that lost the weight but ended up having a drinking problem or something. The last few years has really given me a lot of time to regroup my mind, heel childhood trauma, and figure out exactly why I use food as a coping mechanism.

I’ve have had problems eating left overs I get sick and end up throwing the food away

I’ve have had problems eating left overs I get sick and end up throwing the food away

Ok, not to sound too harsh here, but your surgeon is being stupid. In this one (and only this one) thing, ignore him. There's nothing wrong with shakes. And you should be eating 4-5 times per day, 3 hours apart. I do 3 meals and 2 snacks. For my snacks, I do things like colby jack cheese cubes and pepperoni slices. Or pepper jack cheese sticks and salami (or roast beef) slices (sandwich meat). I tend to make my own protein shakes in the morning, mostly because I've never been big on breakfast foods, so making a protein shake works well for me. I get my protein shakes from Arbonne (so so many vitamins in it, 20g of protein, mixes well, not grainy, and really yummy flavors). I'll put in 16oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 2 scoops of whatever protein shake I'm doing that day, 2 tbsp of avocado (no flavor, makes the shake creamy, added healthy fat), 1 tbsp mct oil, 1 tsp black seed oil, 2 tbsp "triple seeds" (flax, chia, and hemp seeds), 1 scoop Arbonne protein boost (10mg protein), 2 scoops Arbonne probiotic fiber booster, 2-3 tbsp Jordan's skinny syrup (whatever flavor I want to add, it has no calories, no carbs, no sugar), sometimes I add frozen fruit (depending on the flavor shake I'm doing), a few icecubes, blend, and YUMMY!!!!! When eating meals, you want to make sure they are protein first, then veggies, then carbs. Too much protein isn't good for you. That's why, in general, you need between 60-80g protein. I tend to be in the 80-90 range on heavy work out days, and 60-70 on rest days. If I know I can't get my veggies in, I drink my greens. I get the Arbonne super greens powder (blend of 36 fruits and veggies), and I make sure to add the Arbonne GutHealth (digestive enzymes with pre and pro biotics). Drinking greens is a good way to supplement getting in your fruits and veggies without adding all the extra calories, carbs, and sugar. But it's not meant to completely replace eating veggies. It just helps if you're struggling to get them in, or if you really don't like to eat them all that much. You stomach is much smaller than it used to be, so you need to eat more often. I tend to get protein in 2 of my meals and both snacks. The 3rd meal usually has more veggies (I love salad, so I've been known to have a salad for a meal and have very little protein in it) but with my shake, my snacks, and 1 other meal, I get the protein I need. I like to add veggies to my salad (green peppers, olives, cucumbers, shredded carrots, etc) so I try to balance my needs with protein and veggies that way (and drinking a greens drink at least 3-4x per week). I drink A LOT of water (84oz typically per day) and that actually helps with hunger. So does drinking tea (I love green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and yerba mate tea). It's true that protein helps you feel full longer, but you can't fill up on just protein. Your body needs a variety of foods, vitamins, nutrients, and minerals to be balanced and healthy.