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Yes everyone's programs are different for sure and I agree with @ShoppGirl that if you have the option of a meal go with that. My program was 12 days pre-op diet - the first 10 days were 2 shakes - my team had a guideline for the calorie/carbs/sugar count they should have - and then a lean protein with a non starchy veg dinner. All other diet/no sugar drink options were fine - seltzer, diet soda, tea, black coffee, broth. I think I could have 1/2 cup of milk and a yogurt somewhere in there. Day 11 was liquids only - shakes, jello, broth. Day 12 was clear liquids only basically broth lol. Thankfully I was released from the hospital at the pureed stage and did not have a full liquid stage, but even pureed was not it after awhile. Vitamins and supplements you don't have to really start until after as long as your current bloodwork doesn't show any deficiencies. I had to start chewables only for the first 30 days and then could move to capsules.

So had my VGS surgery on 13th June and have been keeping track of my measurements since about the 3rd of July 2024. Low waist included, as I am male and I wear most of my trousers/jeans low. Waist high is measured above my hips. 3rd July: Chest = 52 inches Neck = 19 inches Waist (high) = 51 inches Waist (low) = 53 inches Thigh = 31 inches Bicep = 18 inches 27 August Chest = 50 inches (-2) Neck = 18 inches (-1) Waist (high) = 47 inches (-4) Waist (low) = 50 inches (-3) Thigh = 28 inches (-3) Bicep = 15.5 inches (-2.5) So in total that's 15.5 inches lost since around 3 weeks after surgery. This has been especially useful given weight loss has slowed to around 2-3 lbs per week, and is a great motivator for me 😊 Anyone else tracking measurements?

So as I’m looking at these healthy recipes I am thinking that my food choices will be more quality over quantity In the future. I know that some generic products are exactly the same but for those that aren’t I am splurging on the better brands and thinking of using fresh products more often. Instead of grated Parmesan cheese in a shaker I plan to get the chunk of Parmesan and grate it fresh for instance. I know that for my broccoli cheese soup I use fresh grated cheddar and it makes a huge difference so im hoping that’s the same with Parmesan. I’m going to try the cheese grater I already have to see if that works but if not the rotary ones are pretty inexpensive. I’m also going to do fresh vegetables and herbs. I may even experiment with making my own sauces and dressings eventually. Hopefully that will infuse better flavor to the healthy stuff. I also have a store near me that has a lot more healthy options and really good produce but I never go because it hasn’t been important enough to me in the past. I am like 10 minutes away once a week for my crochet group though so I figured I can at least go that often to start and more often if necessary. It’s ironic because I don’t want to go because it’s “too far” yet I wouldn’t think twice about driving that far for an unhealthy restaurant or just about anything else to be honest. My plan is to prioritize my health and that begins with the food I am putting into my body. Now I just have to figure out a plan for the exercise and actually follow through on all of it. . Anyone else have any ideas to get us on the right track?

In reference to a comment above, I had a DEXA scan and found it very helpful. I thought I had more weight I could lose since I was near the top of my normal BMI range - but the technician said "no - you're done. You're at 21% fat, which is on the low end for a woman". I was shocked. But like the commenter said, you're always going to have more bone and muscle than someone who's never been obese. And I remember being told at one point by someone in my clinic that that is why we often look 10 lbs lighter than the scale would suggest (you do lose bone and muscle while losing weight - but that's fine because we don't need it anymore - we had all that infrastructure to hold up all that weight we once had. We do lose some of it, but not all). some pain isn't uncommon because of shifting architecture, as someone else said. You're carrying your body differently now, and your bones and joints aren't used to it. I'm not sure if that happened to me, but I'd get major butt pain if I sat for too long. I had to buy coccyx pillows for my car and office chair. I don't really get that any more (although I keep a coccyx pillow in my car for long drives) - not sure if I just figured out how to sit on it so it doesn't produce pain, or what.. re: unrealistic goals - after successfully getting down to around 170 lbs, I told one of the staff members at my clinic that I was going to shoot for 150 (which is a normal BMI for someone my height). I was told that wasn't realistic, that only about 10-15% of their patients make it that far. Most end up in the "overweight" or "class 1 obese" category (which isn't very obese). The research I read back that up (I did end up making it - actually got quite a bit lower than that - but years later, I'm now technically "overweight"). Anyway, that's what your surgeon might have been referring to. Not many of us make it all the way down to normal BMI.

I think for your height, you can afford lose more and not have a health problem (meaning being underweight or under BMI 18.5). I am now at a BMI 19 and my weight loss is going strong no matter what I do (mind you I am 24 lbs under goal), so I gave up trying to do anything about it 🤷‍♀️ The more I try to stop it the more it doesn't lol, so I don't really stress about it much and I am letting my body do its thing because I know while losing weight is a breeze and unintentional now, it won't be in a few years so a little cushion and wriggle room isn't bad, unless I drop to BMI lower than 18.5 then I will do what is needed and see my surgeon. I say, let your body do its thing as long as you're healthy, eating well, working out and your blood work is fine. Congratulations on your success ❤️

I can’t speak to the nausea other than suggesting you call your team and ask for more of the meds that work better. My team gave me ondansetron which is also used for nausea with chemo just in case. (I would assume that’s a pretty strong one). It does say it may cause drowsiness. I’m guessing yours does too. In terms of the non drug induced drowsiness it got a bit better for me with purées but I am still taking naps at 2.5 weeks out. Honestly I haven’t really done any chores other than make the bed, a little laundry because I have the raised pedestals and of course the dishes. I did sweep the floors with a broom last week but it took me all day because I was still in pain and I’m pretty sure the dirt pile I asked my hubby to get is still in the laundry room. Even if you don’t have outside incision pain, though, your insides are still healing so try to take it easy. I was told not twisting, bending, or straining of any kind for 6 weeks at least. I believe last time it was 8 weeks for anything involving over 10 pounds of weight but it’s been a while so I need to confirm that. I know how it feels to sit here and look at things piling up in terms of chores. I’m sure we all do, but you can seriously hurt yourself if you do too much too soon. To me it’s just not worth it. Other than dusting I just don’t see what chores don’t involve bending or twisting. I figure It will all still be waiting to be done when I am ready. It’s just me and my hubby and if it bothers him then he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. Really it’s just the bathrooms and the floors that I just can’t do properly. I have used Clorox wipes on the sink area and cleaned the mirrors. I may try to do the toilets today. I just won’t do the bottom part I guess. I do have an appointment this week as a follow up to the muscle cramp thing. I probably could cancel it since the magnesium is working but i want to ask her what I can be doing physically at that point. I will be 3 weeks out. I know that I am physically healed enough to be doing some faster walking so I plan to get my treadmill out and start doing that gradually. Anyways, all this to say please take it easy. Allow yourself some time. This is a pretty major surgery and it’s not at all uncommon to need some time to get back to 100%.

I'm curious if you've ever gone in for a DEXA scan to determine your body composition. I ask because I know that if you've been obese for a long time, your body architecture has changed to support that weight, and that isn't something that just goes away as you lose fat. BMI, which is problematic at best, can be skewed by formerly obese people weighing more because of extra bone and organ mass that a never obese person of similar height and build would not have. If you have a DEXA scan, you can get a much more reliable idea of how much body fat, bone mass, etc., you have and may feel a lot better about your progress. I would also take a step back and ask yourself why that number you've set is important to you. If you "only" lost 25 more lbs, you would have lost half your body weight. That's kinda crazy! You would be half the person you were before (in a good way, of course). Or if you "only" lost 10 more pounds, would it really be so bad? Would 40 lbs really make a massive difference in how you look and feel compared to where you are now? Are you putting so much pressure on yourself to reach an arbitrary number that you don't fully appreciate just how amazing your progress is? You're down 110 pounds! That's like having an entire Olympic gymnast you are no longer dragging around on your back every day. Regarding your energy levels, are you getting enough fruit and veg? If you're still really low carb and really low calorie, as I seem to remember your dietician was having you do, that might account for the lack of energy. It could be your body is needing more fuel than you're giving it and is lacking the phytonutrients that don't come in a multivitamin.

Hi Friends. I’m here asking for help with a sample daily diet. I had GB In October of 2019. Highest weight 305. I got to 217 within a year and have slowly gained I’m sitting at 241 right now. I still have some restrictions but I think I’m just all over the place. I need a re-boot diet. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction? I tried going back to my post surgery diet but having a hard time. I feel like I’m blowing in the wind, some days I’m vegan, some days I’m low carb. Ughhhhh Side Note: I still feel good and my labs are perfect now.

Hello again everyone! I'll start by saying I'm sorry it takes me so long to post my responses. This is because while I do skim posts from my phone, especially when I see an email that has me tagged I find it so much easier to type and properly respond from my desktop computer. So - If I 'Like' a post' just know I'll likely later mention something in one of my long summarized posts, like this one! Yesterday was exhausting for me; I slept poorly Tuesday night due to heartburn and tenderness on the left hand side. I did get a few things done yesterday, though, including making it to Walmart finally to get my returns processed. I'm not sure why I thought I'd need extra bandages and such after my surgery, but I didn't. That said, after reviewing the cost of canned soups and canned chicken, I decided just to buy a rotisserie chicken! Honestly, that's proven to be easier and more economical because after deboning it there is plenty of flavorful chicken to either puree into chicken salad or puree with chicken broth and some canned peas/carrots as a kind of 'no noodle' soup! I also had a ridiculous epiphany this morning - cooking and straining our fruits BEFORE mixing them with yogurt or ricotta works WAY BETTER! This should have been obvious but in my addled mind I've been either 'peeling' the strawberries, or like this morning I thought I'd put the whole blueberry yogurt smoothie through the metal screen to strain and hey - that worked POORLY! Lol - silly the illogical things we do at times, eh? Or maybe it's just me, idk! Oh - I ALSO realized yesterday evening, when I had basically zero energy nor desire to mess with dinner but still was far short of my protein goal that I hadn't started taking the Collagen yet that I bought to help my hair, skin, and nails. Lo and behold when I scoped it out (I ordered Nature Target Multi-Collagen Peptides from Amazon) that one scoop DOES have 9g of Protein! I truly felt like I was cheating the system when I poured a scoop in about 4oz of Gatorade Zero, Orange and called that my dinner. I'm not sure what caused me to sleep better last night - the fact that I held/hugged a pillow ( Thank you again @draikaina8503 for mentioning the pillow your nursing staff gave you!) against my left side during most movements throughout the day, the fact that I was extremely tired, the relief from hearing from my doctor's office, or just time and healing in general) but I DID sleep well and today has gone more smoothly for me. As of today I'm 17 days post op, about a 1/4 of the way into my two weeks of puree diet. @ShoppGirl - I haven't noticed about white spots on the tongue after different types of protein drinks because I've been really aware of any 'filmy texture' so rinse my mouth after each meal, but I do feel like the Ensure is thicker and takes more effort for me to rinse after drinking. Thanks for mentioning the Protein Water! I'm going to look into that to see if it will help me meet my protein goal of 60g/day. @draikaina8503 - I haven't noticed much as far as skin sensitivity goes although my bruises from where they stuck me have taken an AGE to heal! I've been worried about you and hope that the incident with your doggo didn't leave you with any lasting damage (I may see a post about that later as I read). Are you taking Collagen Peptides by chance? I noticed one of the Youtubers who documented their own surgery journey dealt with breakouts afterward while taking Collagen and wondered if maybe it was impurities being purged from their skin as a result of the Collagen itself. If not I'd definitely mention it to your surgeon and double check (not that I think you'd miss anything since you seem VERY thorough) that some ingredient you're intolerant to hasn't snuck its way into your routine. Update: Oh good, I'm glad you got some reassurance from your physician's office. Wow - congratulations on the return to school! The start date is rolling right up, isn't it?! Yeah, timing - eesh - I feel ya! Best of luck in finding a comfortable position in which to do your course work, and the energy to tackle everything at once! So far though it looks like you're nailing it and no reason to think that success won't keep right on coming! Oh - and yeah, I guess I AM blessed to have been given this little bottle of Hibiclens! I had noticed that there was one of those tubs in my hospital room when I got ready to check out and there was another bottle of it in there as well as a couple of 'No rinse' shampoo caps. I snagged everything out of it - figured if my insurance was paying for it, I was gonna grab it for possible later use! I wish I could hand you this extra bottle, honestly! @Pepper_No_Salt - Wow; goodness! Yeah; honestly it sounds like you're doing way too much! I'm only just now starting to feel up to helping load the dishwasher, and today I managed to slowly sort through the clothing in my chest of drawers for size/quality of condition. Even then, I had to have my fella open the drawers for me because it's older and they stick a bit, plus pulling anything makes me tender, much less bending and pulling at the same time! I can't IMAGINE trying to tackle everything you just listed at this stage. I know we all heal at different rates but my surgeon's office told me yesterday that the pain *I* have been mainly experiencing, a pulling/tugging on my left side, can take up to a month or two to recover from. She said to remember that despite how the surface appears to have healed that there is a LOT of repair and healing happening internally. She also said that as frustrating as it is to just try to be patient with myself because the body is adjusting in a lot of ways between not getting hardly any carbs, learning to get its energy from different sources, i.e. stored fat, processing our intake of protein/water differently, and literally healing multiple organs (for me, SADI, intestines and stomach from the sleeve portion) and that takes a lot out of a person. @Justarwaxx - Oh my goodness, that sounds VERY anxiety inducing! This is your body and your journey, I absolutely suggest contacting your surgeon's office to see if they can send you some kind of guideline on what to be doing at your different stages. Also, I will be honest - that sounds like a lot of calories to be intaking during your liquid diet and I can't help but wonder if you're drinking maybe the wrong particular protein shake? I don't say that because I think you SHOULD worry about calories specifically but you DO need to worry about sugar intake. I got tripped up because my surgeon's team gave me a booklet guide for the whole process and I'm not supposed to drink any protein shakes that have less than 15g of Protein and more than 5g of sugar. The protein shakes are deceptive as heck, though! Example: The off brand Equate ones I got are Max Protein with 30g of Protein and less than 1g of sugar, and one time I accidentally bought their Protein Plus which had 20g of sugar in each one! They tasted great - but at the cost of all that sugar it was a hard pass! Also if you are drinking regular Gatorade or Powerade I could see that being a factor; I'm on Zero Sugar for my non-protein beverages. I can totally see how you'd feel at a loss - I spent 10 months working up to my surgery (because I had to quit smoking, etc) and I still feel like I'm winging it. If your surgeon's team didn't mention it, I will - there is an app called Baritastic that is free on the Google Play Store. You can scan the items you intake or search them on the 'Food Log' and it usually pulls up the correct information and lets you put what percent of the listed serving size you consumed. I do suggest checking at least one time to make sure it's pulling up the correct information that matches the Nutrition Facts listed on the item. After that it will be recorded in your 'Recent' list and you can just choose it easily that way. Baritastic also has a built in Timer for 30 minutes you can use to track when you stop drinking and can start drinking after a meal - once you're past the liquid stage and move on to meals that's pretty important across the board as far as I know. The 'No drinking 30 minutes before, during, or after a meal' is important because due to the adjusted size of your stomach it can only fit a certain amount, and you could get overly full of water before or after a meal otherwise, leading to you being sick to your stomach or feeling miserable overall. Honestly, I've been setting a timer when I sit down at my computer as well so I don't get absorbed in what I'm doing and sit for too long. That's been helpful! Best of healing and well wishes to you all - Oh, finally updated my ticker but bummed I can't put 'SADI' as my surgery type. Oh well! Adding: The Finch App continues to help me navigate these waters, big time. I open my free Finch app (Also on the Google Play App store) more often then I open Facebook or any social media. Taking care of that silly cute cartoon bird and getting rewarded for taking care of MY personal business is such a benefit to someone like me who is almost certainly ADHD/Autistic at some level. I even use it to remind me to log my food/liquid intake in Baritastic. OH and I did make solid contact with the testing center I've been on a wait list with - looks like I'll at least be able to get in to a counselor soon, though I'm still on the wait list for actual Autism testing. Ok - that's all for now!

i'm with @catwoman7. i am sooooooo pleased with my much smaller boobs now. clothes fit soooooo much better (no more gaping buttons, or required safety pins); exercise/running is so much more comfortable (no black eyes, lol); bras and bathing suits no longer dig into my shoulders; i can go braless and be completely fine. i love it. my boobie before and after: (note that i am quite small...5'2", 113.5 lbs this morning, so my bra size and the boobs that fill them will not look the same on a bigger frame). oh, also i had a breast lift in dec 2019, so that totally helped with the deflated-sagging-boob-tube-sock look.

196 lbs is reasonable. My original goal was 199, and they said that was completely do-able if I was compliant with the program. Most people do end up either "overweight" or "class 1 obese" (which is not very obese...) - only about 10-15% make it to a normal BMI (my surgeon said that - and the research I've read confirms that). I told them when I hit 170 that I wanted to try for 150, and they told me that that wasn't very realistic, that not many of their patients manage to get down that low, so don't knock myself out - but I did make it (in fact, I got down to the 130s for a while - which was way too thin for me), but I did have that bounce back in year 3 that most people have. It'd be great to lose 10 lbs, but I'm OK with where I ended up. Anyway, I'm glad the appt went so well for you! You're going to be so happy you made this decision!

So I went to my post op appt at my family practice dr. I asked about my gallbladder and she agreed that it’s really not that life altering. It’s just going to be a balance with my SADI making me malabsorb fat. I need to consume enough for my body to still function without taking in too much because I don’t have a gall bladder. Next up was my lack of bowel movement. I finally had one day 7 then again the morning of day 8 and 9. All in the morning and all pretty regular except very loose. Then days 10 and 11 so far nothing. Today I feel like I need to go but can’t. She said to increase the stool softeners back to two a day and take milk of magnesia tonight if I still haven’t gone. The nurse showed me how to do my B-12 shot and guess what guys I did it!! She said the needle the pharmacy gave me was bigger than I needed and gave me a smaller one to use and to take with me so I could get more. She showed me how to get it into the needle but had me do the shot itself. I think I want someone to watch me just one more time to make sure I got it but i think I got it. It did it hurt at all. Didn’t even feel it honestly. And once my hands stopped shaking it was really easy to do. I took the needle back to my pharmacy and showed them and they do Jace them and they sell them so I went ahead and got 12 so if it continues to be a monthly thing I’m good for a year. i will add that I am home now and using the mug warmer for my scrambled eggs I am eating them out of a mug because I do not have a flare with a bottom smaller than the 4” for it to sit flush but it’s working. The eggs are not piping hot but they are staying warm. @draikaina8503 i would probably add fat free milk instead of water thinking it would taste a little better. I assume at that stage You just need it to run off the spoon like liquid. Similar to your protein shake.

Hi March Buddies, How is everyone doing? I can’t believe it’s been 5 months post op. Had a huge milestone met this morning on the scale after a period of stagnant weight loss. A weight that I haven’t seen in over 30 years. I’m still in shock and very grateful I’m on this journey. Still more work to be done, but, these moments help to reassure me I’m on the right path. Hope my surgery buddies are all healed and doing well. I’m having an incisional hernia repair in a couple weeks, not from the gastric surgery, from gallbladder removal 10 years ago! Hopefully this will be the end of surgeries for a long time! Would love to hear what people have found to keep their protein levels up. And what activities are you able to enjoy now? I was thrilled to ride some amusement rides with my kids this summer!

I've been home for a few hours now. I passed out pretty much as soon as I got home. I'm currently sipping on a Gatorade Zero, and now that I'm out of the hospital I can do a liquid diet instead of just clear liquids. So there's that, at least lol. My biggest problem is water. Doesn't matter if lukewarm or cold, straight water makes my stomach cramp. But because I am able to consume other liquids just fine, they went ahead and sent me home. The water thing is just something I'm going to have to keep working on. My other big issue was my body did the opposite of that they expected it to do in regards to my blood sugars. AKA, every time they tested, I was in the 200-300 range when they were expecting me to go down post-op. So I came home with rapid-acting insulin on a sliding scale. Hopefully soon we can discontinue that. For those of you asking about recipes, my doctor has me use the Baritastic app for my logging and tracking. It does have recipes on there as well, if you are looking to spice things up in the land of boredom. Now time to catch up on posts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl - Amazing that they had you drink Gatorade 2 hours prior to arriving for surgery. I had to drink mine the night before, and absolutely nothing by mouth after midnight. It's wild to me how different doctors prefer their things to happen. As for taking the shots, I'm sure you are going to rock it. I struggled with the idea of giving myself shots, but over the years it just became another thing for me to put on my calendar to remind me to take. Your question about how long to wait between trying new things, my doctor said I could not try anything new on the same day. So if I tried something and it seemed to work, that would be my thing that day. Then the next day, I would keep that for the first meal, and then as long as it still agreed, I would try something new for the 2nd meal. Maybe that helps you out some? Thank you again for the recipe/website. The site has been bookmarked for me. So the straw thing is for life, it sounds like? At least based on your experience. Chewing your eggs to liquid is still really good. My nutritionist said that every bite I take from now on needs to be the consistency of applesauce before I swallow it. And that chewing even beyond that would be great. But you're rocking it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt - Thank you for the idea of mixing things in. I guess I've been scared to do that because I didn't know if it was allowed or not. How do you like the Orgain powder? I use the Owyn premade shakes and Vega powder. They sent you home same day?!?! Holy crap, and I mean that in the best way possible lol. My doctor and nutritionist vehemently told me no straws. Apparently because you can actually suck up air as well as the liquid if you use a straw. I just don't know if that is forever, or just in the post-op period. But my stomach cramped drinking straight water no matter what temperature. However, I did exceptionally well with ice chips - letting them melt in my mouth and then trickle down with a swallow. That didn't affect me at all, so maybe see if you can get some ice chips from Sonic or something similar to maybe give you an idea of how much a 'sip' is? Another suggestion I got from my nutritionist as well as people who my husband work with that have had the RYGB is to buy shot glasses for your water. It should take you about 10-15 minutes to finish a shot glass of water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @AndreaJD - Thank you for the well wishes! Water was a struggle, but I was up walking on my own the next day. So I feel like I was doing pretty good for myself! I get to start my full liquid stage today now that I'm home. But man, I can't stay awake enough to do much of anything. Hospitals and rest do not go in the same sentence, unless it's discussing negative rest. (My care team was absolutely great though, so I very much appreciate all they were doing for me even if it meant not getting nearly enough sleep.) This will be an experimental phase for me as I have to find dairy free options to make my life easier. But even if I had to literally water down yogurt, that would be better than the chicken broth I had in the hospital. lol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses - I have a bunch of staples as well, and have never experienced them before. So thank you for that explanation. Hopefully when I get mine out at the 10 day post-op, I'll be able to at least tolerate it now that I've kind of been forewarned. And yay, WrA peeps! Honestly we probably did cross paths, but in the early days of RP for me I was stupidly shy. For your chair question - I noticed sitting in any chair for longer than an hour bothers me currently. Which they didn't like in the hospital, because they wanted me in the chair for two hours at a time. And I just... could not do it. It ached too much. Even being home now, sitting in chairs I've sat in previously, I have about an hour long time span before it starts to ache. I take that as my sign to get up and move around. Dry mouth is a problem in particular for me. I still try to sipsipsip but I hate the feeling of dry mouth. And that's made worse by the fact that I'm a diabetic. And yes, I was thrilled (/s) to find out I was starting my period. Thank God for mesh panties and pads they had on hand. They assured me this happened quite often, but it still annoyed me to no end (especially when I'm on multiple birth controls to prevent having said periods due to endometriosis). As for poor executive function, I have that in spades as well. I had to come off my Adderall a couple of days prior to surgery because you know, they want me to go to sleep during anesthesia and not be on stimulants. And hoooo boy did that make the problem that much worse. If it wasn't for my poor husband, pretty sure I would have lost my head and left it laying somewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Onemealplan - Did your doctor allow ice cream for the puree foods? That's kind of awesome. I don't have recommendations for that stage yet as the earliest I will get to it is 8/28 after my post-op appointment. I do remember a recipe back from one of my diet days (Weight Watchers, maybe? I don't remember) that I think might be helpful. You take a helping of ricotta, mix it with Splenda (or whatever sugar alternative you prefer), and some cocoa powder that has no added sugar. Makes it a friendly chocolate treat. I can't give exact measurements on it because I played with it some to get the consistency I liked at the time. I also don't think I could handle the pureed proteins lol. I'll be saving those for when I get to the final stage. I can survive on tuna for a while, especially when I'm having protein shakes alongside it. They gave me a walking goal of 4 laps per 12 hour shift. i was doing those just fine, and when they finally let me walk on my own I extended how long a lap was. But I could not pass gas until they started giving me what is essentially children's Gas-x. And even now, I only pass gass within the 2-3 hours after I've had it. So thankful they sent me home with some. As for in the hospital, the only options i had was water, chicken broth, ice chips, and no sugar added hot chocolate when I specifically asked for it. They brought in 10oz bottles of Dasani water, and it would take me 12 hours to get through one of those due to the cramping. But everything else went down fine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Rob Nissam - Thank you for that explanation. My left shoulder was hurting the most over the last day, and they said it was the gas pain. It was the thing that made sure I did not skip any pain medicine, because I was almost in tears over it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, I think I got through all the posts and everyone. If I missed someone, I am really sorry. For those of you in recover, I pray the pain lessens and the intake gets better daily. For those of you who are still waiting on surgery, YOU GOT THIS! I'll be praying for a safe and healthy surgery for you, and that your recovery process is simply fantastic. ❤️

Hello everyone, and happy Sunday! I'm feeling quite a bit better now that my body finally evacuated what was bothering it. I'd kind of forgotten about the Milk of Magnesia I'd purchased, and yesterday it came to my rescue. Those protein shakes (30g) are no joke, especially if you're taking any medication that slows your digestion further. Yesterday afternoon, even after getting past the constipation, my body just wasn't feeling like much intake, either liquids or 'food'. I found myself getting full after only an ounce of the chicken noodle soup broth and a few teaspoons of yogurt. I struggled for the first time getting my fluids in; I think I had gotten lax about the sip-sip-sip method and maybe was trying to drink too much at once when I drank. It's definitely hard to resist the urge to go back to gulping, especially when the beverage it cold and satisfying, and I feel dry mouth creeping in. Tomorrow is technically my puree day but I skipped ahead just slightly to try to move away from those heavy protein shakes. I realized I'm very sensitive to the texture of my scrambled egg and had to recook it, pre-mixed with about a half tablespoon of skim milk, and instead of the butter he'd initially tried I just used a very light splash of olive oil. That gave me the light, moist scrambled egg I was looking for. I reread my book and while it suggested you might want to start with just egg whites I just couldn't make myself hold to that. I am trying to get better about spacing out the 'not drinking 30 mins before/after' now that I'm beginning to eat some actual food. That's a very hard thing to do, honestly, because I'm noticing that no matter how much I chew without a drink the food just feels kind of stuck in my throat for a bit. I can see now why my friend said she found drinking a broth type soup in the morning 'primed' her stomach for the day. @draikaina8503 & @Pepper_No_Salt - How are you two feeling? I hope that your surgeries went smoothly. @Pepper_No_Salt I'm glad you can mix in some variety with additives to your plant based shakes - I was close enough to losing my mind during the pre-op diet so I think that being limited further would have driven me over the edge! I'm going to look up that PB2 you mentioned because I'm curious about it! (Back to you, @draikaina8503 , just saw your post-op post!) Oh my gosh I hate that your body did that to you RIGHT before your surgery. Mine at least gave me two days I'm very glad they kept you at least another night! I hope they are helping you keep your pain managed. Yeah; it will definitely take some walking to get that gas pain to leave but in the mean time don't be shy in asking for those ice packs and your pain medication! Sometimes managing the pain, then walking with the ice pack is the only way to work it out - at least that was my experience, and I've heard the same from a few others. Thinking back, one thing I wish I'd done while in the hospital was be a BIT more squeaky - I remember now that when my Mom was in the hospital I had to shove a bunch of pillows behind her back when I put the hospital bed up at an incline so she could get a good enough angle in bed to safely sip liquids. I think that would have helped me tremendously, because I relegated myself to using their recliner a lot just so I could be upright, and it didn't work very well AT ALL. Hope you're starting to feel better! (Coming back to you @Pepper_No_Salt since I now see your post-op post!) : Oh my gosh I feel you on the cold drink thing! I was a bit grumpy when I asked the nurse at my 10 day post-op and she casually said, "Oh, room temperature is mainly just the first few days because foods of extreme temperatures CAN cause uncomfortable cramping'. My fella covered his mouth to hide his snort of understanding at the look I gave him, having had to hear me whine off and on for ten days about how I'd give anything for a COLD drink of something. Figuring out the sips is tricky. They gave me little medicine cups that hold about an ounce and for me, sipping one of those 2-3 times felt about right at first. I'm sure this is another one of those things that depends on the person. I also alternated one ounce of gatorade/proper (they had brought me a kiwi watermelon that elicited heartburn, the berry was ok if I went slow - Also weirdly orange gatorade zero goes down better than watermelon, guess its all based on the acid and flavoring? @draikaina8503 - I read where you discussed being pretty limited on the shakes due to dietary restrictions. That's rough It's very cool that you write the same genres as me - I, too, have given Nanowrimo a try but never seem to stick with it to the finish line. Maybe I'll try it again this year! I'm glad you mentioned it. Yes - I meant to follow up all week long on making sure I was on the waiting list, and lo and behold... it's Sunday, and I never did. I'm bad on a good day at executive function, so during stressful times like this recovery - whew. I need to add it as a task to my Finch app so my mind stops blanking on it. I hope they were able to do your full surgery with no complications. @Singingbarista - I hope your recovery is going well! I didn't feel too terribly at first but I am suspecting more and more based off of people's feedback that I almost certainly had a nerve block that took a good 4-5 days to completely wear off. The achiness has built over time, and I hope that is different for you! @AndreaJD - Yay! Another writer & Nanowrimo participant! I guess it isn't too surprising that several of us writing folks would find one another on a forum, but I still think it's really cool. Superhero fan fiction sounds fun; I'd say that some of the powers my characters have are very overlapping, like magic use. It would be awesome if you could get some productive writing done during recovery but I also wanted to encourage you not to be too hard on yourself if you can't. My mind feels muddy and I feel drowsy far more often than I would like. I know I'll probably feel SO much better in about a week, but it's sure hard not to be impatient. I also wanted to mention that I didn't have much trouble at all getting my fluids down at first, either, and that's definitely not a bad thing. My nurse told me there will be good days and harder days, and yesterday I definitely experienced that. It was the first day I didn't make my fluid goal, like I wrote above - and I tried to push it in the evening but that was a bad idea. The Berry Propel I drank a bit too quickly before laying down (should have waited longer, d'oh!) ended up giving me heartburn that woke me up around 3am. It's all trial and error, I guess. Dang - wish I'd thought of having tomato soup pre-op! No idea why I didn't - now it'll probably be a while before I dare due to potential acid reflux. Ahh well! I'm going to try some of that blended Progresso Chicken Noodle in my puree stage I think if it passes the 'book check' - it sounds amazing. @Averdra & @caseyash30 - Are you two still surgery twins on the 21st? I'm trying to backtrack and I know that you said there were possible concerns do to a potential Covid case, @Averdra. I hope that's smoothed out for you! I realized while I was doing my recap that I never mentioned - traveling to Lithuania sounds so exotic to me, as a resident of the Midwestern U!. The furthest I've ever been is Alberta, Canada! Not that you would get to go sightseeing or anything; I get it. I know a lot of folks from the US travel to Mexico for their surgeries. Very cool that you were another WoW OG! The game sure has changed a lot, hasn't it? @caseyash30 - How goes the pre-op diet? Are you getting nervous or eager as the date approaches? For me it all just felt really surreal. @Onemealplan & @Greekmom4 - Tomorrow is my 14 day post op! I was paying close attention to your discussions about puree - because to be honest, I'm kind of stumped on this particular stage. I just managed about half a scrambled egg and a couple of teaspoons of my sugar free Chobani and I just feel so full. The whole time I was eyeballing my sugar free gatorade, thinking how ready I was to just be through with food so I could set a timer to be able to start hydrating. As it is, I have hiccups from the two tiny sips of Gatorade I allowed myself just to make the egg not feel stuck in my throat. I know everyone's experiences are going to vary significantly; the friend I have who had surgery previously said she had a lot of luck sipping the French onion soup mixed, especially in the mornings. She's two years post op and doesn't seem to have trouble eating small servings of most anything she wants now, minus much fried foods or rich desserts. She had a full gastric bypass, for reference. She told me that ricotta was a big win for her because it could be blended and made either savory or sweet, depending on if you chose vegetables or fruit, and also said she really enjoyed refried beans through the puree with mild seasoning to make it more like a taco. I have a gastric sleeve cookbook that offers a lot of different smoothie varieties. Other than that - I'm just not sure what sounds appealing as a puree, despite the nurse saying 'you can puree almost anything but stringy / dense meat!' I can see how the chicken or tuna salad would work - tuna just scares me for some reason. I wonder if I'd be able to do a salmon salad instead of tuna salad. Also - @Onemealplan - Yeah, I tried having my fella puree me some canned kidney beans on Friday, just to test the waters, and they didn't settle well for me. I can't say they are what caused me to have trouble passing gas and extra trouble with my constipation - it seems unlikely since I skimmed away the 'shell' and only ate probably a teaspoon and a half worth, but I just don't know. It tasted great to me, but just made me nervous. This is probably in part because I've dealt with IBS and beans of that sort along with ground beef or tomato sauce with too much basil were trigger type foods for me. I concur on the puree'd meats sound distinctly unappetizing. I'm hoping I can get away with mashing cooked salmon or something like that. Wooo! I did it! I hope I didn't miss anyone - I feel caught up finally! Now, to go rest with my ice pack.

Just checking in for now. I have a lot of posts to catch up on, but that will be when I'm home. Surgery went great, other than starting my period literally 10 minutes before anesthesia came in. I'm having trouble drinking water, so I will be staying another night in the hospital. Now if I could just get the gas pain to leave...

I'm with you on ALL of that. I was in a 28/30 and 5x in clothing and size 10 in rings and 11w in shoes. When I could even find anything in my size, it was expensive, ugly, and not in style at all. I hated it so much. Now, I'm in a size 12 and Large in clothing, size 5 ring, and size 10M in shoes. So much easier to find clothes in my size that are cute, fit better, look better, and priced WAY better. I can shop sales and clearance, I can go thrifting and know I'll find stuff, I can shop in ANY store and not be embarrassed or disappointed. Activity is so key. I couldn't move around without a cane before, and even then it was so hard. I was out of breath after the smallest tasks. Now I go on 10 and 12 mile hikes, I work out and do core/strength/weight training, and I can go horseback riding (just did that last weekend and it was AWESOME to be within the weight limits) or anything else I want to do. Sleeping is so much better now. I can sleep in any position, I don't snore anymore, and I don't wake up with headaches like I use to. I was told I needed a cpap but I didn't want one, and I suffered because of it. Don't need one now!! And of course, my health has drastically improved. No more high cholesterol, high blood pressure, inflammation meds for my joint pain, or diabetes. Instead of constantly being anemic, it stays low normal, which is huge for me. All my labs consistently come back perfect and normal. It's a whole new life now, and even though I went through SO MUCH to get here, I would do it all again in a heartbeat

Blimey @ShoppGirlyou have had a lot to deal with this week! Gallbladder- I had mine out last year but I wasn’t told anything to avoid foods, drinks or anything but was warned that gall stones can come back in the bile duct. After a bit of a rocky start (lots and lots of fluid leakage as my gallbladder was horribly inflamed which resulted in a much longer surgery blah blah blah) I’ve been fine ever since. Fingers crossed all will go well with that aspect of the week for you. Please take your pain meds and give yourself whatever respite you can. You’ve had 2 major operations this week and you are really going to be feeling it 😮 Would a heat pad give you any additional relief? Injecting yourself - I inject one lot of meds weekly and another fortnightly and, believe it or not, I think it’s easier to self-inject than have someone else do it for you. I just grab a fat roll at the top of my thighs, hold the pen against my skin and press the button. I’ve to count to 10 before releasing. A quick wipe down with a sterile wipe and I’m good to go. Yes, it very occasionally hurts, like if I haven’t grabbed enough for the injection, plus you have to rotate your injection site as you can end up pretty sore with it if not (never had that problem, thankfully 🤞) You can also inject in your stomach if that’s a better choice for you. I was told that I have to have B12 injections every 3 months - I’m going to look like a dart board!!

Today is my 1 year anniversary since surgery! It has been a wild ride! I am so glad I decided to get the surgery done. I used to get winded just walking up the stairs from my basement. Now I walk between 2-3 miles per night. Next on the agenda, possible skin removal next year and both knee replacements (holding out as long as I can). I have had continuous weight loss, however, I have stalled somewhat but still had small losses during those stalls. Keep on track and use this tool to its full advantages! I have been of Blood Pressure meds since surgery. I may not need my cpap any longer, but I haven't done another sleep study. STATS: I have lost a total of 227.2 pounds: 17.25 inches around my chest 32.5 inches around my belly button 27.25 inches around my waist 6.25 inches around my neck 4.5 inches on bicep 10 inches around my upper thigh 4.25 inches on my calf HW: 469.8 PreOp: 450.6 (19.2 pounds lost) SW: 430.8 (39 pounds lost) CW: 242.6 (227.2 pounds lost)

Today is day 1 of the clear liquid diet to prep for my surgery on Friday! It's... going lol. Definitely harder than I thought it would be, but I'm making it through. I'm flabbergasted that we are halfway through August, and my surgery is on the 16th and then 10 days later, I return to school to work on my masters degree. Now I'm wondering what I was thinking. LOL

Hello! I’m just reaching out to ask if anyone had worsening of their AHI after gastric sleeve. Mine has gone up at least 3 points since surgery and I’m 10 weeks out. My throat is a little soar all the time now too. Has anyone found a good thing to help this? Thank you!

Totally agree with Bypass2Freedom here. I couldn't really do much around the house until about 2 weeks post op and had to rein myself in a bit. Plenty of rest is the order of the day, but did manage to get out for a simple 1 mile walk around the day 10 mark.

it's very common to have a 10-20 lb regain in year 3. It's not inevitable, but it's very common. And no, one day of bad eating when you're in maintenance is not going to affect your weight - I'm sure most of us long-timers have those days once in awhile. But if you go back to your old eating habits, you WILL gain a bunch of weight back (and maybe close to all of it). The trick is to be able to recover quickly from a bad day and get back to your regular plan ASAP (like...the next day). This is a lifetime battle (made easier by WLS, but still...a battle).

@NeonRaven8919Exactly! @AmberFLHe‘s currently on the platform, unsure if the weight loss train is the train he wants at the moment @JennyBeezRomanncy-love-stuff? What’s that then? LOL! @SleeveToBypass2023All my stats are up to date right now. Don’t know which surgery as I haven’t had my appointment with the surgeon yet (NHS - it’s never a rush 🙄) I had thought sleeve initially but, after my first group education session, I’m now thinking bypass, purely because of reducing the hunger hormones which isn’t a factor with the sleeve. However, I will listen to what the medical professionals recommend and make my decision from that. So, I had the conversation with hubby last night and got a lot of things cleared up. It’s not just the WLS that’s concerning him but some other things too like me having knee surgery and not needing him anymore, especially as he has his own disability which cannot be addressed with surgery. He thinks he will be holding me back and I deserve better etc etc. I truly understand where he’s coming from but we’ve been together 22 years, married for 17. His accident happened when we’d been together a couple of years and back surgery made it much worse. We’ve dealt with horrible shitty ex-wives, massively entitled kids, redundancy, depression, illness, disabilities etc. If we can come through all of that and not want to stab one another then I will take that as a win 🤣😂 Life throws things at us when we least expect it, both good and bad. I think we’re OK for now, thankfully, so I can stop eyeing up the pillows in bed, thinking of ways to smother him 😈 Physio was cancelled today due to staff illness. They had a bit of a panic trying to find an appointment for me as I’m supposed to have physio 10-14 days after the steroid injection. As it stands, they found me an appointment for next Monday which will be 19 days afterwards so I will have to see if that’s acceptable. I’m not stressing though as I’m doing the circulation booster and knee programme every day so hopefully that will have a positive impact.