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No, this is not all you are going to lose. When you had surgery you automatically signed up for a marathon event. It will time for you body to do it's own thing. It is a week by week proposition. Focus on the horizon every day. When a year has gone by then reassess. Set other goals to attain. Exercise. Trips. Hobbies. Other rewards. Enjoying each day.

It can be difficult to swallow in the first couple of days after your surgery (swelling) but also some surgeons will want you not to swallow meds for a period of time advising patches, chews or to crush meds (not all can be crushed). And of course there’s also what you’re able to do & tolerate in those first few weeks while healing. I had swelling to begin but the hospital gave me pain killers & other meds as tablets in hospital after the first day - it wasn’t easy & hurt. I didn’t have to begin any vitamins until I was home (day 4) but by then the swelling was gone. I was also able to take my vitamins as tablets. Mine were capsules but I could only swallow one at a time with a little break between. Also took half the tablets in the morning & the other half at night.

Behind paywall, here is verbiage: Ozempic is under review by European drug-safety regulators after they received reports of suicidal thoughts linked to the popular weight-loss drug and another medicine in the class. The European Medicines Agency said Monday it is evaluating the safety risk for patients who take the drugs, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, after learning that three people who took the medicines reported thoughts of self harm or suicide. Suicidal behavior isn’t listed as a side effect for Ozempic—and a related drug called Saxenda that is also subject to the review—in the European Union, the EMA said. Novo Nordisk said the company’s studies of Ozempic and Saxenda, as well as its continuing monitoring of their use, haven’t shown a link to suicidal thinking or thoughts of self harm. “Novo Nordisk remains confident in the benefit risk profile of the products and remains committed to ensuring patient safety,” a Novo Nordisk spokeswoman said. Depositary shares in Denmark-based Novo Nordisk were flat in trading on the New York Stock Exchange midday Monday. Ozempic, Saxenda and other drugs targeting a gut and brain hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, have exploded in popularity after studies found they can help people lose significant weight. Companies initially developed the class to treat people with diabetes. Ozempic, which is approved for diabetes treatment, has a sister drug named Wegovy that is cleared for chronic weight management in people who are obese. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it doesn’t comment on external research or individual reports, but may evaluate them. It said clinical trials for Wegovy didn’t support an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior. Prescribing information for Wegovy, however, includes a warning and precaution for these risks because it has been reported in clinical trials for other weight-management drugs, the FDA said. The EMA said it would consider whether to expand its inquiry to other GLP-1 drugs. The agency said it began its review after the Icelandic Medicines Agency reported suicidal thoughts by one user of Ozempic and similar thoughts by a user of an older drug in the class called Saxenda. A third case reported by the Icelandic agency involved thoughts of self-injury by a user of Saxenda. Write to Melanie Evans at melanie.evans@wsj.com

I think it depends on what it is. There are some things that I’ll prep and keep for a week (lettuces for salad) and others that I pray don’t make leftovers (I’m looking at you fried foods!) For what it’s worth, the USDA says cooked pork is good for 3-4 days in the fridge. 🤷‍♀️

Hello All, I'm pretty scared, so bear with me on this. I am now 7 months post op RYGB and at my 3 month post op, my liver enzymes were mildly elevated but my ferritin was around 600, at 6 months now, my enzymes are AST 96, ALT 105, Ferritin 1022. I am with a doctor now and watching them every 2 weeks, I'm also getting a liver biopsy on Monday, and to say the least, what I read on the internet is scary as heck, about liver failure. I had a rough first 6 months with a lot of nausea and was not able to get as much protein as I wanted and I lost on the high end of the weight loss curve. I know I had fatty liver before the surgery for some time, but again, liver enzymes were upper end of normal. Can you all let me know if any of you have had this experience? I heard they can be elvevated for some time due to the rapid weight loss, but mine are not coming down as of yet. Thanks. Laura

When I had my original surgery, I added black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to my broths. It got me through the bland phase. I know it’s difficult the first few weeks until you can eat more solid food. What I’ve done with ricotta cheese, yogurt, sugar-free pudding and cottage cheese is to add Splenda and extracts or professional flavorings (like cake decorators use; I did some cake decorating). Missing pumpkin pie? Add pumpkin pie extract or flavoring to ricotta cheese. I use flavorings by Lorann Oils. You can find some at Michaels, Joann, and local cake and candy supply stores. You can also order them online at www.lorannoils.com.

I had sleeve surgery done 9 years ago in 2014. I'm 5'4" and started at 202 pounds. I lost down to 102, and looked awful. It took me until 2017 to gain back to a healthy weight of 115. I have remained in the general vicinity of 113 - 117 since. From the start I've have terrible GERD. In February of this year my gastro said the GERD is out of control and I cannot put it off anymore, it's time for me to convert to bypass. I do NOT want to do this. I sought the opinions of 3 of doctors all of which said the same thing. I had EGD, upper GI series, manometry, and pH with Bravo. Surgeon said it's worse than they initially thought, and that I need surgery now. He submitted to insurance on Monday (3 days ago). He expects me to have surgery within a couple of weeks. When this was mentioned in February I weighed 116. I immediately started eating all the things to up my weight. I live on Crumbl Cookies, lemon cream pie, crackers with cheese, and potato chips. I've always eaten those things, but now I'm eating them nonstop. I'm currently at 124 pounds. I am scared to death about losing weight again. Surgeon says he expects me to lose around 20 pounds. That's too much. I don't want too look like that again. I'm happy with how I look now. I also am not at all interested in the process of all of it again. WLS is part of my past that I was happy to be done with. I don't want to do it again. It has been made abundantly clear to me that I have to do it, but I'm scared and sad. I don't know what I'm looking for here, maybe just looking to share these feelings and get them off my chest.

Hi All - My name is Kay. I am scheduled for my gastric sleeve surgery on 8/2. If I am not mistaken, I started the process in the first week of June. I never considered WLS because I never considered myself obese. I guess I was fooling myself. No one in my family is overweight; however, most have diabetes and HBP. I have HBP and am pre-diabetic. I went to see the gastro doctor out of curiosity. The appointment was an hour long. I met with a dietician, an insurance navigator, and a nurse practitioner. This was the first time I heard my weight out loud. I usually turn away from the numbers on the scale and instruct the person taking my weight not to tell me. I just usually guessed my weight. I was off about 40 pounds. BMI of 40. The insurance navigator told me that I would get approved and that my insurance did not have any pre-surgery requirements. I met with the nurse practitioner, she gave me a list of to-do items, and I was off to the races. I am excited. I look forward to having more energy, being more active, getting rid of my HBP medication, and eating to live instead of living to eat. I was a bit apprehensive about joining a WL forum because I did not want to see negative reviews and complications. I am glad I came to this site. It is full of information and people like me. Congrats to those who have had their surgery, and good luck to those who are scheduled.

I’m with you 100%. Lost 30lbs on my own, doing my own thing in the months leading up to surgery. I had been told by everyone at the office I have to eat “their” food for two weeks, no exception, everyone has to do it. I tried it and developed not only some extreme food aversions but a massive case of depression. I did call the office and they let me transition to whole foods like chicken, cottage cheese, salad for the remainder. Still had to be 800 cal/day which was fine. So I was still able to go out to eat and just get a salad. Lost 8lbs in that two weeks before surgery. They didn’t tell me I’d go into ketosis and ache all over or that I would have zero energy. I think my depression came really from not being able to move (priorly walked 4-5 miles/day). Well it all came crashing down the night before my scheduled surgery. Full blown panic attack knowing damn well I wasn’t coping with life as it was and there’s no way I could add in a major operation and not even be able to do simple things like drink water. I ended up cancelling my surgery the morning of (May revisit in 6-12 months). Bottom line for me is that without good mental health, really nothing else matters. Even if I went through with the surgery I think my results may have been diminished with the level of depression I am/was experiencing that whole time I lost my first 30 lbs my mantra was “food is fuel” and while that is true and helped immensely in guiding making good food choices… food is so much more than that, often central to social gatherings being the big one. I am not an emotional eater but it was hard to not get my usual takeout like I used to or enjoy a treat

I’m with you 100%. Lost 30lbs on my own, doing my own thing in the months leading up to surgery. I had been told by everyone at the office I have to eat “their” food for two weeks, no exception, everyone has to do it. I tried it and developed not only some extreme food aversions but a massive case of depression. I did call the office and they let me transition to whole foods like chicken, cottage cheese, salad for the remainder. Still had to be 800 cal/day which was fine. So I was still able to go out to eat and just get a salad. Lost 8lbs in that two weeks before surgery. They didn’t tell me I’d go into ketosis and ache all over or that I would have zero energy. I think my depression came really from not being able to move (priorly walked 4-5 miles/day). Well it all came crashing down the night before my scheduled surgery. Full blown panic attack knowing damn well I wasn’t coping with life as it was and there’s no way I could add in a major operation and not even be able to do simple things like drink water. I ended up cancelling my surgery the morning of (May revisit in 6-12 months). Bottom line for me is that without good mental health, really nothing else matters. Even if I went through with the surgery I think my results may have been diminished with the level of depression I am/was experiencing that whole time I lost my first 30 lbs my mantra was “food is fuel” and while that is true and helped immensely in guiding making good food choices… food is so much more than that, often central to social gatherings being the big one. I am not an emotional eater but it was hard to not get my usual takeout like I used to or enjoy a treat

it's almost always temporary. The first few weeks post-op are hard. And yes, unfortunately, you will enjoy food again, and at that point this all becomes a lot more challenging. I know it probably sounds odd to you now, but there are days I wish it was like at the beginning when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food.

honestly, there are more people who never make it all the way to their goal than there are those who lose too much, but that said, you can always increase your calories to either stop your weight loss or gain a few pounds if you think you're getting too thin. So I wouldn't worry about that at all. I lost 100% of my excess weight and yes, for a time I was "too thin", but I was also aware that a majority of us have a 10-20 lb rebound weight gain during year 3. And I did. In addition, even before the rebound gain, things (fat, I guess?) tends to re-distribute itself after a big loss, so even though I weighed the same for awhile, I started looking a lot better. My face filled out, etc - even before that gain. as far as it being hard - the first year, it wasn't too bad - esp before my hunger and appetite came back at month 5. For those first few months, for the first time in my life, I wasn't thinking about food at all the time. In fact, I didn't think about it much at all - and at times didn't even want any. Even though it was weird not to ever be hungry and to not give a flip about food, I found it very liberating! But things changed at month 5 when suddenly my hunger came back (and it does for most of us sometime during the first year). Then you're dealing with the hunger beast again, although it's not as strong as it was before surgery. But I wanted more than anything to lose this weight once and for all, so I really stuck to my program and lost it all (weight loss didn't stop until I was almost two years out, though - I had A LOT to lose!) it does get harder after the first year because diet fatigue sets in, as well as some old habits. You really, really have to watch yourself. And eight years out, I have to continue to watch myself. It's so easy to slip into old habits. But I have a "drop dead weight" limit - I weigh myself once a week now, and if I hit that limit - or come close to it - I cut back until my weight is safely within the limit again. But this really isn't any different from most of my never-been-obese friends. So many of us have to monitor our weight and to cut back when it starts getting too high. anyway, yes, it can be hard - esp when your hunger comes back and your motivation starts to wane, but unlike before, your effort actually pays off. You put in the work, and the weight comes off (or stays off). Before, the most I could ever lose is about 50 lbs (and even that was rare - most of my dieting ended up with a 10 or 20 lb loss). And inevitably, it will all come back. Happened every time. BUt this time, it worked!

Thank you for your response, I've realized through this whole preop process how addicted to food I really am. Thankfully, I am taking the right steps and joined Betterhelp for therapy. There is a group session for Bariatric patients where I met a therapist who is a bariatric patient and food addict herself and I felt a weight lifted off of me talking to her yesterday and am going to continue with her twice a week. I feel like this is going to be a huge key to my success. I was having a breakdown when I posted that, but I feel much better now 😆 my fiance and I have decided to go to benihana that day as a date night,we've never done teppanyaki together and I'll get to have some yummy meat and vegetables and not cheat on my preop! I am feeling more hopeful now than ever and I'm sorry if that post came off as negative to anyone. My health is number one and I will be getting this surgery because we are all worth it!!

I thought I had found the perfect bariatric vitamin from Walgreens (Optifast Post Bariatric) but recently found out it's either completely out of stock or discontinued. So now I am on the search for a good RNY vitamin as well. I was told too by my nutritionist that taking a chewable multiple times a day was better absorbed than taking a bunch of regular pill type vitamins. At least for gastric bypass patients. I need to figure it out soon since I only have a couple weeks supply left. The last thing I need is to become vitamin deficient and have my teeth breaking off like chalk. If I have to, I guess I'll stock up on Flintstone chewables. xD

Oh and definitely be prepared to be constipated! The first month was not fun in that department. You may go 2 weeks without a bowel movement, it's quite common. I'm more regular now but previously I was resorting to stool softeners and even a home enema and suppositories. Suppositories worked best when I was really backed up.

Happy birthday to me! My 64th and one year until retirement! The email from this forum reminded me I haven't been here in awhile. I was 275 when I had my lap band back in May of 2009. I got down to my goal weight of 195 by the end of that year. A few times I've slipped back and went close to 240. The band, which I guess they don't do anymore, has been a great tool, but diet and exercise sure played a big part. In 2011 I ran my first of 7 marathons, had to give that up after back surgery in 2014 and I've taken to cycling, which almost killed me in 2020. (But hey the lady that hit me ended up buying me a new camper to use in retirement :) ) I definitely learned I was a stress eater and just knowing that helped. In 2020 because of covid my work moved to home, and I've been in my basement most of the last 3 years. Not going out to lunch everyday helped and adding 1-2 hours back to my day I was able to get out more. Today on my 64th, 14 years after the surgery I'm still at my goal weight of 195, but over the winters I've snuck up to 205-210 a couple of times, but hoping in retirement (huge stress relief) I can get outside and do things to keep me away from food and snack more often. Just came back from a busy one week vacation where I lost 5 pounds because we were out doing things!

My sleeve surgery was 3/13/23 and I've been struggling with constipation ever since. I have been taking colace twice a day (approved by my doctor) and benefiber powder (recommended here) At a prior appointment, they said the benefiber would be ok. My PA approved the colace but mentioned yesterday that the Benefiber could expand and stretch my sleeve. So she told me to take Metamucil Fiber Thins instead. While I love the addition of a cracker to my day I am a little worried it may not work. Plus I'm going away for a week and hesitate to try something new beforehand but I'm scared about stretching my sleeve with the benefiber! Thoughts??

Ugh so at work on Day 2 of pre-op diet. I had some shredded red cabbage with lemon juice and a small packet of salt, a diet peach snapple, and 2 shakes so far. Also a decaf iced coffee with almond milk and fake sweetener. I feel like.... I have a flu. But it is day 1.5. I should not have the "keto flu" already and wonder if it is just my anxiety poking me and making little things turn into stressful things which trigger my migraines and pain. When I did my OG sleeve in 2018, I was off from work during this 2 week preop. Going to work while doing this is so much extra. Thankfully I am now in an office vs field job but still. My SADI-S is the 26th and all I can think about is I want food, soup, hearty. Choking down cabbage and lemon (which I do actually like!) makes me gag.

I went to my first post-op appointment yesterday. It’s been a month since I started my pre-op diet and two weeks since surgery and I’m officially down 31lbs. Yay! He said my incisions look good and I finally went for a swim yesterday. I’ve been missing the water. I’ve also gone to the chiropractor a few times and she has really helped with the after-surgery tight muscles. The adjustments have calmed my digestive system AND lowered my BP too. Highly recommend if you have access to one. I started changing up my protein shakes a little as well. Dropped some PB2 powder, half a banana and collagen into my Premier chocolate this morning and it was delicious. A lot of folks say everything is too sweet for them after surgery, but I still looooove my chocolate. Apparently, I’m not one of those people lol.

I was four square opposed to WLS because I told myself that if I got serious I could do it with diet and exercise. The problem I kept running into was I could go a week and be completely compliant with my plan, but it only took one moment of lost focus and the resultant binge undid the whole week of perfection. Eventually an article about weight loss turned out to be an article on WLS and my interest was piqued. I then began my research. Back when I had surgery VSG was not a thing. My choices were Lap-Band, RNY, or DS. I researched each thoroughly, to the extent that when my surgeon asked my preference and why I was able to go into detail about each procedure and why I chose what I chose. Initially I wanted the Band because it was 'less invasive' and it could be easily reversed. I decided 'less invasive' was not a reason to have one surgery and not another, what was important is which surgery would give me the best results. In relation to the Band specifically, after some soul searching I knew that if things got hard I would sabotage myself until the Band just had to be taken out and I would be worse off than when I started. While the other surgeries can technically be reversed, it is much more difficult and only done in extreme circumstances. Basically, no matter what happened I would have to make the best of it, which really is my default outlook. I needed a surgery that was forever. So I was down to RNY and DS. The DS generally had better long term results. Back then their was no restrictive aspect to the DS it was totally malabsorption. There were also many reports of some patients losing too much weight and having issues getting up to a healthy weight. Even then surgeons were getting better at preventing that, so this was probably not going to be an issue for me. But, DS folks often talked about being able to eat anything in just about any volume and still losing weight. This was a problem for me, because I was a binge eater and I wanted to change my habits and I didn't feel the DS would push me in that direction. Here I am at the RNY. I wanted the malabsorption to give me that slight edge to get my digestive system on board with my goals. Of course the restriction was what I wanted to teach me to limit my portions and prevent my binging. I also wanted the 'complication' of dumping as this would keep me away from sweets. Binging and sweets are a bad combination and I felt the RNY would address both. So I chose RNY. As it turned out I do dump on both sugar and fats. It took an amazingly few dumping episodes to learn to stay away from sugars and fats, so that problem was addressed quickly. It also took amazingly few episodes of one bite to many to learn not to, so my binging was addressed. I got everything out of my RNY that I hoped I would. Here I am 20 years later, and my restriction is still in full force. Eating to plan is so natural and normal I don't even think about it. Good luck, Tek

I'll be 5 months on the 21st! It's flown by.i should probably avoid bread, but no one said I had to. I sometimes can eat a sandwich (just regular sandwich bread) and sometimes I find myself just picking of some of the bread. What would a week of eating look like for you? I need some ideas. I feel like I don't always have restriction anymore. I feel like I can fit in more food now before I start feeling that tight feeling or the hiccups. My weight is still moving down as well and its crazy that I'm so close to my first major weightloss goal!. I'm down about 65 pounds since surgery day. My favorite thing is that I can cross my legs and keep it there for awhile. My back, legs and ankles don't swell up much after standing for a long period of time anymore. I havent started working out yet. I had a gym membership since 2015, but no longer have a car. I feel like it's too much of a hassle to have someone bring me, so until I get another car, I'll need to find something fun to do at home. I'm losing a lot of hair too, I hope it starts to slow down soon. Some people who barely have that are so lucky! 💜💜

Ive been soooooo tempted to start something a week early. I can eat tuna and shaved deli mean next friday and I cannot wait!!!!!!!!!!!

Prior to surgery up to a week depending on what it was. After surgery I will do 3-4 days depending on what it is, some meats tend to get drier, and if that's the case I will add some broth. Today I'm having carnitas which I made on Friday, and just adding some broth when reheating, heck I may have some left over for tomorrow 🤷‍♀️

Congrats on surgery. I just had surgery on Tuesday, June 20th. I did go back to work on the following Monday the 26th. I feel that I needed more time. The first week and a half post op I was struggling with mental fogginess from low carb and diarrhea. However, my coworker had surgery the same day and was perfectly fine. She did not have any of the issues that I had. We are all differently. If you feel well enough to return, go for it. If you need more time, take it.

Imagine you're in an airplane, and it's heading straight towards a mountain. The mountain has many names; Mt. Diabetes, Mt. Depression, Mt. Sleep Apnea, Mt. Early Death, everything you mentioned. Time is running out, and it's getting bigger, and bigger in your windscreen... In a few weeks, it'll be two years post for me, and hindsight is so enlightening. I tried so many things, over so much time, and for so many reasons that mountain still kept getting closer. When it became unavoidable, I took evasive action, and had the procedure. It was like Top Gun man... the nose rotated up, fired the afterburners, and next thing I know, the mountain is below me, and I'm in clear skies, all those conditions gone, or handled. No one knows how it ends, but it feels damn good to be flying, instead of crashing. Bringing it back, right now that mountain might be all you see. It's scary, and it's intimidating, but you can absolutely overcome it. Congrats on starting the process again. Wishing you nothing but the best!