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I agree with the others. We normally don't feel restriction until we move to solid foods. In the mean time, follow your program - you don't want to screw up any sutures, etc.

I couldn't drink protein shakes either - they taste disgusting now. I understand your worry about hitting your protein goals. Personally I have found clear protein isolate much easier to drink - it comes in different flavours and just mixes into water. It also comes unflavoured so you can mix it into soup. I am three weeks post mini gastric bypass and I feel hungry too. So much so that I have started on soft food much earlier than my plan dictates. I know this is wrong so I am going to try and stop this. Could it be "head hunger" that you're experiencing? I say that because it's very common apparently. I think our bodies are going through so many changes but our brains are going to be playing catch-up.

There have been reports of people using it for weight loss developing gastroparesis. One patient realized she was vomiting food she had eaten 4 days prior. It makes me very glad my insurance denied it and my doctor and I pursued weight loss surgery instead.

I’m concerned you may not be following your plan & may be stressing your digestive system & hindering your recovery but plans do differ so …. Please check with your team about what you can eat at this stage & also how much to be sure. Portion size is always important but more so when you are still healing (& you will be for some weeks more). For example I was advised to eat 1/4-1/3 of a cup of food from puree. Think of all those sutures & staples holding your tummy & digestive system together. If you had a sleeve your tummy would have several inches of staples & stitches - imagine that on your arm or leg. The staged return to eating is to protect our tummy & support our recovery. Another consideration is that many nerves are cut during surgery so all our old signals of feeling full or that you’ve eaten enough & hunger aren’t getting through as well & usually are different to how they felt to you before surgery. This includes feeling your restriction (which is a tightness &/or heaviness around your chest - you may feel you want to thump your chest to ease it). Most of us don’t feel our restriction until we’re on soft food, usually around weeks 5 & 6, & when we’re more healed. But the goal is not to eat until you feel your restriction. You need to learn to stop before that, when you’ve had enough & don’t need (not want) to eat more. I’m a believer in a all because you can doesn’t mean you should thinking during this whole experience. There is a heck of a lot of things to learn & especially about yourself. You’re only three weeks in & you’re not expected to know it all straight away. I’m still learning four years out. Missteps are understandable & allowed. Never be afraid to ask your team for more information or clarification. And everyone here is always happy to make suggestions, offer support, etc. All the best.

From what I'm reading about the Ozempic and Mounjaro injections, once you stop taking them, their appetite suppressant effects wear off and the weight comes back. I have a friend who takes one, but she takes it because she's diabetic. She has lost weight, but she'll most likely need it the rest of her life due to the diabetes anyway. She's told me that at times, she won't inject herself if she goes on a trip (for example) so that she can indulge in alcohol and decadent food without feeling nauseated/vomiting/cramps/diarrhea. But again, she doesn't take it for weight loss. If they're being used solely for weight loss, they will help, but I guess it all depends on how long you're willing to take them. It's possible you can use the injections until you reach your goal. After that, however, it would be up to your self-discipline to continue to foster the modifications that the injections provided. I imagine you'd also have to consider insurance coverage, personal expense, and what short-term and long-term side effects they'll have on you, and whether those effects are cohesive with your lifestyle.

Did you have them with milk? Were they softened and broken up? If so it's very possible they just slid right through. Gastric bypass leaves the stomach small but there's a opening on the side of it. Foods that are very wet and runny like soups just flow right through and there's no restriction. Gastric sleeve and it's derivatives on the other hand keep your lower stomach sphincter. Your body is capable of holding more food and can stretch a bit more. Now if you are 5 wheetbix dry, without milk. Then I'd say you should ask your team. For example I'm also about 3 weeks RNY post-op. I just had some goldfish crackers I shouldn't have. But I ate maybe 8 or 10 of them and I can feel the pressure building in my lower chest. Once food is not able to go into the stomach and it sits in the esophagus, you will normally start to spasm. Cough and your will begin to salivate. It's incredibly uncomfortable.

I think I’m starting to get my energy back as well and I had surgery June 14th. I’ve been working out at least 3-4 days a week but it was exhausting me lol he last 2 weeks. I might need to up my calories as well. Things are getting alittle easier I must say. Trying new foods and really trying to watch the carbs but it’s hard to avoid there in everything lol. Today I made egg roll in a bowl with ground chicken and man was it good and feeling. I recommend it, it’s easy, tasty and makes u feel like you’re eating egg rolls or my favorite lumpia. Keep it up everyone.

I just went camping for two weeks and we lost power and ice in the area due to storms. We moved on and ordered eggy stuff at Tim Horton’s, sandwiches at Subway (didn’t eat the bread), and burgers at local restaurants (no bun but extra lettuce and tomato). In fancier places I ask to order an appetizer as a meal. No one cares. I ended up dropping 5 pounds. (I think the threat of carnivorous animals being attracted to food in the tent had a big effect on healthy habits too. Sigh, maybe I should be more afraid of the giant rats in my apartment building ;)

Hi Zena, Did you eat them in one meal or over the day ? You could make them sloppy enough to slide on through but 5 ? You need to go back to your team and get the dieticians advice because that's what we paid for. I am still under their umbrella until my 2 years are up On the subject of your restriction, Your nerves have been severed along with 9/10th of your stomach. Until they knit back together you will not feel the real restriction. Around this time you should be onto real foods, meats and such, you will certainly get the full feeling. Even now my restriction is fierce, 50 grams of meat will be all I can manage in one go.

I was still on soft foods after 3 weeks No biscuits for me. Did your Dr give you a diet to follow? I find eggs very filling. I snacked on sugar free jello and pudding. We were advised to avoid "slider" foods such as potato chips and pretzels because they aren't very nutritious or satiating

Here is a tip regarding coconut oil. If you can't tolerate the smell and taste of virgin coconut oil in your food (I didn't), try getting the refined coconut oil which is odorless. I still find it a tad bit sweeter than olive oil but that could just be me.

Hey there! I had my surgery on 08/03 and so far so good. Who would have known that once you cut out all food from your diet you find out you are lactose intolerant. All the protein shakes I bought are out the window.

Hi! My surgery was rescheduled for August 10th, this Thursday, because I got sick the week of my original date. I'm in the lower Hudson Valley, NY, just north of NYC. I'm having the SADI-S (aka SIPS / aka Modified Duodenal Switch). My surgeon doesn't put his patients on a liver reduction diet, but he does ask us to eliminate refined carbohydrates and I've been working with the dietician to increase proteins and decrease carbs overall since last October. On Wednesday I need to do a clear liquid diet. My nerves started last night, after I read through all the consent forms to sign, and when it really hit me about giving up my food habit. It's not like I hadn't thought about any of these things, but they seemed really far away so I didn't worry. I'm so happy that there seems to be a nice little cohort of us for August, so we can support each other! I'll go look for the FB group too. Good luck to everyone! I saw a few were having their surgeries early this month, how has it gone?

I am 1 month post op from Gastric Sleeve and am wondering what time everyone gets started eating and drinking water? I am on the soft foods stage and getting about 50-60g of protein in a day and 64oz of water. I really want to start adding in a protein coffee but think I need to get up earlier in the day or use that as my breakfast meal. Can anyone share the meal schedules with me?

Hi! I'm so happy your year has been such a success! And how exciting for your daughter! It's awesome that she could see how your journey has gone, especially in that first month or two post-op. My surgery was on September 7, 2022, and I am kicking my butt trying to get to below 200 pounds by my one year RNY anniversary - I've got 10 pounds to go! I have lost 200 pounds since my highest weight in November 2021, and 145 pounds since surgery 11 months ago. Highest Weight: 410 | Surgery Weight: 355 | Current Weight: 210 | Goal Weight: 185 Physical Health: I am weight lifting 5 days per week, and my cardio is spin cycling or swimming 4-5 days per week. I'm currently a size 12, medium/large, down from size 28, 5x - I haven't been a size 12 since 6th grade! I am still not used to walking into a store and easily finding clothes that fit me. For decades, I have only been able to shop at plus-size clothing stores like Lane Bryant, and my options are so vast now! Also my hair is growing back and getting healthier again. My last blood test showed I was low on folate, so I'm taking that which has the benefit of helping with constipation, too. Recent realizations: collar bones and ribcage are things that I have turns out?? Mental Health: I don't track my food anymore because I started noticing some unhealthy food restriction patterns starting when I was closely tracking it. I have also asked for help from my support people. Just yesterday I asked my mom to remind me that, no matter what I said, today is going to be a rest day and she helped hold me to that today. She also offered to hold onto my scale for a bit which I took her up on so I can keep my weight loss progression mentally healthy. That said, I have been off my depression and anxiety medication for about five months now and I'm finding that my mental health has been thriving lately. Excess Skin: Because I've lived at 300-400 pounds for 20+ years, I have a ton of extra skin and I have started looking into excess skin surgery options for my belly, arms, and breasts. I am saving money wherever I can to try and save up for skin removal surgery. I will never be able to afford surgery in the US, but I've been researching options abroad like in Mexico, Colombia, and Thailand. Right now I use compression garments to hold my tummy skin in place while I exercise or basically just exist because chafing is a real problem. I have really bad skin to begin with and I don't need to add in chafing and skin infections just for fun. I hope you guys are doing great as we all come up on our one year anniversaries! Let's keep supporting each other and sharing in our various successes and struggles!

Believe it or not, sometimes too much water will wash out all of your electrolytes that you're not able to replace with food (because it's limited). A couple of weeks ago I was doing 80-96 oz of water a day, and I started cramping in my feet and legs at night. I switched one of my water bottles out for a zero-sugar Propel water bottle, and the cramps stopped that same night. I chose Propel over Gatorade or Powerade because it has less sodium, and I have to watch my BP.

Lap banded about eleven years now. If I had to make this decision over I would still choose it. It’s life changing and that means it’s not all about loosing weight. You actually have to think about what you are eating and why you are eating. I’m amazed that the most difficult thing I found along the way , is how often I wanted to eat but realizing I was not even hungry. I really had a learning curve with my obsessive thoughts about food. Once this mental battle was over, living with the band has been mostly easy. In retrospect, I would have a Suport system in place, know that food will not be a social activity, but, once you reach your target weight- amazing. It’s important you can have access to a doctor who will continue to make adjustments when needed, because it’s not just once and done. I love being active, shopping for clothes is so simple since I can take measurements and the size always fits. Dinner parties are difficult for me because unless you tell everyone, people will inevitably comment on how little you eat, including servers. While I consider this a permanent band, I’m also aware it can be removed unlike other gastric surgery. So, do I think you are crazy? No. It’s your decision, no one else’s. Best of luck and be well!

I am now 4 days post op. No pain and no nausea. I walked a lot the night after the surgery and the morning before I left the hospital. I didn’t experience the gas pains I read a lot about. Two days out and I was able to walk a mile. I enjoy walking. I’m not hungry at all but I miss real food. Forcing myself to drink water and these protein drinks. They tasted better when I didn’t have to drink them. I bought chicken broth to use with the protein soups, that seems to help a bit with the taste. Otherwise, already I’ve noticed a change in the way my clothes are fitting me. I have not gotten on the scale yet. My plan is to wait until my first phase change, which is 8/22.

You might want to ask your dietitian to let you know which stage diet you're on. If you're on the soft foods diet then you can have soft scrambled eggs, tuna or chicken salad without pickles relish or onions. Just tuna or chicken mixed with a little mayo salt and pepper. Do you like cottage cheese? That's also a good one. Yogurt is too! I'm 1 year post op. I also love eating ricotta cheese, I make my own goat cheese too that's awesome and doesn't hurt my stomach. I still have issues with digesting meats unless it's really really small bits. I still do the chew til it's liquid lol but that doesn't work so well for meats. I started buying the 60 gram protein shake powders to help me get all my protein in for the day as well as using MCT oil in my coffee to help keep me in ketosis. I know you're at a point where you want to eat something solid because you've been on a liquid diet now over a month between pre-op and post op, but you can do this. Try some soft scrambled eggs or cottage cheese. And remember not to drink anything 30 minutes before or after you eat... And don't drink anything with your meals because it pushes the food down into your intestines and you don't feel full so you will continue to eat. The surgery is a great tool for helping lose weight, but we have to do the hard part of self control, and perseverance to let the tool work for us. Sadly my sister also had surgery but she didn't stick to her dietary restrictions and didn't lose as much. She had hers a couple years before me and turns out she's still in plus size clothing. I'm now down to wearing a size 2 to 4 jeans. You can do this. Remember why you're doing it. To be healthy

So yesterday I decided to start taking walks at the park and I love it. Before I couldn’t stand it because I would be in so much pain now I can actually enjoy it. Walking around the house in door and out door errands wasn’t enough for me anymore and my MD cleared me btw. I start puréed food tomorrow and I can’t freaking wait. I’m so excited. Lol 21lbs down since 7/24/23 rny gastric bypass. Quick question* What are some things you guys did when you first started back exercising besides walking and what really worked best for you? Is it normal to get a gagging feeling when exercising to hard or too much? Almost like nausea but not actually going all the way?

I haven’t had surgery but my bariatric dietician recommended “The Complete Bariatric Cookbook and Meal Plan” and I’ve found it very informative. Some ideas they suggest in week 3 include soft scrambled eggs, refried beans, high protein milk, low fat yogurt and then point to some recipes I’d think you want to puree like chicken and tuna salad, split pea soup, Turkey meatloaf, etc.

Hi just now seeing this. I went pack to basics and intermittent fasting. The two Protein Shakes and one meal is what you have to do to get weight moving. Also you can never eat regular again to maintain the weight loss. That’s what I found works for me. I keep my calories around 1000 or less per day and I’m fine. If I splurge one day I only eat a little of the bad item. Also no leftovers of not good food choice items

I had sleeve & am just over 4 years out. my weight has been pretty much stable aside from a small gain of a good 2kgs after a medication absorption issue (& lost about half of it when the meds were adjusted). I never was required to measure & track my food intake. I only did it & still do randomly out of my own interest. While portion size is important equally important is calories & you can’t judge or make decisions about one in isolation of the other. The importance of nutritional value goes without saying of course. Generally I say I eat about a recommended portion of most foods & tend to eat predominately low processed food with the exception of some things. As an example I eat about 3-4ozs of protein with a good cup or so of vegetables for dinner. I have a half serve of rolled oats made with milk & blueberries for breakfast. Lunch may be 4 steamed prawn gyoza, a tub of yoghurt, 12 mid sized prawns, 1.5 egg omelette with vegetables, etc. I snack about 4 times a day (to get in additional protein, nutrients & calories). It’s usually some multigrain crackers with labneh or liverwurst if I haven’t made labneh, macadamia nuts, protein bar, string cheese, peanut paste, fruit, beef jerky. I don’t eat dessert, cakes or biscuits (except on very rare occasions), rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, chips, popcorn or other traditional ‘snack’ foods & don’t drink soda. Nor do I eat fast food & very rarely have takeaway (maybe 5 times since my surgery & not through my choice). Don’t really miss them either. Also I still take 30 - 45 minutes to eat a meal. If I eat more quickly, how much I can eat is reduced & I can end up with the foamies. I still aim to eat 60-70g of protein & to get my fluids in every day. I eat about 1500 calories to maintain my weight. I’m 5’3”, have a finer build, am 58 & aren’t really active. If I was taller, weighed more, was more active &/or younger I’d need more calories. Anyway that’s what I do & found works for me. It may not work for you. There is no right or wrong way to eat only what is right for you & allows you to maintain your weight & health, is sustainable & doesn’t limit or restrict the life you want to live. PS - Earlier this year I checked a BMR calculator out of curiosity. Interestingly, it suggested I’d need to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight which confirmed I was on the right path.

I had RNY but it's probably similar. I don't go by ounces anymore - I just know that it takes about 1600 calories to maintain my current body weight, so I try to stay around there (or under if I want to lose a few pounds). And the above person is right - the number of oz depends on the food. I can easily eat 8 oz of yogurt. But a piece of meat? No way. Maybe 2 or 3 oz. btw - no one would be able to tell now that I've had weight loss surgery. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", just like lots of my female friends are who've never had a weight problem. I'll go to a restaurant and order a salad or an appetizer. Or I'll get an entree and eat half of it (and box up the rest to take home).

Gastric sleeve! Sorry I didn’t add it. Not slider foods, just general avg oz in a whole food meal 😊