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Hello. I had my sleeve surgery on the 4th as well. Every day is a little better, but it is not easy. I’ve been struggling with getting enough fluids and protein in. I’ve been really bloated so can only have a few sips at a time. Also I’m feeling really weak, but every day I feel a little stronger and every day I can take in a little bit more. Never thought it would be possible to get by on 200-300 calories a day, wow, but that’s all my body wants right now. How are you doing?

My big food love was noodles. It could be real Chinese or Thai ones in a flashy restaurant or the cheap as chips blocks which are full of calories and hidden additives at the discount supermarket. I loved them all. I would have eaten them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could. I am not able to eat carbs yet, not enough room in my tummy but these might be first on my list

Hey there! I’ve been lucky enough to like everything I ate (except for the bad stuff) before surgery. Great upside was I hate sweets after surgery. Cakes, pies, candy, just uuuugh too sweet. Fried foods I also have an aversion to. I like all of the protein shakes and a few new ones too. it’s funny about this ratio yogurt I just found it yesterday at Publix and I love it. It’s thick but not thick and layered with sugar alcohols like Oikos. I can’t stomach that. It’s not low in calories though so I’ll have to see how it fits into my plan.

I should say too that 600 calories a day sounds really little to me - is that until you get where you want to be or just for the first few weeks?

Mine too - is that not how the liver gets shrunk? I was on 800 calories a day for 2 weeks pre-op. OP I hope you can get back on the horse and not slip again - it would be awful if your operation didn't go ahead. It is super hard though. Good luck.

I had a tendency to stall for long periods then drop a ton quickly…. Then stall for forever and a day again… rinse and repeat. Overall it was agonizingly slow food wise now: Breakfast: a slice of toast with peanut butter or avocado. If peanut butter I will add 1/4 of a banana (sliced) lunch: P3 peanut cluster pack and a chobani yogurt. dinner: chicken/shrimp/ rarely pork or beef (pork for some reason my stomach can’t handle very easily. That was the first food that gave me foamies and it sits like a rock in my stomach 🤷🏼‍♀️) for snacks I tend to have nuts or cheese or yogurt. im boring with food. I tend to do what works and that’s it. I don’t like to think about food and honestly I am never really “hungry”. I think I’ve only been hungry once since surgery and it was one of those things where I was working on a home improvement project and lost track of time/forgot to eat and missed eating for almost the whole day. So I really don’t even classify my hunger as coming back yet since it was only the one time. I just got Invisalign so I am not really wanted to snack much either lol. My calories were in the 1000 range up until a few weeks ago and my nutritionist freaked out because she said I should be 1700. I had a meeting with a different nutritionist and she said I could push myself to 1400-1500. So that’s what I did and I started losing again. Their reasoning was that they didn’t want my metabolism and body to adjust to 1000 calories because that wasn’t sustainable long term. typically people say that you have a bounce back from your lowest weight. My family is a tad concerned I lost “too much”. I do have lots of loose skin 🤷🏼‍♀️ I don’t like it so I tend to hide behind clothes. as far as osteoarthritis… with that amount of weight loss I actually hardly feel any pain and can walk around like it’s nothing. I can’t run (high impact) or jump (also high impact) but easier exercise is fine. I’m currently taking it easy because I played basketball/handball with my students and stressed my knee out by doing all the things I shouldn’t have been doing 😅 I tend to walk A LOT. I have a big campus and I walk back and forth all day, I have a standing desk with no chair so it encourages me to walk/rotate the room. My arthritis was so advanced it looked like an X-ray from someone who is in their late 80’s and they were talking knee replacement surgery. I was in a wheelchair. They wouldn’t do the surgery Because of my weight and my age (too young). By doing the weight loss surgery I have put off that need for a knee replacement indefinitely.

I’ve been trying to work out of a stall, and I did confirm my bust out with negative scale action. The thing is, I noticed that I was drinking more water than normal, like my body demanded it. I was breathing deeper, not panting, just like deep yoga breaths, I was sleepy earlier (good for combating night snacking). And I was finding myself chilly on this lovely Spring. What clues does your body tell you BEFORE you see the scale when you’re burning calories? Or what clues do you see when you are maintaining properly?

I love mindful eating. Or as another way to say it, I hate counting calories. I could not stay on programs like weight watchers very long, or use calorie counting apps, because I would get obsessed with it. I would think about it all day, and at night when I had used up my points or calories for the day, I would sit around anxiously thinking how I’m hungry and I wasn’t allowed any more food. Deprivation. So as someone posted above, this whole experience has been freedom. Finally, I really am satisfied after I eat, and I know that when I get hungry again, I can have more food. I just keep it within the parameters set by the nutritionist, and count protein. (although by now, I have a food routine, and don’t need to count) I do not eat foods that contain more than 5 g of fat, and I do not eat added sugar. Good luck!

Wowzers ! What another amazing story there are loads of surprises on this forum. Thank you so much for responding with your experiences. You’re a lot taller than me I’m about 5:7 on a good day. But our stats are definitely similar and it warms my heart to know you started out the same way. I would kill to be 169lbs. My God that is so ideal for me. Did you Start slow? And it actually kick started your weight loss by increasing your calories?? What does your diet consist mainly of? major claps for junior high weight! Haha that is a new one. I’m so excited for you and I pray to God I will be able to celebrate such wins at my surgiversary next year. Let’s keep in touch!

I also went through Kaiser and I have almost the same stats as you. i started at 330 pounds. i had surgery around 297 pounds. (I’m 6 2” for reference) i am 39 years old with severe osteoarthritis in my knees and ankles. I weighed in this morning at 169 pounds (I am on my period though and I tend to retain water so I am probably closer to 165) . I get about 1400 to 1500 calories a day in now. My one year surgiversary was on March 24th. So I am just over a year out, but my numbers looked very similar to yours. they are happy with my loss, I am now in a BMI range of 21 or so… i was at 185 for a LONG TIME then just recently started loosing again because they upped my calories. So now I am down to my lowest I have been since junior high. It’s really trippy when I look back on photos of me as a child and see that I weigh more then. Or the fact that I can wear my sons T shirts (he’s 11). I only weigh 65 more pounds than he does 😱

Hi guys! I’m officially 6 weeks post VSG. When I started the Kaiser Program in June 2021 I was 330Lbs. I’m a female early 40’s. Surgery day 2/28 I weighed in at 290. Today I’m at 273lbs. I heard a lot about slow losers on this forum and I think I’m in that category but maybe you guys can confirm. I enter the regular food phase on Monday which is the day I go to work. I moderately workout 3 Times a week. Mostly in the pool because I have osteoarthritis in my knees that keep me from running, squatting or movement exercises. I eat no more than 700-800 calories currently. I get my protein, water, low carbs in. Make good food choices in my carbs & starches. if you are a slow loser how has your journey been? And did you have a lot of stalls in between? I’m trying not to get discouraged.

you guys are lucky. I could have 4-5 protein shakes a day, all the no-calorie, noncaffeinated liquids I wanted, a cup of tomato juice/V8 and a cup of broth, plus unlimited sugar free popsicles and sugar free Jello. No solid food at all. For two weeks. I ate sugar free Jello with abandon because it was the only thing I could have that somewhat resembled real food. I'd make a batch in the morning and eat the whole darn thing that day. I never once cheated on it, but boy---it wasn't easy. It did get a little easier after about three days because my body was in ketosis by then, but still - it was a struggle.

I started out logging calories. Now I pretty well know what meals fit within that calorie range and I can eat any of those measured meals without having to think about it. But if I have anything new or out if the ordinary I have to figure it out. Measuring and counting is the only way I have ever lost calories. My intuition must be defective lol.

Weigh and measure. I agree with another posted, you will need a food scale, but a good set of measuring cups (both regular ones and liquid measuring cups) are also invaluable. Look at the nutrition labels - the serving size for each food is there, and you can use that as a guide. Weighing food (unless it is liquid) is the best way to keep track of how much you are having and avoid the "but this cookie is small, I can have another cookie above the serving size for the same amount of calories" game. Of course you can eat more or less of a serving, so this leads to my next comment - start writing it all down and tracking how much you are eating vs. what you think you are eating. You should also measure any drinks with calories to know exactly how many calories you are drinking. For example, my idea of a "cup" of milk is very different from the reality. Even now, 8 months out, I measure the soy milk I use in my protein shakes because I don't trust my eyes. I track it all in the Baritastic app, but MyFitnessPal is great, and there are many others.

You will almost certainly need to meet with a nutritionist/dietician. They will be able to give you all sorts of advice. But you can also check out a textbook on nutrition from the library. Just make sure it's a text book, not some fad book. Get yourself a food scale that measures in grams and ounces. 4 ounces of meat/fish is a serving. Restaurants will advertise a 12 or 16 oz steak - that is 3-4 servings! Read the nutrition facts on the food you are eating: a serving of cheese is one oz. Weigh out one once (28g) of cheese (or chips, if you must) and see how much you are used to eating. Pick up your fork to take a bite then put down the fork until you have completely finished chewing and swallowing the mouthful of food. Take smaller bites: like the size of the top half of your thumb (they will need to be even smaller after surgery. If you are choking, you're either not chewing enough or you're eating too fast. SLOW DOWN! No one is going to take your food away from you! Start counting calories using an app like MyFitnessPal

You can do this! Two years ago, I had a similar situation -- my surgeon wanted me to lose 20 pounds before surgery and I didn't know where to begin. Here's one of the first posts I ever made on this site: Long story short: I ended up losing 70 pounds in the 5 months before my surgery (and another 130 pounds after surgery). My first advice on where to begin is always to start tracking your food. MyFitnessPal makes it pretty easy, and entering everything you eat can be really eye-opening and help you figure out where to get the most bang for your buck. Start by looking at the healthiest things you already like to eat, and eat those things more often while reducing the highest-calorie things that aren't worth it. As you do this, you can gradually reduce your calorie intake and start losing weight. Once you get on a roll, 11 pounds will seem like nothing. Plus, it will help you to get a head start on some of the changes you will need to make after surgery. Good luck!

I prefer protein powder over ready-to-drink shakes, and powder tends to be less expensive. My favorite brand of protein powder is Ideal Lean, but it is really a matter of personal taste. For ready-to-drink shakes, Equate brand is pretty much the same as Premier Protein but priced much lower. I am almost 2 years out now and I no longer drink protein shakes. I get plenty of protein from food, and I'd rather eat food than drink a protein shake. It is really important to budget for what you'll need post-op, and don't forget about vitamins. The best value in bariatric vitamins is the BariatricPal brand multivitamin, which is $99.99/year for a subscription (I recommend you buy a smaller bottle first and make sure you like them before you subscribe; also, you'll probably need chewables for the first few months after surgery). Depending on your program/bloodwork, you may need additional vitamins (I take calcium, chelated iron, vitamin B-12, vitamin D, and biotin in addition to the multivitamin, and I also use pre-workout and essential amino acid supplements). Vitamins are super important for gastric bypass patients, so you have to make sure you're prepared to buy them before you have the surgery. In the early post-op stages, I was eating so little that the costs balanced out. Now that I'm eating regular food and larger portions, though, I am spending a lot more on food than I was before surgery, even though I'm eating less. I used to shop sales and buy cheap food. Things like chips, crackers, cookies, candy, frozen meals and snacks, baking ingredients (sugar, flour, oil, butter), etc., can be very inexpensive when you buy them on sale. Now, I buy a lot of fresh produce, meat, fish, herbs, and spices, plus some healthier substitutions (sugar-free sweeteners, protein bars, low-calorie salad dressing, sugar-free condiments, olive/avocado oil, coconut flour, etc.) and prioritize health and taste over price. I'm sure I could spend less and still eat healthy if I really needed to, but I have invested so much into this surgery and losing weight that I'm willing to spend more money on food that helps me stick to my plan.

After my surgery last year, I started weighing everything I ate. I wasn't logging, but I kept track of protein and total calories in my mind, at least roughly. As the months passed, I began to weigh just at meal time. This was more to be sure I didn't hurt myself, rather than for tracking purposes. It's been almost a year, and I've reached my target weight. I had hoped to get 10 pounds or so below my target, but I've been stuck about where I am now since Thanksgiving. Where I am now is not a bad place, so I'm not too worried. However, I've developed a habit of grazing between meals. It will be a handful of pretzels or dry cereal straight from the box. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is like crack cocaine to me. I could stand in the pantry and eat half a dozen fists full. None of the grazing is tracked. (On this matter, you folks are serving as my father confessor.) I'm going to have to be more careful if I put on several pounds.

Going for a hike with some gal pals in an hour and one of them said she would pack up some sandwiches for all of us to eat on the trail when we inevitably get hungry. Told her thx, but i’ll bring my own sustenance, and prepared this instead…a salad, natch : 342 calories. Better remember to bring a fork! (Also packed a huge thermos of espresso martini to share, just cuz 😂)

I agree. I had a long wait (7.5 months) for surgery, but as soon as I made the decision to have surgery, I changed my eating habits and I lost 50 lbs before surgery - which is 50 I don't have to lose now. I started counting calories (around 1700 a day) and cut the carbs. I ate higher protein. I didn't do keto, but I focused on eating minimal sweets and pasta, bread, french fries, etc. I was actually less hungry and my GERD went away!

I had bypass, but the hair loss issue is the same since it's due to trauma to the body (from the surgery) and the super low number of calories we're eating the first few months. it's pretty rare for it to fall out in clumps. It's usually just shedding. And not everyone loses hair. I lost a little, but not enough for anyone to notice. In fact for most of us, we're the only ones who notice it. the jury is out on biotin. Some people say it helps, others say it did nothing at all. Honestly, I'd focus on making sure you're meeting your supplement and protein requirements so it's not any worse than it would be otherwise. Mine lasted from months 5-9. it grows back. I think i can speak for those of us a ways out in that in the grand scheme of things, the hair loss is a blip on the screen and is a small price to pay for being able to lose all that weight.

Well, I intuitively ate myself into morbid obesity, so I'm very much in the calorie counting camp. I need the structure and control. I'm gaining a sense of calories by sight the further along I am, which will be as intuitive as I get. More power to people who can intuitively eat and not relapse into the same errors and disordered eating, but I don't believe I'll ever be one of those.

I do a bit of both. Really early on it was about portioned sizes then calories/macros when I was able to eat more. Now I spot check calories to make sure I’m on track especially if I’m eating out or something decadent. The “intuitive” eating comes from training myself to eat less than I think I can because I never wanted to be too full and feel sick.

it depends on the person. The dietitians in my program are really into intuitive eating and they hate the fact I count calories, but honestly, it's worked for me all these years, so I'm not about to give it up. I think intuitive eating works well for some people, but not everyone.

I had to keep a bottle of fluid in my hand all the time, and I had to keep rotating them so they were iced cold. I still don't really like water unless it is iced cold. I drink a lot of iced coffee and hot tea, as well as water mixed with flavor packets. Don't worry in the first few weeks if you don't get 60+ g of protein. Focus on the fluid first. That can get you messed up first, dehydration. Several posters here have mentioned juices, but I wasn't allowed to have sugar, so I found sugar free juices (5 calories per 8 oz serving) that I really like.