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I had roux en y bypass on the 22nd. My pre-op diet was: Cream of Wheat and a protein shake for breakfast, snack a sugar free jello or pudding, lunch was broth and a low-fat Greek yogurt and dinner was low-fat cream of Chx or tomato soup with cottage cheese. I had one to two more shakes as snacks or more jello or sugar free popsicles. Also at least 64oz of water!

Great ideas above but if that doesn’t work for you or for others reading this later, What if you were to just divide your alloyed macros or calories into meals/snacks. Like if you were allowed 1200 a day you do meals around 300 calories and 3 100 calorie snacks. For macros just don’t routinely eat any food over X grams of fat or added sugar. You can break it up differently. I did a protein shake for breakfast so I could have what felt like a little more substantial lunch and dinner. It should’ve be as hard forever. Once you figure out a handful meals that are within this plan you most likely will just sorta remember what meals work. I know I did and I live my life by alarms and reminders. Sometimes I joke that if my alarm didn’t tell me to wake up one day I just may not…ever. That’s how reliant I am on them. Anyways, I have a handful of my common meals that I know will work if I don’t have time to think about things. And if I’m having a less ideal lunch then I already know it’s chicken breast of fish for dinner with a veggie. Every meal for me has protein unless it’s a real odd day out and then I do my best to make up for it with a Greek yogurt or shake for snack. Another option would be to do the guess work the night before and pre plan what you eat the next day. You can play around with options and log it all into Baritastic or another calorie tracker app and know if it fits you plan and then just eat what’s on your list the next day. That may actually take a little stress out of it as well just having the decisions already made the day before. The meal prep mentioned before seems like a great way to achieve this as well. I know that I have single serve meals like that in the freezer. My regular and chicken chili are really great because they can even be defrosted in the microwave so they are good for days with zero planning or time.

I am here to add my vote for meal planning. I also have ADHD tendencies and I LOATHE food tracking. In the early days after surgery when I absolutely had to make sure I got in my protein and water, I managed to track by keeping a physical tracking notebook next to me at all times. I had to see the book to remember to do it. I stopped tracking around 5 months when I was consistently hitting my goals. Now that I am almost a year out, my weight loss has slowed (as expected) and I am finding it too easy to make poor choices if I don't plan ahead. I forced myself to actually track for a couple days and was shocked by how many calories I could eat and what I was choosing even when I "thought" I had been pretty reasonable. So, instead of tracking, which I am still terrible at, I've started meal planning and prepping ahead. For breakfast and lunch, I came up with a selection of maybe three or four choices I liked that have around 20g protein and entered them into my meal tracking app. For example, a spinach frittata for breakfast that I can slice into several servings, fruit cups that I make ahead for the week, single-serve packets of protein oatmeal or a protein bar for those days when I have to grab and go. For lunch, I make homemade chicken veg soup and also salad jars. I also like to make a batch of turkey chili to have on hand, which I store in single-serve containers. I also came up with a few snacks I like such as Greek yogurt with blueberries, or an apple with cheese. I also entered in my typical favorite 6 or 7 homemade dinners as recipes or meals in the app so I could easily add them to my day with one click. Before my shopping day, I try to plan my meals for the coming week. If I see my calories going too high or my protein not being enough, or whatever, on any given day, I can adjust accordingly. On a day that I eat oatmeal, I make sure my other choices are less carb heavy. If I have eggs for breakfast, I might plan to have a carb at dinner. I have the tab easy to get to on my computer, but printing it out each day would also work, as would entering each meal as a reminder in your phone's task list or calendar app. It is so much easier for me to look at my menu and follow it than it is for me to decide what to eat every day in the moment. It also means that if I can eat what I plan most of the time, I can have a restaurant meal or a dessert a few times a month without worrying about it or trying to track it. And since I tend to package up most of my make-ahead meals in single-serve containers, it's pretty easy to grab something to take along if I'm going to be out and don't want to have to hunt for food on the go and risk being off plan. The worst days for me are when everything in the house is an ingredient instead of a meal. That's exhausting and inevitably leads to snacking or poor choices. I find I need to set a regular day of the week for shopping when I can also have time to prep some items right away, before the food even goes in the fridge. I have the most success for the week when all my produce enters the fridge already washed, sliced, and portioned into fruit cups and salad jars, and when I can kick off a batch of chili in the slow cooker, a frittata in the oven, and a batch of taco meat to store for later in the week all at once. Freezing complete single-serve meals is another great strategy for those busy days when you might otherwise get off track. Like any habit, it takes a while to establish and may not be 100% perfect all the time, but I definitely find this helping me.

^^yes!!!! Meal Prepping is really the key to success!!! It doesn't have to be a huge meal prep. I only meal prep my bfast and lunches. Then my snacks are super duper simple. Cheese and jerky, or a yogurt and berries, Even a protein shake with a cold brew. The simpler the better for me otherwise when I over complicate things I get annoyed and don't do it.

Hi, sorry I have been absent. I was sleeved a week ago today. I stayed in hospital two nights and didn't have any real problems. Liquids went down pretty easily and I got 1litre in on the first day and the drip was taken off that afternoon. They left the cannula in and it started bleeding - it was in my elbow bend and I think I did something when I bent my arm too quickly - so they took that out too, which was great! I tidied up my room, put on clean clothes and took it easy. I even got let out for a couple of hours to visit my father-in-law in the public hospital next door. He is nearly 90 and the end is coming - they thought it was close on Tuesday although he has picked up a bit since then. Slept intermittently the first night and rang the bell for pain killers a few times. The second night I slept fine - but they woke me up for obs at 11:30pm and 5:30am! Ugh! Then I went back to sleep after the 5:30am ones and my surgeon woke me at 6:30am! I gave up after that My husband turned up 9ish so I got up and showered, dressed and packed and was sent on my way with Palexia (opioid painkiller) and a reflux medication. We went to visit FIL for an hour or so then got an Uber to our short stay apartment. I had to go to Sydney for surgery - I live in Canberra - and the doctor said I should stay in Sydney for four more days. So that was Thursday, day 2 post op. I didn't do anything else that day. Friday was ok, I'm not having any trouble consuming liquids although plain water is the hardest - it gives me a temporary lump in my chest and sometimes hiccups. One thing that really bothered me on Wednesday and Thursday was that when I lay down to sleep at night I felt like I had a tennis ball in my chest. I had to sit up for a while. The surgeon said it is common with the surgery and I also had a small hiatus hernia repaired and it can be part of that too. I found that not taking tablets and drinking water immediately before lying down was best but I haven't had it since. Saturday I hit a wall mentally. I think it was a lot to do with being away from home - I always feel a bit "wrong" away from home but usually I'm travelling which means (a) fun (b) eating and drinking what I like and of course post surgery none of that was happening. I went for a short walk with my husband in Hyde Park Saturday evening and it helped a tiny bit. I felt really depressed and like I'd done the wrong thing and that I'd never lose weight etc etc. Because I'm autistic I had a couple of autistic meltdowns at my poor husband who copes with them quite well. So unfair, he was doing his best to look after me. Sunday I said I didn't want to do anything but after a while I said to him we should go for a walk. Unfortunately it was hot and humid in Sydney (Canberra has an inland elevated dry climate so I don't do humidity well), but we went out for two hours. I had to sit down a lot - no energy plus the humidity ugh - so it was slow and I only did about 5,000 steps but it was a good thing to do. We walked through Hyde Park, down to the Art Gallery, through the domain, up to Macquarie Street, round to Circular Quay. It was Australia Day so there were heaps of people out, which made me nervous about someone walking into me and hurting my incisions. We had lunch at the Quay - fish and chips for him and a banana smoothie for me - I ate the tip of a chip with aioli but I chewed it to death first, and chewed some fish and spat it out (I know, gross). We caught the light rail back up to Town Hall and went "home". He went back to visit his Dad and I watched YouTube videos and even edited one of my own (I have YouTube channel on, don't laugh after what I said about being away from home, travel). Monday we packed up and came home. The relief of being home! I still felt a bit funny bit it wasn't too bad and last night I gave the kitchen and butler's pantry a really good clean so I was obviously feeling a lot better. Our cats (6) sit all over the bench and leave hair and dirt so after a week of being away it was pretty grubby. Plus my husband cooked me some soup and he is messy to say the least. Today I'm back at my desk getting on top of things and having that shower in my own bathroom was unbelievably good. I'm shaky and weak this morning so sipping on an Optifast shake. I've been tracking food in My Fitness Pal. I was craving hummus for lunch yesterday - I saw it in the Qantas Lounge on the way to the plane haha - so when we went shopping for food I bought a tub and ate half of it for lunch. Then I tracked it and the calories are unbelievable! I thought it was mainly chick peas but the half a small tub was about 850 calories so I won't be doing that again. Michael is going to make me some and put only a tiny bit of oil in it so it should be a lot lower in calories hopefully. I hope all this is of some use to others about to undergo this procedure! Or else I've just been rambling to no purpose I think I can start puree today but tbh I've been eating thicker stuff like hummus and yogurt already.

Generally, the closer you can get to a natural, whole food diet, the better. The goal is to get your protein from real food and to learn recipes and choices that will work for you forever. Having said this, it all depends what you like and what you can tolerate. Personally, I hated protein drinks but I did find a powdered one I liked and ended up having one per day at breakfast until I hit about 8 months post-op, but that was because I pre-bought a ton of the stuff on a big sale and wanted to use it up instead of wasting it. Once you can manage a Greek yogurt, a couple eggs, and 3-6 oz of meat over the course of a day, you probably don't need protein supplements.

Sleeved yesterday. Awful pain at first but pain killers and a hot pack helped a lot. Plus sleep! I’ve just been woken up with a tray of Brekky. Bacon, eggs, toast. Nah just kidding it’s yogurt, protein water, Optifast, milk and some sort of juice (I think) . And been told I can get the cannula out of my arm, which drove me mad all night, when I’ve drunk 1litre. Here we go!

I know it is hard but try not to let her (and anyone else with a negative attitude) get to you. You have taken a big step and congratulations on starting the journey to a new you. Did the medical team say they wouldn't operate if you didn't reach the 34lb loss? I am sure they don't stop everything if you are just a few pounds short so don't stress if you can help it. You say it is a supervised plan so I presume they are used to helping patients follow it and adapt it to an individuals needs so that should be a help for you. You are so motivated (studying, saving etc) that you will do your best and any loss pre-surgery is a win. I had sleeve surgery and in the months before I tried my best to eat smaller portions so I switched to an appetiser sized bowl and plate for most of my meals. I knew I would be using them after the surgery so figured may as well ease myself into it. I also tried to start eating slower - I am still not great at that but better than before. Food wise don't go so extreme that you then self sabotage at some point out of desperation for a food you love. We all have different reasons for getting to the size we do that needs surgical intervention, for me it was partly not knowing when to stop eating, too much carbs and alcohol and not exercising at all. I didn't have to go on a diet pre-op or do the liver reduction thing a lot of patients have to do but in the weeks before my surgery I went on holiday and ate everything I wanted so actually went up in weight so then when I returned I just cut down on things but still allowed myself an occasional treat, so instead of pastries for breakfast I had Greek or skyr yogurts, shop bought sandwiches etc for lunch were swapped for homemade veg soup, for dinners instead of pizza's, burgers and pasta dishes I tried to have more chicken & veg based meals, cutting back on a lot of carbs. I swapped out rice and pasta for cauliflower rice or lentil pasta. These small changes helped me get back on track before my surgery but as I didn't have to follow a pre-surgery diet plan it was more for me, so as to get into good habits. I am sure there will be plenty of advice and support here for you 💪

Thank you! Yeah, spreading it out does seem to help a bit, or literally 'eating' the meds with something that barely needs chewed, like yogurt or cottage cheese. The three I am supposed to take in the morning are Prilosec, Strattera, and Chantix. Something about those three together is a recipe for ick and I'm not sure why. I wish I could ditch the Chantix but to keep from relapsing into smoking I don't dare yet. I've already slipped up a few times on the smoking; have to really focus on redirecting myself after eating to keep from lighting up while my food settles. I thankfully don't have issues with my chewable vitamins and do space my Calcium out at least three hours from my multi with iron; I mainly need to focus on mindfulness regarding all of my intake. I am glad my relationship with food is getting better though! I don't completely restrict myself from any food but just keep in mind how the food will make me feel. WIN: I'm definitely getting better about noting the difference between brain hunger and physical hunger and reach for a protein before a salty carb to sate cravings!

Yea the lettuce and pickles were free foods on my preop diet and was allowed a zero sugar yogurt as a snack so instead of eating it all at once I used it as a “salad dressing” and ate it with my free food just to be able to chew on something when my brain was telling me I was hungry. Sounds pretty gross now but it worked. 🤷‍♀️

This looks really good. I had a lot of pickle salads on my preop diet. I think it was just lettuce, pickles and plain yogurt. 😆

I don’t have an idea yet how long. Need to lose 13 pounds and then see the nutritionist, psych etc. The pre-surgery diet I was given is a 1200 calorie. 60-80 grams PRO 130 grams Carbohydrates 30-45 grams Fat Breakfast 3 PRO Servings OR 2 PRO plus 1 Yogurt 1 Starch, 1 Fruit, and 1 Fat Lunch Same as above PLUS 2 non-starchy vegetables Dinner 3 PRO 2 Non-Starchy Vegetables 1 Starch, 1 Fruit, and 1 Fat MAX of 2 Yogurts per day

We totally get the "cold" vibes for a couple of months too! 😅 And by cold, I mean we're freezing at 19-20°C—total winter mode for us! I absolutely get in the mood to eat more when it's chilly, but I try to ignore it (or at least manage it) by always having good snacks on hand. Things like beef jerky, Greek yogurt, or even some fruits help keep me from overindulging. Your plan to walk and then snuggle back into bed sounds perfect though! Nothing like getting that movement in and rewarding yourself with a cozy snuggle session. 🥰 You've got this!

Some people can just have a taste but I learned after my sleeve that I am not one of them. I can’t have one slice of pizza or one brownie. Even if I manage to have just one that day I will crave more unhealthy stuff the following days. At bedtime I have been doing the sugar free popsicles. That seems to be working. If you have actual hunger then something with protein would be a better option. Like a Greek yogurt maybe. Can you budget the calories so you can do that. I think the triple zero is only like 80 calories. That should keep you full through the night though.

I didn’t read all the replies but 800 calories doesn’t sound like a lot until you break it down and supply your diet with nutrient dense foods over energy dense ones. Here’s what I would do for an 800 calorie day- Breakfast- 6tbsp egg whites, a medium diced tomato, 2 cups of fresh spinach and 1oz reduced fat cheddar with 1/2 cups blueberries Lunch- a tuna packet mixed with 1tbsp light mayo, on one slice 35calorie keto bread with 2 cups salad greens and half a cup sliced cucumber afternoon snack- protein shake dinner- chili made with 1/2 cup canned kidney beans, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/4 cup diced onion, and 1/4 cup diced bell pepper dessert- 1/2 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt mixed with sugar free, fat free pudding mix. Total count- 803 calories, 77g carbs (24.5g fiber), 16g fat, 95g protein

I was also allowed scrambled eggs and I made pureed egg salad (that wasn’t bad). My saving grace were refried beans with a little 2% cheese and the ricotta bake. Just be sure your tomato sauce doesn’t have chunks or that you puree it if so. I got a little kitchen aid food processor. Not cheap but cute enough to leave on the counter and I use it now to make pico and guacamole so it wasn’t a waste (they do make much cheaper ones though if you have room to store it I just have a tiny kitchen). I imagine you could use a blender or nutra bullet in retrospect in a pinch but it doesn’t give you as much control over the consistency. The nutra bullet comes in handy to make drinkable yogurts and smoothies later too. The drinkable yogurt you should be able to do during the puree phase as well (i just used yogurt, fruit and almond milk).

I am sorry to say this but you will either loose hair or you won't. There is nothing you can do about it. Its a fact. Muscle is a different matter, protein does help there. I had a super fierce restriction due to swelling. I had to eat tiny meals about 8 times a day. I split my 3 meals into little pots and as a grazer this may be a way forward for you. I struggled to make my 60 gram protein quota. I survived, and eventually so did my hair. Look for protein yogurts in the supermarket. A 200 gram yogurt will have 24 grams of protein in it. They were a game changer for me.

While I absolutely do not agree that it’s likely you will GAiN weight on 800 calories, 800 Calories can be a pretty good amount of food depending on what you eat. for example this is 757 calories and it’s 100 g of protein. breakfast: Caramel “Proffee” made from a premiere protein caramel shake with iced coffee mixed in. (It’s really good and filling with the protein btw). lunch: three eggs omelette with 2% cheese (1 ounce) and tomatoes and onion (1/2 cup). dinner: grilled chicken breast (3 ounce) and zucchini and onion (1/2 cup). snack: oikos triple zero yogurt I use the Baritastic app and I always have the same breakfast but then before I have lunch I plug in my plan and an idea for dinner to make certain it’s okay macro wise. I do pay some attention to calories but protein, added sugars and fat are more important. I also pay attention to my carbs because on some days my exercise is higher and I actually need to increase them a bit. If your dietician is not asking about your activity and your food choices and inky giving you a cookie cutter plan without real guidance I would be asking more questions. These plans need to be tailored to you specifically. if you are having a difficult time finding foods you like that meet the criteria you are definitely not alone. I had to do a ton of research and trial and error with recipes to find a couple weeks worth of meals that I enjoy and I was doing 900ish calories. I scoured the web and found low calorie recipes and also ways to cut calories from things I knew I enjoyed. Basically type “healthy” in front of anything you like and you should find ways to make a more bariatric friendly version. Some days you may need to reduce calories further by having two shakes or egg whites instead to budget for a higher calorie dinner. I don’t love to cook so I make double batches of things and freeze them in individual portions. this has been my lifesaver. For the 800 calories you may have to do a lot of lower calorie lean meat and veggie type dinners unless you cut calories during lunch. For instance instead of 3 eggs you could do five 5 whites and you could even omit the cheese if you need to cut calories further. i would imagine you could still lose on a little higher calorie budget and you have more flexibility in your menu but it may not be as fast as you would like. Either way, check out Baritastic (or another calorie tracking app). It’s very helpful to see exactly what’s in different food and to play around with these meal ideas on an app because you can add and delete and adjust the measurements to figure out how to make things work to fit your plan.

This is where it can get tough. I hated the waste of products and money as everything was Blahh. TBH there are still a few things that I can't stomach. How much longer are you on liquids only? Contact your team, If they are in office at this time of year. Tell them your struggles and see if they have alternative, if not improvise if you can't stomach the shakes a day longer. You need the nutrients. Can you drink Full Skimmed milk ? This has a surprisingly a lot of protein. To add more protein add a spoon of yogurt, dried milk powder or I flavored it with PB2 powder and banana. There is also consomme, boullion and bone broths. They don't have as many calories as protein shakes or milk but you need to get food in you. Once you get a little further along it gets easier, I promise. Others who used shakes will give you other pointers but the Fairlife brand does seem to me one they advocate, so fingers crossed for you there.

Thank you so much for writing me back. I am glad to know I am doing ok. I will try the greek yogurt liquid if I can get to the store. And that's a helpful meeasurement ( protei+ carb). for future. I will try not to stress.

You’re doing fine! I am 142 days post op. I was able to walk short distances on day 4-5(about 2 mile). Around day 15, I could walk 7-10k steps daily pretty easily. There was a bit of pain like a stomach cramp but it wasn’t too much just an uncomfortable lump in the stomach while I walked hard or fast. As for the soup thing, I know this isn’t good advice but this is what I did to stay a bit sane. I used to put a small piece of something in my mouth would chew and then spit it out. To get my tastebuds out of their torture. You could try fat free Greek yogurt to alternate between your soup flavors. 1 cup of yogurt, mix with water and salt to taste and enjoy your sour yogurt. As for the carb and fat thing you’re still in the recovery phase so don’t really worry about that. Once you reach day 30 and can eat normally, the goal would be to eat a similar ratio of carbs and protein daily. Example: 100g of protein and 100g of carbs. Don’t be afraid of carbs and fats though! They fuel the body and help the organs work! You need them to have energy to do stuff!

I tried lots of pureed foods but as I had already had issues with food smells, the look of pureed food was not for me. I managed home made thick blended soups with lentils and cheese for the protein. It was an unpleasant time for me. On here I heard about protein yogurt and puddings. Life savers. Just do the best you can because it isn't the best time of year when there is so much food around.

Mostly protein shakes, yogurt and soups.

I've kind of had a breakthrough this morning. I took the meds on an empty stomach because I'm supposed to take them at least a half hour before food. About 10 minutes later, I felt like I was starving, but because I was on my bike and cycling to work, I knew I would have to wait to until I got to work in 20 minutes to eat anything. But the "starving feeling" just stopped after about 5 minutes. I think I've spent so much of life thinking "any sensation in my stomach means I need to eat". And then I had a yogurt about half an hour later and I feel completely full. So I think if I get any sensations in my stomach, I need to wait and actually see what it means and wait about 20 minutes.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply 💝 The Sugar probably from my no added sugar fruit yogurt. I stopped added sugar for 8 month now, about the same time I stopped drinking pop which was one of my biggest problems. I had GERD and i thought pop helping me when in fact it was making it worse "a fact i was told when i was admitted to hospital because of GERD". I will ask my team about the fat intake .