Search the Community

I CRAVE icy and frozen liquids. For whatever reason i have a really hard time finding sugar free popsicles around here. I ended up buying myself a popsicle mold and have been putting yogurt with a little pureed fruit in them, or chucking one of those tiny Honest Kids juiceboxes (which are watered down juice and only have like 30 calories) in the freezer for a couple hours to make "slushees" out of by squishing the box and pouring out the contents into a cup. I eat it with a spoon.

I lost another 11kgs in the 11 months after I reached my goal. It took me a while to reach the sweet spot of the calories I consumed equaling the calories I burnt. The weight loss got slower & slower. I found it hard to eat more in a meal so I adding calories via additional snacks. I was up to 4 or 5 snacks a day (yoghurt, cheese, fruit, protein bar, whole/multigrain crackers, hummus). I truely felt like I was eating all day & it took effort like @ms.sss also experienced. Been stabilised for about 12 months. My meals are larger (about a recommended portion size) & I only have 3 or the odd fourth snack a day to reach the calories I need to maintain. I didn’t really start to feel hungry again until well into my second year and I still have days I’m not hungry. On those days I try to at least eat protein rich foods. My attitude to food has changed a lot. I usually eat to provide my body with the calories & nutrients it needs to function - I eat because I need to not because I want to. My experience is similar to some but not most. So far, I’m more of an exception. An outlier who throws a spanner in the statistical data & does more (or less) than statistically predicted. I am on the low BMI range end but turns out I actually have a smallish frame. Don’t know what your goal weight is but if you’re getting close you should definitely be slowing. You could start to add a little more to your diet via healthy snacks. Speak to your dietician for advice & suggestions. Just ignore those comments. We all got them. I did when I was 60kgs but don’t get them anymore 11kgs less - get you look great ones now. It doesn’t help that as we near our goal weight we start to look drawn. Once we add some good multi or whole grains back in our diet & our remaining fat resettles we look less gaunt. Those comments are more about how others perceive you not whether you are healthy & happy. It takes time for their vision of you to catch up with the new reality of you. Congrats on your weight loss so far.

@ShoppGirl I use Olive Garden light Italian. It’s 35 calories for 2 tbsp but tastes like the original they use for their salads in restaurant. @GreenTealael I use nature’s best by isopure. It’s vanilla but blends nice and it’s the weirdly chalky. It is a mix of pea and brown rice protein with a little xanthum gum in it but the proteins are organic and it’s zero added sugar.

I had to put in an actual effort to purposely stop it after i reached goal (lost 108 lbs in 7 months). Ended up losing an additional 10+ lbs over the next couple months after that figuring out my maintenance calories. Ive been maintaining +/- 5 lbs of 115 lbs since about 9 mnths post op. I'm 3 years out today, and my weight is within the "healthy" BMI range or my height.

My surgery date is November 12 and i just went to my Pre- Ansesthesia Testing yesterday. I notice when i got weighed that i gained 5 pounds, my surgeon told me that she doesn't want me to gain anymore weight, now I'm stressed out I've been working out and cutting back calories as i was told to do. but instead of loosing I've gained, I don't know if me being on my period for the past month has anything to do with the weight gain either. I just hope this wont postponed my surgery I've worked so hard these past few weeks

@ms.sss Is that the low-cal Asian dressing you enter in MFP? I've been wondering what brand that is because I haven't seen one like that in stores. I'm so excited to see that it's something you can make! I think I have all the ingredients on hand except the chili paste. I love Skinny Girl salad dressings, and I think they're all 5-15 calories per 2 Tbsp serving. Their ranch is pretty good, but it has a thin consistency. The poppyseed is my favorite. Walden Farms has a line of "zero-calorie" dressings (they obviously have some calories, but they're allowed to round down to zero if it's less than 5 calories in a serving) that are surprisingly good. Their ranch is thicker than the Skinny Girl ranch and probably closer to a regular ranch dressing (they also have a chipotle ranch that's a little spicy if you're into that). I love their thousand island dressing. These are all available at Walmart (both online and at some stores) for a reasonable price. Walden Farms has some other flavors that I haven't tried because they're not available from Walmart and third-party sellers charge outrageously expensive prices for them.

My wife and I like the Ken's Steak House Lite dressings. Her favorite is the Northern Italian, while mine is the Sweet Vidalia Onion. Mine has twice the calories (including 10g added sugar), but hers has twice the sodium. Maybe I should try to conjure up an artificially sweetened version of the Vidalia one.

With a BMI of 36, I think you could probably do it on your own....atleast give it a shot. That BMI is probably too high for your insurance to cover the surgery anyway so unless you are a self pay, it may be tough getting approved. Why not try the 800-1000 calorie diet along with increased exercise and see it it works.

So many salad lovers. I love them too but not without dressing. This makes me wonder if others have found better dressings. What are some favorite lower calorie salad dressings (with brands). I am a ranch lover and I have found a low calorie dip alternative (ranch dressing seasoning mixed with plain Greek yogurt) but I haven’t yet found a good low calorie dressing, ranch or otherwise that I like so far. Suggestions please.

OMG, i love brussel sprouts too! I didn't always, as a kid i used to sneak them into the garbage, LOL. Your pic triggered a brussel sprout craving in me and naturally I had to cook up a batch! I like mine with bacon though ;). Today's salad (with bonus brussel sprout and bacon pic in the pan cooking...): 485 calories. Am so excited to eat it while I watch a recorded episode of The Voice 😁😋

Slow loss is really relative to a lot of factors like your starting BMI which for you is not that high. I would say just to make sure you are on the right track, evaluate your calorie intake, protein intake, increase water intake and make sure you are walking atleast 45 minutes a day, even if it is in several different walks. Keep the carbs down because that will slow the weight down. I have not had a piece of bread in two months and I really don't miss it too much even though I was a bread-a-holic.

I wonder if the cravings, especially sugar, occur in response to the emotional roller coaster of undergoing surgery, the restrictive diet & low calorie intake, etc.? You’re experiencing so many changes that you seek something that likely soothed & comforted you in the past. In times of stress we look to things that are familiar & offer comfort. This is just a thought. We all have different experiences. @Sleeve me alone! & @lizonaplane have offered some good suggestions that are worth a try. I have found if I feel hungry (head hunger) I make myself wait for 30 minutes & this breaks that craving. I do something to distract myself during that time - read, do a puzzle, fold the laundry, watch something on tv (streamed is best - no ads to further tempt us 😉), etc. Don’t be too concerned by your rate of weight loss. We all lose at our own rate - some fast, some slow. Many factors influence your rate (age, gender, starting weight, how long you’ve been overweight, genetics, etc.). Every pound you lose is a win. Good luck.

By 6 weeks @Cindy51, you should be moving on from soft foods & starting to add more dense foods. Think slow cooked meats, minced meats, thick meat soups, flaky fish, eggs, rolled oats, cheese, yoghurt, etc. Start adding more vegetables (well cooked mushy not coarse nor fibrous) now too. I didn’t have a single shake after the first two weeks & I started on purées. My surgeon was happy if I was close to reaching my protein goal those first few weeks. It can be a struggle if you’re not eating much like me at that time: barely 3 meals a day & only about 300 calories in weeks 3 & 4. I’d have a high protein yoghurt drink every second day mid afternoon - it counted as protein & fluids - double win! You may find the calories (carbs & sugar) in the canned fruit too high at this stage @Cindy51. Of course how much you eat will influence what percentage of your daily diet the canned fruit contributes. I wasn’t allowed any fruit for a couple of months then fresh only. Fruit is still the only non protein meal/snack I have. I was adding vegetables by then (non fibrous not coarse). A little steamed cabbage, a small cauliflower floret, a green bean or two. I would add carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, capsicum to any soups or stews/casseroles I made - nice & mushy. Two things you can rely on while you’re losing: stalls happen & we all lose at our own rate. Celebrate every one of those pounds you’ve lost so far.

Hey all! I’m three weeks post op today from bypass. I’ve been very lucky with easily getting down the required liquids and my small blended meals. I’m suddenly struggling with food obsession again. I was okay the first while bc I knew I couldn’t, but now I’m trying actual food and really want the “bad” food. I want pizza and creamy pastas and the chocolate. I’ve held off so far, but have been creeping over the calories. It doesn’t help that I’m not losing much weight. “Only” 5 lbs in the last two weeks. I think the amount of free time isn’t helping. I’m still off work and most of my friends/family are busy this time of year. Any suggestions?

You have to understand that they are giving your worst case scenarios because some people simply do not motivate themselves and stick to the program. You have the potential to lose a lot more depending on YOU. If you follow the program to the T, exercise more than you ever have, count your calories and eat the right foods, you can lose a LOT more. If they say you can lose 200 pounds and you do not follow the guidelines, then you are angry at them. There is a touch of reality here that you have to understand. The extent of the weight loss depends more on YOU and YOUR actions to use the tool they created for you and use it properly. Remember, your surgery is a tool and you have to do other things to make the tool work more efficiently for you. If you do not properly use the tool you will not get the most out of it. They are just trying to keep your expectations realistic.

I agree with what everyone else has said. I'm just over a year out and about 10lbs from my initial goal. I think the "problem" with the sleeve is that most of us are able to eat anything/everything that we CHOOSE to eat after we recover from the surgery itself. You CAN outeat the sleeve. Trust me, I just did it on a cruise. However, I'm committed to MY plan and after a 3lb gain (I didn't bother to track or count calories on the cruise and fully expected a gain) I came home and went back to my new normal of eating. In 3 days, I've already lost that weight. Alternately, I could have come home and continued the things I was doing on the ship (eating like garbage and drinking my liver into a stupor). My guess (somewhat based on personal experience) is that many *certainly not all* people simply go back to back habits because they get complacent (been there, done that). It's really your choice in how you respond to the surgery - It's a tool and how YOU choose to use it is up to YOU.

Most of the stuff not in stage 3 diet tend to be things they want you to not eat for the first 6-12 months. I was told no bread, pasta, or rice at all until 1 year post op. But then I learned I had a wheat allergy that developed after surgery (3% chance. they don't warn you about it because it's unlikely to happen, but my luck sucks). So when I eat bread or pasta it has to be gluten free (though I eat chickpea pasta noodles because of the protein. I only have gluten free pasta for any slow cooker pasta recipes because chickpea noodles are for quick dishes, not for dishes that have to simmer because they end up with an odd after taste). I also eat cauliflower rice instead of regular rice because it's low carb and I just prefer it. I actually have yet to try regular rice post op (I'm 21 months post op with the Loop Duodenal Switch/SADI-S/SIPS surgery). I'm technically not really in maintenance yet, but I'm borderline. I've only lost 1 pound this month, 1 last month, 1 the month before that etc. so I feel like I'm really close to maintenance, but still losing. Just super slooooow lol. But I'm eating more at what I consider a sustainable diet to just maintain my weight loss instead of actively trying to lose more. If I do lose more then great, if I don't then that's fine too because I've reached a weight that I'm happy at. I consume around 1300-1400 calories a day and have a minimum of 80g of protein (which my surgeon told me was my minimum daily protein intake). My daily diet is very different then yours will be I'd imagine, as I have food allergies (wheat allergy, high fructose corn syrup allergy, and I'm lactose intolerant. I had the other two issues before the surgery, but the wheat was a new one. I also developed an outright allergy to NSAIDS after surgery too, which sucks because I have arthritis). Really the diet for the DS and say... Gastric Bypass is pretty much the same long term except in protein requirements and the amount of vitamins that you'll need. If your dietician/nutritionist deals with gastric bypass patients and isn't positive about long term requirements I was told by my surgeon that it's pretty much the same just DS patients females need a minimum of 80-100g of protein a day and men require 100+g minimum of protein a day while it's quite a bit less for GB patients.

My surgeon's plan was very low-carb but also low-fat. It wasn't working for me, and my weight loss slowed and then stalled. My new NUT and I put together a plan that was a little higher in carbs, and it worked—apparently my body needs carbs to prepare for working in the beet fields of the gulag or whatever. Added in about 100 calories of carbs a day (that's 25g, math people) and the weight loss resumed its 3-4 lbs. a week swoosh. Every body is different.

Many post op plans are pretty similar regardless of surgery. With my sleeve I had to follow 2 weeks liquids, 2 weeks purées (think sloppy no real chewing), 2 weeks soft (still pretty moist only a few chews needed) then slowly introduce more dense food as able. Certain foods were not allowed for a period of time & others not while I was losing. You may find you have to keep food pretty moist (think sauces, gravies, etc.) for a while. Your tummy can be pretty sensitive to begin too & foods you previously ate you can’t yet. Plus it’s not unusual for your sense of taste & smell to change temporarily. Some have trouble with things like eggs & chicken. It’s trial & error but don’t give up a food, just try it again later and if you need to stay at a stage longer that’s fine - we heal & recover differently. The best place to start is with the the list of allowed foods provided by your surgical team. They’ve been chosen so they don’t stress your healing & sensitive tummy & altered digestive system. You may still have issues with some or you may not. Raw fruit & vegetables, fruit skin, etc. are too coarse for your digestive system at first. The reason for no rice, bread, pasta is two fold. One to cut out processed empty calorie, low nutrition, starchy carbs from your diet while losing (many add these back in moderation in maintenance). And secondly because they swell & fill your much smaller tummy before you can get your protein in. Protein is key. Always protein first. Most eating plans while you’re losing are low fat, low carb, high protein. This is the time you also start exploring how you want to eat in the future. You try new ingredients, cooking styles, try alternative protein & nutritional sources. You’ll find you become very focussed on the nutritional value of what you eat. If you’re not sure about what you can eat & when have a conversation with your dietician. I saw my dietician every fortnight until about 4 months into maintenance then COVID hit but I could call her at any time I needed. We would discuss foods I had added to my diet, how I managed them & what I wanted to try next. She would sometimes suggest alternatives or suggest I wait or go slowly with some things. Good luck.

I had a 2-week liquid only diet, consisting of 4 Premier shakes, unlimited broth, sugar-free popsicles, caffeine-free sugar and tea. So, as you can see, surgeons differ radically in what they permit you to eat. 300 calories/day seems excessively low to me, though - you may want to confirm/clarify this with your surgical team.

Quiche days are back. The one in the front is a ham, onion & cheese, and the one in the background is mushroom & cheese. Had 1 serving of the mushroom one (i.e, 1/8th of one pie):199 calories....plus a 4 fl oz glass of red wine (+113 calories, not shown)

I definitely wouldn’t recommend it for at least 6 months after surgery or more. The higher fat content generally won’t be tolerated as well and you’re putting yourself at a much higher risk for gallstones. Just doing lower carb is definitely effective after surgery since your cals are so low to begin with. It’s also hard to fit in certain nutrients because of the calorie restriction combined with the diet restrictions on keto.

...and the salad train keeps on going... 294 calories. (romaine, cheddar, apples, pomelo (like a grapefruit), jalapeño, anchovies, turkey & vinaigrette & spices) Am currently about 1/4 through it...

DISCLAIMER: The following is what *I* did based on my own research and trial end error on how things affected *MY* body. I am NOT advocating to NOT listen to your team without educating yourself. With that said: Edited to add: I didn't realize this post would be so long, sorry! My program was to consume pre-defined "portions": each meal was supposed to consist of 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% non-starchy vegetables, and to work my way up to 1200 calories per day total with a min 60-70g protein. They also said to avoid added sugar. The didn't specifically mention to go low fat, but I mean if I followed the guidelines listed above, it would naturally be low-ish fat. Needless to say, I didn't do that. First, I couldn't get that amount of food in, Second, I tried it out, saw a swoosh in weight, and figured that going low-carb was very effective in weight loss for ME. I kept losing weight, so I just kept doing it. Why fix what ain't broke, right? More on this later... So for the majority of my weight loss phase I went ultra-low carb...was averaging less than 20 NET g of carbohydrates per day (i don't count fibre nor sugar alcohols), aimed to reach 60g protein per day, and let the fat fall where it may. My cals were about 300-400 in the first couple months, and by the time I reached goal, I was at about 800 (yes, I know this is on the low end compared to most, but it worked for ME). P.S. I feel the need to add that my nutritionist was made aware of what I was doing. And while she tut-tutted me about it, she didn't overly object. Also, all my labs came back satisfactorily during this period (and still does), and my surgeon was pleased. ***WARNING, MATH TIME...*** Given the total calories I was achieving, I wasn't truly doing KETO proper, as my fat consumption did not reach the levels required for my protein intake. True KETO is 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein & 5-10% carbs. Since I was doing 60g of protein, I would have needed to do ~75g of fat, which would have put me in the 1100 cal range...and I wasn't even coming close to that level. **** So really, I was probably doing more a version of Atkins Phase 1 (ultra-low carb). Now that I'm 3 years out, I am no longer so strict about my macros. I still *kinda* limit carbs, but not really. I eat bread on occasion, and sugar pretty regularly (in small amounts)...but i very rarely eat pasta or rice. I think its just habit now? Looking back, here is my take/opinion on going this route: TRUE Keto is very difficult to achieve in weight loss phase while keeping cals low. There is a relatively big drop in weight in the beginning of each period of going low carb. There is a bunch of science to explain this, you can google it. Going low carb makes a difference in how my face and body looks. While it looks good on my body, cuz you can see more muscle definition, its not so great on my face cuz I look gaunt. I've come to the conclusion that FOR ME, in terms of weight loss/maintenance ONLY, the ingestion of carbs has much, much less impact (if any) than calories consumed. It doesn't seem to matter if 1000 calories is made up 5% carbs or 50% carbs, I'll lose weight on it either way. Good Luck! ❤️

Stalls are fun. NOT! The shocking with extra calories seems to work for me. If I hit a couple of weeks with no real loss, if I splurge on something, I drop like 5 the next week. I think it has something to do with Leptin levels, but I'm not a medical pro or a nutritionist so take that for what it's worth.