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the kind of reactive hypoglycemia that some people get after bariatric surgery isn't necessarily related to diabetes. It can happen to non-diabetics, too (I'm not diabetic). I've also seen it referred to as "late dumping", because it tends to happen a couple of hours after you eat (as opposed to soon after, as is the case with regular dumping). I mentioned in my response above that my physician couldn't find anything wrong with me when she did the workup, but she told me to let her know the next time I had that experience. The next time was a couple of weeks later. I'd been at a retirement party and had a whole piece of cake (instead of a couple of forkfuls, like I used to have back in those days). A couple of hours later, there it was again - dizziness, etc. She said it was likely reactive hypoglycemia (AKA post-prandial hypoglycemia), and it may not have shown up at the workup because my glucose might have been normal the day I went in for that. Anyway, yes - it's not uncommon after WLS, . It often appears when you're a year or so out (although sometimes sooner...or later). They say to eat protein - or a something paired with a protein - every three hours or so to prevent it (I know it's orange juice or something similar for regular hypoglycemia - but she specifically said protein with this type - may be something to specific to the WLS-caused version)

1kg a month is perfect right now. Instead of thinking in terms of a specific number you should be losing, think in terms of a percentage of your overall weight. This has an advantage in that the actual number to shoot for drops as your weight goes down. The ideal amount for most people would be one to two percent per month (and certainly no more than three percent). This is right where you're at. Believe it or not, slower is actually better here. The faster your weight loss, the more likely you are to be causing your body to decide you're starving to death. When this happens, your body starts doing things that slow down your metabolism to try to keep you from dying. Of course we know intellectually that we're not actually dying, but your body's metabolic regulation system doesn't know that. It's an amazing system, but it was designed before we had almost instant access to unlimited amounts of highly palatable foods. Thanks for clarifying on the new goal. 65kg sounds like a good goal for now and there's nothing wrong with adjusting up or down even more as you get closer to that. Regarding diet, calories and macros, I'd obviously tell you to defer to your dietitian, though I will say I'm very surprised by the recommendation to lower your protein. When dieting, there are literally hundreds of studies that show the advantages of eating more protein. You should know that overall, I personally am not a huge fan of tracking calories. I know that some people here seem to do so effectively, but for me it just does not work. As I mentioned, most of us aren't very good at actually tracking calorie intake accurately. Even more important to me, none of us have any way at all to know how many calories we are actually burning in a day so tracking intake is only showing you one side of the energy balance equation. Plus, energy expenditure can be highly variable day to day, so even if you did somehow know the exact amount you burned today, it's not going to be the same in one month or one year from now. With all that said, if tracking is working for you, don't change it. Do keep in mind that you may have to reduce calories as you continue to lose since the biggest contributor to metabolism day-to-day is body size. Regarding exercise, I'm going to recommend you stop thinking of exercise as part of your weight loss goal. It simply doesn't work. I don't say this lightly, nor to discourage you, simply to state fact. We have a huge amount of evidence now to show that our bodies tend to slow down in other ways in response to exercise. This is something called the constrained energy model. On a practical level, exercise is still critically important for your overall health. In addition, we do have a lot of data that shows people that have lost a lot of weight are better able to maintain the loss if they exercise on average 1 hour or more per day. In short, do it because you'll feel better, because you'll live longer, AND because once you reach goal, you'll have a much easier time keeping the weight off. I think I can speak for most of us here on this board that we have experienced the exact mental anguish you're feeling. It's normal to worry and let doubt creep in, so know that you are not alone, Mental health is not my area of expertise, so my advice will always be please seek help from a mental health professional if you think you need it.

Hello! Just wanted to say hello and thank you all for sharing all that you do and tell you it helped me so much during this process. I may not have written much but just seeing your before and after pics often helped keep me motivated and happy I was getting surgery. I feel ok. Just need more ways to get protein in that I can stomach. My tastes have changed SO MUCH! It's crazy. LOL. Like I woke up in someone else's body. Haha. Amber said to do coffee with collagen and protein shake so will start that soon. I kinda just don't want anything at all sometimes. But get some bites in daily. I've haven't thrown up at all. I hate to so I stop when I'm near full if I do eat something I like a lot. But nothing is that appealing. I do get hungry though. Some say they never do. Or rarely. So just maybe not feeling satisfied by what I'm eating but everything tastes very different now. LOL! But will keep going and it'll work itself out. I was cleared to begin weights now. (Had hiatal hernia repaired so was not allowed to for 6 weeks.) So I went today and am writing down the days I go and if I do my list of tasks... hand weights, machines, treadmill, etc, and all of what I listed for leg day and then tomorrow is upper body day, then I check it off. So far I still love grapefruit and cucumbers and my tea with Stevia and lemon. Lol! I am enjoying reading up on here. I hope to have time to keep coming in here to read. Will be working more hours starting tomorrow so will see. But feel free to message me any time. And I'll respond when I'm on here! Have a great day!! 🤗

Made our at home thanksgiving meal yesterday to free up fridge space (it sort of worked). Turkey with a curry based dry brine, baked Chinese restaurant style green beans, an gratin potatoes, gravy (from a packet as I couldn’t be bothered to cook more), instant mashed potatoes (see above reasoning), instant stuffing (see above reasoning), cranberry chutney, candied sweet potatoes, mustard greens, and glazed carrots. Before, after the first try and then ended up eating the rest a couple hours later. Had leftover green beans and an eggnog and protein powder shake for breakfast this morning.

The Clifton 9 is the one I just ordered. I don’t have a fleet feet but I have a friend in a little bigger city i will ask her if she has that store or a Foot Locker like @Arabesque suggested. For stuff like this I usually end up either going witb her or ordering a few options and returning whatever doesn’t work. I thought the HOKA were really cute though and like I said two people recommended them to me so I figured I’d give them a try.

This reminds me of the year I got my wisdom teeth out right before Thanksgiving and all I could eat was mashed potatoes that year. 😂 I think someone has already said this, but because with volume because that does sound like a lot. I would also probably skip the cobbler filling because its more than likely has a lot of sugar, which they don't recommend so soon after surgery, and I had to be careful of berries that soon after. At 7/8 days, I was only drinking water, protein drinks and soups/broths.

You have a point here about tracking what I eat. Since my doctor didn’t bring up the GLP-1 I never mentioned it, but I thought of it. I didn’t do any research about it and from seeing some of the stories from YouTube scared me. I do know a few people who are taking it and they are ok with it and have good result in weight lose. I also heard they can have the weight bounce back after they stop. Again I didn’t do any research and not knowledgeable about it. I don’t think it’s something I want to try as of yet, but it’s good to know I have options. The plastic surgery part I know it’s something I will get eventually because of the excess skin. If at 195lbs, it’s already bothering me, it will bother me even more at 175. My goal weight is 160lbs, if I can get to 175 on my own, plastic surgery will get me to 160. I’m going to try the hardest on my own and get to 175 for now. My first goal was to be under 200lbs, then I can rethink my goal, which is where I am now. From 200 to 199lbs it took me months because I would drop to 199 and bounce back to 201. And from there on , my weight is bouncing around. Luckily I am stable at 195. Finger crossed that it doesn’t go back up.

I love that they gave you daily goals. I feel like the drs only gave me a protein goal and it’s 114 grams… and I’m still in the purée stage to needless to say, I am failing that every day. But everything I eat has high protein and I probably am getting about 60 grams a day, so your post made me feel better! I feel like my weight loss is super slow but at least it’s in the right direction and happening! I can’t wait to start getting rid of clothes that don’t fit!

Gotta love kids. They are so brutally honest. But of course compared to a 14 year old they are flabby. I am suddenly very aware of my saggy arms too and I have only lost 59 pounds so far. I think part of it was just normal aging and I just wasn’t paying as much attention before to them as I suddenly am now. My belly skin is starting to get pretty jiggly too. I am dropping the weight rather fast though. BMI of 39.2 to 30.3 in 3.5 months. My secret goal is another 51 pounds so I’m sure it’s gonna get a lot worse if I can get there. Unless insurance helps, plastics are not an option. I’m really hoping it snaps back a bit with time but I will be doing a lot of crunches and pushups I’m sure. Does it make it easier or harder to stand back further? I am just doing them exactly how the instructor showed me in class which is my feet back a ways but not as far as you describe. I haven’t told her yet they are getting a bit easier for me now. I assumed the next step was knee pushups, but they hurt my knees so if I can alter the wall ones and skip the knees that would be ideal.

So, I never had lapband, but I was exactly your starting weight and height last year and chose gastric bypass after 7 years of nutrition work and trying Saxenda and Wegovy with varying degrees of effectiveness but too high a cost and too hard to get with shortages. I was 250 in 2016. I got down as low as 205 in 2018. I slowly regained until I was back to 250, despite my best efforts. I'm now 11 lbs away from being back to a normal BMI for the first time since I was 18 years old! What I can tell you from my experience is obesity is a disease that never goes away, even if you lose weight. Your body will always want to be bigger without constant intervention. Surgery is the strongest intervention you can give yourself. Personally, I chose gastric bypass because I didn't like the idea of completely removing my stomach. It's still there, hanging out, not doing much. All my intestines are still there, just in a slightly different configuration. Plus, I know that bypass offers a somewhat stronger and more durable metabolic response, making it less likely to need GLP-1 meds in the future to maintain weight. If you have the lapband removed and do nothing else, realistically, you will probably be back to 250 within a few years and never be much lighter than that again FOREVER. If you continue meds, you might stay where you are or lose a little more as long as you keep taking the meds FOREVER. If you get surgery, you can reasonably expect to get down to 160 or less and maintain that for a very long time with reasonably good nutrition and exercise, hopefully with no other interventions needed (although you may eventually need meds). But no matter how you look at it, the struggle with obesity is forever, so you have to choose the option you are most comfortable with in the longterm.

Hello - for anyone who has gone through the northern California Kaiser bariatric program, how are you handling the diet post op? It is very strict, not allowing any protein shakes, carbonated drinks, caffeine and alcohol. We’re also taught that we have to eat our meals deconstructed, eating all the protein first before anything else. I’ve asked the nutritionist if this was forever and she said yes it is. I keep, however, seeing videos and post from other people who have coffee daily and who make meals like for example, the ricotta cheese bites where everything is mixed in a small muffin pan. I understand different programs do things differently, it’s just strange to me because it’s the same surgery everywhere. Thoughts? Experiences?

Ooh, I'm here too, and it's been very interesting. I've started drinking a protein decaf coffee again to add a cup of fairlife skim milk to my day. I know that some of us need to be very careful about carbs, I need more carbs to support my exercise which is basic strength, walking, and the 2x weekly run. I add an extra apple, gluten free pretzels, and popcorn (which is totally ok for me in my known portions). I also add a few days of cashews, easy to eat and high nutrient density. I would say if you aren't going to track calories (and why would you if that isn't your favorite) then it would be helpful to add a specific snack/food etc and have that extra every day for a few weeks and see where that gets you. If you continue to drop weight, increase it, if not, you have likely found your maintenance diet. The thing that has been most eye opening for me is the fact that I can occasionally go over and not see any consequences for one day of overdoing it. In the past that would have been hell to take off again, now it just seems to regulate like a normal person. I had surgery 1/24 and have been at my same weight since 11/24. I'm not fighting to stay here, I'm struggling with some head hunger vs real hunger, that was to be expected, but otherwise it's been such a different reality from presurgery.

I have never really been an oatmeal fan. Did try overnight oats once witb peanut butter and some other stuff and I liked it but i learned that that added up to a lot of carbs so I didn’t stick with it. Anyways it’s an option on this puree diet and I do have the rolled oats left in the pantry so I thought I’d maybe give it a go again. During purée stage or not, how do you take your oats? Hot or cold? And with what add ins?

I got really sick of the Protein shakes too actually after my sleep surgery, one thing that helps if you like coffee is to use coffee to cut the sweetness, either hot or cold. I like it cold and I mix one caramel protein shake in a tall Tervis cup and fill the rest of the way with cold coffee and it’s pretty good. I actually learned about this after my sleeve, and even though all of my other habits went out the window that was something I was still doing before my revision because it actually tasted so good.

I guess I have a couple of things for you to think about: Many insurance companies don't cover weight loss surgery. Those that do, typically have very specific requirements that take months to accomplish. Do you know for sure this would be covered, or are you prepared to pay out of pocket? Most bariatric surgeons have their own set of requirements from patients aside from those that the insurance company requires. These too can take weeks to accomplish. If your surgeon does not have any requirements, this would go against best practices. Do you really want a surgeon willing to take shortcuts? Most bariatric surgeons want to have you do a pre-op diet of 2-4 weeks. There are multiple reasons, but the most important is to shrink your liver to make the surgery safer. Are you okay with extra risk just to get the surgery ASAP? Most bariatric surgery is done by a specialised bariatric surgeon, not a general surgeon. I'm not sure I'd even want a general surgeon to do the bariatric surgery even if they say they could do it. Remember, experience here is highly predictive of positive outcomes. Are you sure about the experience of the surgeon what would be performing the surgery? Long term success from weight loss surgery is a lot more than just having the surgery done. Are you mentally ready for a lifetime of changes to how you eat? Do you really know that VSG is the right surgery for you? Gastric bypass is typically recommended for larger people with more weight to lose, especially if they have comorbidities like diabetes. I think it's worth taking your time to research and discuss various surgical options before jumping straight into this. On a more practical level, even if you could overcome all of the above, most surgeons and surgical suites are scheduled based on the length of the planned surgery. I can't imagine either of them changing this on short notice. Overall, while I think bariatric surgery is a fantastic, life-changing choice, it's not for everyone. Take your time and go through the process to mentally and physically prepare yourself before jumping in.

Some programs want their patients to avoid them as soon as possible - within the first few months - on the premise that they don't want their patients drinking calories and would rather they work with solid food instead. Most programs don't care, but there is some merit to the liquid vs. solid argument, at least for a time. Many, OTOH, as we see above, still use them long term, often as a convenience. I still use them - my own blend, as with most things - as an exercise recovery drink after the gym. My wife uses some of the powder in the regular smoothie that she makes (20 years post op) in which she also includes some of the added supplements that she still needs (for her DS,) So, if you can get away without them and still get the requisite protein, and object to drinking them, then great - you can do away with them. If you like them and they still provide some benefit or convenience, there's little reason not to continue using them.

Unfortunately so many are struggling financially these days all over the world. Cost of living is skyrocketing everywhere & we have to do what we can to survive. I swear I go backwards every week. I am with @SpartanMaker in regards to meal prepping ahead. I love my freezer & my microwave. My freezer is filled with food I have cooked and frozen in single serve portions. I did this from early out from surgery. At most all I have to do is reheat the meal and zap some vegetables or make a quick salad. I can have a nutritiously cooked meal in 5 minutes or so. Easy peasy. As most workplaces have a microwave, grab a meal from the freezer & reheat it at work for lunch. For example pre cook some chicken tenders and freeze, then in the morning grab the chicken tender and pop it in a container with a few cherry tomatoes, some lettuce leaves, a few slices of cucumber, … done. I loved mince dishes because you can add lots of vegetables: meat balls, savoury mince, taco filling, etc. so you can eat as a complete meal or add to a taco shell or wrap if you want/can. And soup is great too for the same reason (protein & vegetables in one). And yes home cooked foods are often less expensive. For example I made pea & ham soup last weekend. I made around 18 portions (I wasn’t interning to make that much but 🤷🏻‍♀️) and it cost me $18.80 Aust (split peas, frozen peas, pearl barley, an onion and a ham hock) so about a $1 a serve.

SO I had the wonderful experience of having my IUD (hormonal coil), removed & replaced yesterday. Knowing how painful it was being fitted the first time, and having not experienced having it replaced before, I decided to take 2 30mg codeine/500mg paracetamol tablets, as pain relief for women during such procedures really is just forgotten about. I'd eaten some protein stick things too. Pre-surgery I'd taken these tablets fine, no side effects, but OMFG, as I was sitting in the waiting area before my procedure it hit me like a brick **** house. I was sweating, nauseous, my stomach was cramping and pain was radiating into my back, I felt spacy and woozy and I was clearly very pale in my face and lips as the nurse went to get me a sick bowl 🤣 Needless to say, instead of actually giving me pain relief, it actually made the entire experience so much worse 🤣 I will not be taking them again! Does anyone else have any experiences with medication effecting them differently? Note to add: this medication was given to me by my surgeon for post-surgery!

I had got my sleeve done on Oct 7th. 1 week post op I lost a total of 6.5 pounds (in addition to the 10 I lost on pre-op diet). But since then, I haven't dropped a single ounce! I walk everyday and I'm still on the liquid diet and just so frustrated. If I have to drink another protein shake, I'll gag. Is this part of the whole 3 week stall????

Hi!! We had the same revision date due to GERD as well! I hope yours went well if you decided to do it! i felt very similarly to you when they gave me the option of revision. I didn’t choose gastric bypass 12 years ago for a reason! However, if I had known how bad my GERD was going to get, I might have made A different decision. Back then I wasn’t even told that GERD was a possible side effect. Anyhow! I just wanted to say hi and check in since we are revising date buddies.

I think your doing great! My program was strict on carb intake which in the beginning I was able to easily adhere to, however veggies, fruit and a bunch of good whole foods have carbs so its okay to eat them. We need them for our energy. Your protein is amazing! I also cook for my family; hubby and 3 kids. I just adjust. I eat what they eat just cut out the carby. With spaghetti, I just eat the meat sauce and put it on top of spaghetti squash or zoodles, or if I am making hamburgers I just eat the patty. My family is eating better now too, now I get lean ground beef, only eat chicken breast, we do lightly breaded chicken, so that might help with your journey too.

I’m nearing the 3weeks myself. I had an issue with puréed food for a few days when I first started the puréed diet. I had to go a few bites every 2 hours and compensate it with 1 1/2 oz of protein shake. Now my system is saying it’s fine it’s even had non puréed (but highly chewed) chilli just fine. I suggest trying around. I still can’t handle chicken very well but I can beef and fish. Remember every body is different. Do not be afraid to ask your team the question either. My doctor didn’t tell me the actual amount they removed either just an estimate of 2/3rds before the surgery.

I've been burping and farting so I think the gas isn't trapped athough I decided to take the lactulose now to try and nip the constipation in the bud now. The most "pleasant" meds that I take have been the lactulose and the blood thinning subcutaneous injections. Everything else has made me feel awful or tasted bad and made me want to sip water which I can't do right after the meds. My favourite Vieve Protein Water still tastes good to me so I'm trying to switch between sips of that and regular water too. Since the multivitamin made me throw up, my team said I can try a two a day chewable instead and see if that helps, but like everyone else said, just prioritise fluids and protein if possible.

Hey! 👋 I hope your post op went super well! Once you’re out of liquids it’s a whole new world! The feeling of fullness might start kicking in. I’m probably under on protein but my focus is hydration and getting protein from eat of my meals. I’ve add 3oz of protein in the morning after my coconut water before my walk and it’s doing good. My baby stomach just can’t handle water, food and protein shakes all in one day, it’s too much. So my doctors and nutritionist said don’t worry about it stay hydrated then protein. The video was neat! The hospital actually provided it to the doctors and they sent it to me. They recorded all the medical procedures. I’ve found that 3oz works really well for me 2/3 hrs . I weigh everything and I got some new cups.

No I can’t do pasta or rice so I’ll have zucchini noodles if I want a pasta-like experience. Otherwise I just have the sauce (with whatever protein) alone. PS I planted my basil in a pot on my deck. Have chives & parsley too. You can keep the pot in a sunny spot in your kitchen too.