Search the Community

From purée I was advised to eat 1/4 - 1/3 cup of food. (I was able to eat a cup at about 6 months.). So yes only a few bites. I could eat one golf ball size rissole (meat ball). It’d take me about three days to eat 2 scrambled eggs & the same for a single serve of instant rolled oats. I just portioned up the eggs or oats & reheat the portion each day. I did that with everything I ate. I still do this a lot 4 years out. It’s great I still only cook every three or so days & I cook almost every thing I eat. I freeze a lot too. My freezer is full of single serve meals for whenever I can’t be bothered to cook from scratch - just prep some veges or salad & reheat the protein & dinner is ready in 5 or so minutes. Handy to take to work for lunch too. You need to start including real food into your eating from the purée stage. It benefits your healing (getting your digestive system to work properly) & supports your learning to make better food choices in the long term & being more conscious of portion sizes. I never touched a protein shake after I got to purées. Have you a list of allowed foods you can eat at each stage? If not ask your team for one to get you started.

I reheat all the time. I cook one night then eat the leftovers for the next two or three nights. Just portion everything up into single appropriate portion sizes. My freezer is full of leftover meals I’ve made & frozen to defrost & reheat to eat at other times. (I call my freezer my local take away.😉) The only thing is they recommend you only chill/freeze then reheat the same food once but that’s for everyone not just bariatric patients (because of the bacteria in food & possible food poisoning). Maybe that’s what was meant?

Oats are a great whole grain & complex carb to add to your diet. I was allowed instant from purée - just had to be runny so I made it with extra milk which gives extra protein - yay! A single serve sachet was three meals for me at first. The instant is more processed so goes down more easily in the beginning After a while (can’t recall when now) I switched to regular rolled oats because they’re considered better being less processed. Check with your team though to be sure because plans can be different. PS: I still eat rolled oats for breakfast everyday with a tablespoon of mixed seeds & blueberries. Funny thing is I eventually was able to eat a regular serve (1/2 cup dry oats) from close to almost 2 years out I think but then last year I started not being able to eat the serve. Then this year I’m only eating a half serve (1/4 cup dry oats). Don’t know why. Funny how our tummies works sometimes.

I had mine 8/1/23 and last food I had was 7/31 so 3 weeks today of clears, I asked about protein shakes and they said I could get the Ensure clear protein drink but no shakes! I can’t drink it because it’s so sweet it gags me so I’ve lived on broth and a lot of water and snowcones w/ sf syrup and popsicles. Three days ago I had cooked/frozen several large batches of Lima, Red beans, cream peas and bean soup. I had some of the bean broth bc it had a bit of substance and it seemed to be all that kept me going. I ran out and went back to broth with seasoning but finally started using 1 small can cream of chicken soup to a quart of chicken broth plus 2 cups water and cooked down with a bunch of Cajun spice. I go back to surgeon tomorrow and am supposed to be put on soft puréed food, eggs, mashed potatoes and yogurts per their instructions and I am certain that if I don’t gnaw my arm off by then I will come home and eat the best eggs and potatoes of my life 🤣 I have been starving for the last 10 days and I’m pretty sure my stomach has healed bc it growls and gives hunger pains about 90-120 post broth meals.

hello everyone!! I thought since this is brand new to me, and I just joined today that I would introduce myself to everyone since I've seen other people do that. My name is Ross and I am 34 years old. I was born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, and last June moved to Tuscaloosa Alabama. I moved to Tuscaloosa with my little brother who is a student at UA and a member of the coed cheer team. I also cheered for many years of my life, so it must run in the family. haha! I am an unapologetic Disney nerd who truly loves anything and all things Disney. Also, in my part time when I need a little decompressing I like to crystalize water bottles and phone cases for myself and friends. I would say I've been a food addict or someone who relied on food for emotional support majority of my life, unfortunately, due to outside influences that encouraged the eating. A big reason why I am having the surgery is simply I want to live. I really can't say it more straight and narrow than that. Another reason is I had Covid in 2020 like I'm sure many of y'all did but unfortunately, my case was a little different and I ended up on ECMO for four days and a ventilator for a month. I coded twice while intubated at which point the hospital staff told my family i would have about a 15% chance to live and if i did i may have severe brain issues. Thankfully when I woke up I was myself for the most part, but I had severe paralysis on my left side which required me to spend an additional three months in the hospital learning how to stand and walk again. I still have a pretty significant neuropathy on my left side. My left arm has some weakness with things and my left leg is completely numb to the touch. So I have low hopes for any kind of change, but still keeping hopeful that maybe with the surgery and weight loss some of the mobility and feeling will come back. I have been "creeping" on the forum for a few weeks and I can't tell y'all how much your stories, encouragement, and transparency has helped with my own journey without even meaning to. I am paying out-of-pocket for my surgery due to not having health insurance with the job I currently have. I've done all the required testing and I am hoping that tomorrow 8/21/23 will be the day that I get my surgery scheduled. We are aiming for the last week of the month for my date, so fingers crossed! I am going to be flying back to Texas for my surgery and staying there for a couple weeks to recover with my family. Which leads to the question I had for those who had to travel for the surgery. When you flew back post surgery with the weight lifting restrictions, how did you go about getting your bags and things like that? Did you notice any real pain post surgery when you were taking off for landing? Any other tips or experiences are always welcome to be shared as well! Thank yall again for taking the time to read this little bit about myself and my journey. I look forward to being on here more and more and sharing my own journey with yall as yall have bravely done already!

could be water retention from your period or it could also be the infamous "three-week stall" that most of us experience (it's not always the third week - it could be week 2 or 4 or 5 - but most of us have our first stall pretty early after surgery. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks. Best thing to do is stick to your program and stay off the scale for awhile...it'll break and you'll be on your way again...)

HAHAHA, Same here, I just got three amazon packages...

Hi I had my surgery on Monday I’m on liquid diet for three weeks more good luck to all of you. Take it easy you girls can do it!!

I had a pretty rough go. I actually ended up back in the hospital after being discharged because they gave me the wrong pain medication. The pain medication they had been giving me (hydrocodone) doesn’t do anything at all for me. I kept telling them that but they kept using it and then promised that they would send me home with oxycodone and didn’t. So at three in the morning I had to go to the ER and be readmitted. It was excruciatingly painful when I was not on pain meds that were effective. Mostly the gas in my upper shoulders was the painful part. I had a hiatal hernia repair and a bypass. My doctor was not fantastic, I did not necessarily need to be readmitted to the hospital. I really just needed the correct prescription. But he wanted me in there so he could watch me, or for some other reason? He seemed very angry with me. I will say this. I wish I had known that it could be that painful. I would’ve been able to more completely prepare myself and be more accepting of the pain if I knew it was coming. That’s why I’m mentioning it to you all, not to scare anyone but just so you can get ready in case you are one of the people that it hurts. It clearly doesn’t hurt everyone. As for me, I’ve had two spinal cord surgeries that were less painful than this one. So everyone has a different experience, but mine was not fantastic. That said, I feel ok now and am home, doing well. Good luck, all.

I had a pretty rough go. I actually ended up back in the hospital after being discharged because they gave me the wrong pain medication. The pain medication they had been giving me (hydrocodone) doesn’t do anything at all for me. I kept telling them that but they kept using it and then promised that they would send me home with oxycodone and didn’t. So at three in the morning I had to go to the ER and be readmitted. It was excruciatingly painful when I was not on pain meds that were effective. Mostly the gas in my upper shoulders was the painful part. I had a hiatal hernia repair and a bypass. My doctor was not fantastic, I did not necessarily need to be readmitted to the hospital. I really just needed the correct prescription. But he wanted me in there so he could watch me, or for some other reason? He seemed very angry with me. I will say this. I wish I had known that it could be that painful. I would’ve been able to more completely prepare myself and be more accepting of the pain if I knew it was coming. That’s why I’m mentioning it to you all, not to scare anyone but just so you can get ready in case you are one of the people that it hurts. It clearly doesn’t hurt everyone. As for me, I’ve had two spinal cord surgeries that were less painful than this one. So everyone has a different experience, but mine was not fantastic. That said, I feel ok now and am home, doing well. Good luck, all.

I lost the same amount (16 lbs) the first month and ended up losing 235 lbs (I've gained back a few since then). Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month post-op, so you're in the right range. If you're getting your expectations from "My 600 lb Life", remember that those people start at over 600 lbs - that's way above where the average WLS patient starts from, and starting BMI is one of the factors that determines what your rate of weight loss is (other factors are age, gender, how much of your body weight is muscle, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, metabolism rate, other genetic factors, etc). The only two factors that play into the rate of weight loss that you have much control over are how closely you're sticking to your clinic's food plan, and how active you are. If you're doing well with those, you'll lose the weight, whether fast or slow. the other thing you may be dealing with is the "three-week stall" that most of us experience. It's not always the third week post-op - sometimes it's the second or fourth or fifth week post-op, but it's most commonly during the third week, hence the name. It's basically the first major stall after WLS. Most of us go through this. It generally lasts 1-3 weeks. I had mine during weeks 2 and 3 (so two weeks). I lost virtually nothing during this time, but once week 4 started, I dropped like 6-8 lbs within just a couple of days. so anyway, long way of saying, there's no reason to feel defeated. Sounds like everything is pretty normal...

Before surgery I had a hard time drinking plain water unless it was flavored/sweetened with Crystal Light. After, I couldn't drink sweet and preferred cool clear water till about 3 weeks after surgery. I set out three 20 oz bottles and start sipping throughout the day with a goal to finish them all before bedtime. If not, if I woke, I'd drink more and hopefully finish by morning. But I never forced myself to meet goal. I just did the best I could without allowing myself to become dehydrated. The remaining ounces I got from my protein drinks, milk, broth etc. Early on if you have to choose between drinking or eating....drink.

a couple of corrections and comments on bypass. Strictures only happen to about 5% of bypass patients and they're very easy to fix (I had two of them). If they happen, it'll be during the first three months after surgery. They almost never occur after that. there are no food restrictions with bypass after about the first six months. Zero. Fruit with seeds and/or skins, dry meat, etc - all fine. Those are only restricted during the first few weeks or months after surgery.

I didn’t like the texture either. But one interesting thing is that it has no issues being reheated like some other ramen when eaten without the broth (which is how I liked eating instant - boiled, drained and with a bit of flavor packet). I added additional sauce to mask the texture though. Feels grainy, like the texture of grits or sand or something. The store I went to only had two of the three flavors available. I only tried the garlic chicken and I tasted more garlic than chicken. The garlic overpowered everything until I added the sauce that was being used to mask the texture 🤣 Shrimp is tonight so we’ll see how that goes!

Surgery is two weeks from today. Had my pre-op admission appointment this morning and also started my two week OptiFast liquid diet today. As I type this, over the course of the day I've now had three shakes, two cups of vegetable broth and a couple of sugar free popcicles and haven't felt any genuine hunger to speak of.

Three weeks to go til Surgery. I'll tell you the one thing that is tripping me up BIG TIME!!! I am really struggling with this no drinking while eating... That one is going to be some work back when I'm eating normally for sure

Hello Bari Friends, my surgery is on August 18th and currently on a two week medi-meal (optifast) diet. Three shakes a day and 1 or 2 sugar free jello. Surprisingly doing well- no headaches thankfully. Watching mukbangs tend to help me. Best of luck to everyone :)

Hello Bari Friends, my surgery is on August 18th and currently on a two week medi-meal (optifast) diet. Three shakes a day and 1 or 2 sugar free jello. Surprisingly doing well- no headaches thankfully. Watching mukbangs tend to help me. Best of luck to everyone :)

Wow really paying the price weren’t you! My hospital stay was not as bad but not good! I was in Hialeah/Miami and I was lucky to have a room by myself, but it barely helped! The staff spoke only Spanish (which I do understand) and keep calling me the Americano. Some of the nurses wore dragon hell perfume that made me gag, and would come flying in the room at all times putting every light on! My blood pressure spiked and a CNA came to take BP, who did not speak any English freaked out when I grabbed her arm when she wouldn’t tell me the reading! An elderly lady across the room screamed all night like she was passing stones, and when her family visited they screamed on the phones and too each other! And then a family member was in my room having a loud conversation with a CNA about her mothers treatment, and was offended after I asked them nicely to lower their voices, leave the room and close the door! After that, I was like I’m outta here! Luckily my surgeon came by right after and discharged me! Day three home and it does get better!

I’m day three post op, had sleeve Wed and came home next day. The anesthesia kicked my butt (1st surgery)! The hospital was a bit whack, but once the pain and nausea under control it was mostly soreness. Didn’t help that some of the nurses wore hideous perfume that would make want to puke! Day one home I was still real tired, constipated and gas in abdomen that was uncomfortable. The issue is stomach learning how to work again and not sure what your feeling. So today up and around fine, only doing light stuff like taking out garbage, watering yard plants, etc. Trying to keep up with fluids, vitamins and protein!!

It's been a fight. However, I am just waiting for a call from the doctor's office. I pray that the years of pain, throwing up, and uslers related to GERD will at the very least lesson! I know it will be a two to three week wait after next Monday. I believe this is the best thing to improve my quality of life! I am scared, excited, and blessed! From sleeve to bypass here, I come. Sent from my SM-G996U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

So great that you're tracking your body fat. I have done three body fat DEXA scans. I was down to 18% when I hit my goal weight. I wish I had started earlier so I knew what my baseline was.

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.

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.