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I did keto a lot before surgery, it was vogue as we’ve all done a million diets in our lives... It works, but cravings. The preop and post diet are similar. Just way more liquids. For the fatigue and headaches, broth was the key. You would dehydrate rapidly and would suffer without the salt. The sugar detox is real, often once it passes you are a ton less Hungery. For those like me, and sugar can start the cravings. 100% agree with others who posted. It takes me about a full week for those to stop. Distractions help, exercise helps, just going to bed helps. I am always less hungry after mild exercise, mostly sweaty and thirsty. It helped stopped the food focus more than plain distractions. Heavy exercise increased the hunger the next day. This might sound crazy, but I had to constantly know when my next meal was. Lunch done, wait 2 hours then sugar free jello, then 1 hour and sugar free popsicle, then start to prep dinner, etc. knowing I was eating something in 1-2 hours helped. I tend to panic eat. Food was scarce as a kid and I tend to stuff myself if it’s not readily at hand and I’m hungry… my next meal is 3 bananas as fast a I can shove them in and I remain food panic triggered and have to talk myself down. I’m working through my hunger panic. I’m 100% not super thin now, I’m huge and need help… it’s why we are all here. :). To give and get support. And trying to not be a clean your plate club, eat any meal you are offered, all meals need a dessert, eat till you have pain and call that “full” kinda gal. I’d also make sure I got all of my sleep. I’m a 10 hour person. Plan a small exercise before you know your mega Hunger hits (I’m lunch). A 15 min walk helps divert my blood to my limbs and gets me craving fluids. Call your food what it is. A popsicle is a dessert. A pudding is a dessert. Sometimes reframing these help, ok in 2 hours I’m having protein pudding as a dessert, followed in 2 hours by a dessert popsicle. We are all different, so need different things. If after dinner I have a popsicle every night before bed, I call it dessert and I always know it’s coming and I will be getting more food… and I’m ok not being as full at dinner. This.. might have been too personal, but… helps me.

I did keto a lot before surgery, it was vogue as we’ve all done a million diets in our lives... It works, but cravings. The preop and post diet are similar. Just way more liquids. For the fatigue and headaches, broth was the key. You would dehydrate rapidly and would suffer without the salt. The sugar detox is real, often once it passes you are a ton less Hungery. For those like me, and sugar can start the cravings. 100% agree with others who posted. It takes me about a full week for those to stop. Distractions help, exercise helps, just going to bed helps. I am always less hungry after mild exercise, mostly sweaty and thirsty. It helped stopped the food focus more than plain distractions. Heavy exercise increased the hunger the next day. This might sound crazy, but I had to constantly know when my next meal was. Lunch done, wait 2 hours then sugar free jello, then 1 hour and sugar free popsicle, then start to prep dinner, etc. knowing I was eating something in 1-2 hours helped. I tend to panic eat. Food was scarce as a kid and I tend to stuff myself if it’s not readily at hand and I’m hungry… my next meal is 3 bananas as fast a I can shove them in and I remain food panic triggered and have to talk myself down. I’m working through my hunger panic. I’m 100% not super thin now, I’m huge and need help… it’s why we are all here. :). To give and get support. And trying to not be a clean your plate club, eat any meal you are offered, all meals need a dessert, eat till you have pain and call that “full” kinda gal. I’d also make sure I got all of my sleep. I’m a 10 hour person. Plan a small exercise before you know your mega Hunger hits (I’m lunch). A 15 min walk helps divert my blood to my limbs and gets me craving fluids. Call your food what it is. A popsicle is a dessert. A pudding is a dessert. Sometimes reframing these help, ok in 2 hours I’m having protein pudding as a dessert, followed in 2 hours by a dessert popsicle. We are all different, so need different things. If after dinner I have a popsicle every night before bed, I call it dessert and I always know it’s coming and I will be getting more food… and I’m ok not being as full at dinner. This.. might have been too personal, but… helps me.

My whole life I used to think that. Through my adulthood (age 19-29) I was in great shape, worked out regularly, ate well and maintained a great physique. I always had the propensity to gain weight if I wasn't careful with how I ate and my activity level. I lost over 45 lbs and kept them off through staying active and eating well and my belief was, if I could maintain being in shape doing that, anyone can. It worked for me through 2 pregnancies and a whole decade. Fast forward when my hormones got out of control, I gained 10 kilos in 1.5 months, my weight kept going up, had a bad sports injury and in 5 years I was 30 kilos overweight. I still ate well and worked out 5 times a week but NOTHING WORKED and by nothing, I mean NOTHING not even injectables, not one pound lost, NADA, Zilch. I counted calories, walked 10k steps ...etc. the whole shebang. I was sad, depressed, so uncomfortable and I finally got how sometimes, you try your hardest but it just doesn't happen for you. It was so ironic because I was seen as the health guru who lectured people on how they should work harder and not create excuses (hard pill to swallow, I admit). I finally decided to give in the fact that my weight isn't going to budge dieting and working out like it did in the past. I bit the bullet and got the surgery. I lost a lot of weight fast, but went back to working out regularly and staying consistent and disciplined, I wouldn't have been this successful (not with just the weight lost, but my actual physique, being lean and fit and all) had I just gotten the surgery and depended on it to achieve what I had in mind, I had (and continue) to put in the work, choose to prioritize eating well, etc. Yes the surgery is a tool to HELP you lose weight and BUILD good habits. It doesn't do the work for you in the long run ,that is on you and how you utilize this tool that will determine your success. I would however (very general advise), suggest that before resorting to surgery, that one does try to see how far they can get naturally, and if they can't maintain/fall off the wagon/don't get to their goal weight or physique that they do utilize WLS, but it has to come with a mindset shift. I had that mindset, I just needed the kickstart. Evaluate where your body and MIND is because that is as important.

Welp, I turned one year post op VSG this month. I am very proud of my success. Every day was hard, every day continues to be hard, but my gift to myself is a boob job. I will be getting my boobs done , lift and also skin correction to correct that hanging bra fat under the armpit area. I hate that noise. It just flaps around 😂 but it's a testament to all my hard work. I will be going to Medellin Colombia. My surgery is on June 10. I will arrive on June 7 and I'm looking forward to seeing the sites being on the lighter side I'll be able to walk up those Flights of steps at Guatape 😐. Look at all those damn steps on the pic 😂 *Colombian doctors are very, very skilled very talented. Looking forward to sharing my experience so other people can afford and have the courage to go abroad. * I would have liked to support our plastic surgeons here in the U.S but it's ridiculously priced. I went to one to get a quote and the surgery itself was only 5000 but 15+ thousand was for hospital fees , etc. that is ridiculous. The United States really needs to work on their cost. Colombia offers high levels of care due to the vast amounts of medical tourism and have high quality standards.

Thank you for the feedback. I had over a dozen instances of toilrts full of blood in the hospital starting about 36 hours post op and last 24 hours, but no more since coming home. I will just keep an eye on it and make sure to bring it up to my dr on 4/24 at my 10 day followup if still prevelant.

Hi all, First off, sorry for the TMI, but im wondering if anyone else has had thesr issues. Im new to the site and the surgery. Post op day 6 and I have lost 10 lbs and feel mostly well. I am on full liquids and that may have something to do with it, but i was told to watch out for constipation and instead, am having the opposite. I eat and an hour or two later, i poop. Its not much, as im not taking much in, and it is very liquidy, but i have never in my life pooped this often and everyone i know personally, went the other way. Has anyone experienced this?

Hi all, First off, sorry for the TMI, but im wondering if anyone else has had thesr issues. Im new to the site and the surgery. Post op day 6 and I have lost 10 lbs and feel mostly well. I am on full liquids and that may have something to do with it, but i was told to watch out for constipation and instead, am having the opposite. I eat and an hour or two later, i poop. Its not much, as im not taking much in, and it is very liquidy, but i have never in my life pooped this often and everyone i know personally, went the other way. Has anyone experienced this?

Thank you, I'll take all the luck I can get! I have just the "normal" shedding most complain about after major surgeries, except it has continued past when it should have stopped or gotten better 12 month - 16 months. Sometimes its a brush full sometimes lots of hair fall. I don't have any bald spots as of yet <fingers crossed>🙏 I just happened to go in for my yearly skin check and mentioned it to my dermatologist (surfer, scuba diver, life guard, sailing ) so lots of sun in my past). My doctor said she saw a few small scars and thought to just be on the safe side decided to do two punch biopsies. She has me on antibiotics and then in 10 days I go in for follow-up diagnosis (I diagnosed myself based on pathology slides - I'm a pathology lab director) and treatment options. I just wanted to put it out there for people so if they were losing hair to not wait to long jic. There is a cut off that can be blamed on typical bariatric surgery for hair shedding, but if it continues the sooner you get treatment the better outcomes.

Surgery date for me is May 19! I’m eager to begin this journey :)

Research does support the idea that BMR will be lower in a formerly obese person vs. someone of the same body composition that was never obese, but the magnitude of the effect was only 3-5%. I'm not discounting the 300-400 calorie number entirely, I'm just saying that if it's accurate, only maybe 50-70 calories of that is coming from BMR. The rest is coming from something else like activity level. Keep in mind that the most common way to quantify total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), is with a 4 component model: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is sometimes listed as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), although that is slightly different. Either way, this is a way of quantifying how much energy your body burns just to keep you alive. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT). This is calories burned in intentional exercise, such as running, cycling, etc. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). This is all the other activity you do aside from intentional exercise. You can think of this as things like cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. Some people refer to this type of thing as "activities of daily living", although other things also fall into the NEAT bucket like fidgeting, how much you stand vs. sit, etc. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). Note there is no such thing as a negative calorie food. That said, it does take some calories to digest the food we eat. On average, it's about 10% (so if you eat 1500 calories, it takes 150 calories to digest that). Note that protein tends to be a higher percentage, yet another reason to eat more protein. While it's potentially possible that formerly obese people are somehow more efficient at digestion (meaning some of the effect could come from here), this could only account for a very small difference since TEF is just a small percent of your overall calorie burn to start with. The reason I wanted to list all that is if BMR of formerly obese people is only downregulated 3-5%, then any potential 300-400 kcal/day difference would have to come from somewhere else like NEAT. Since NEAT is known to be lower in obese people as well, it's likely the bulk of the difference here is simply coming from less daily movement (perhaps habit?). This also means it's likely highly variable. The good news to me is this should also mean it's changeable as well. Food for thought.

i've tried these picture calculators and am not entirely convinced they get the cal count right...especially with intricately-plated resto meals with those 10-ingredient sauce swooshes and crab-infused potato puffs lololololzzzzz. my own inquiry mind, ha! i like to know what calorie burn im at, and these days im on super-exercise mode, so i know im probably at a higher level than "normal". plus, i've sort of been trying to put on some weight since February, and my "unsuccessful-ness" of it all is starting to annoy me. (though secretly i kinda enjoy seeing a low number on the scale. sort of. kinda. i thinks. hello eating disorder!) ironically, i feel great. no health issues nor complaints. energy for days, and i can keep up (if not surpass) all the 20-somethings in class (p.s. im 53 this year). so i dunno.

I'm not really surprised considering the amount of money involved here. That said I'm seeing reports that many providers of Tirzepatide have already stopped providing it. I would expect the same for semaglutide soon. I guess time will tell if the FDA will allow other companies that are essentially skirting the rules to continue to do what your provider is doing. Keep in mind that dosing schedules within 10% or compounding 2 drugs not on the shortage list are not allowed as ways around this restriction. It may suck for consumers, but cost alone is not a factor in whether or not the FDA allows medications to be manufactured and sold by someone other than the patent holder. Any compounding pharmacy that tries to get around the rules is at least subjecting themselves to more regulatory scrutiny. Some may find themselves out of business. I honestly don't have a dog in this hunt, but I do think folks here need to be aware that the playing field may be changing if they already have, or are planning to try compounded GLP-1 drugs.

Good morning. I'm not discounting anything SpartanMaker posted above. However, I was in the exact same boat as you. I was eating 1200-1400 calories, religiously measured/counted everything, plenty of water, I played with my macros till I was blue in the face and for 10 months I did not lose and I did not gain. I'm a nurse so I probably have more background in nutrition than most, so I'm confident in how I was eating was appropriate and what most providers would "recommend". In February I went to my two year follow up. My labs were perfect, my vitals on point and I had not lost one ounce since the last visit nearly a year prior. After having a long conversation with my bariatric provider, the only change since the losing stopped was I was pretty much into full menopause. We discussed options and ideas on how to "overcome" the hormone influencing my insulin processes that was affecting my metabalism hurdle I may possibly be facing. She said based on her research zepbound might be a great option as it also can help in reducing "hot flashes" which I was having twice a day, everyday. Long story short, even with my insurance, zepbound would have been around $700 a month, so I choose to do the my budget friendly compound tirzepatide route (the compound equivalent to zepbound) with my provider's blessing. I have been on the weekly injections for 6 weeks and have already been able to shed 19#. I have not ate any differently, no change in my physical activity AND the hot flashes are gone. I'm not suggesting this would be the answer you need, but it's been a game changer for my journey. Good luck ❤️

So if I'm understanding your post correctly, you've been eating 1200-1400 kcal per day yet your weight has been stable at ~215 pounds. This either means: Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is also around 1200-1400 calories per day, OR You're eating a lot more calories than you think. Let's explore each of these in more detail. Based on your height and weight, your TDEE should probably be 1800 to 2200 calories per day. Just your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate (the number of calories your body burns per day just to keep you alive), should be ~1500-1800 calories per day. There are lots of reasons this could be lower, but for your TDEE to be 1300, you'd have to have a BMR in the neighborhood of ~900 calories per day or as much as HALF of what we'd expect. This would be exceptionally low considering your size. BMRs that low tend to only be seen in elderly frail women. To be clear, without having a metabolic test, we can't know for sure, but this does seem unlikely. A more logical reason for this discrepancy is that you're actually eating a lot more than you think. Calorie overestimation is extremely common (unlike extremely low BMRs), thus I lean toward this as an explanation. I have seen some suggestions stating that the magnitude of this may be as high as 40-50% underestimated. In other words, someone could think they're eating 1500 calories, but they are actually eating 2200+. So where do people go wrong? Misreading/misunderstanding nutrition labels. It's not uncommon for people to confuse a serving with a container of food. Sometimes, manufacturers will list a serving of something, but what you're actually eating may be 2 or more servings. Accepting as fact the calorie counts on nutrition labels. In the US, calorie counts on nutrition labels can be off by as much as 10% before manufacturers would be expected to adjust the calorie count. Keep in mind, though that manufacturers are self policing here and really don't have a lot on incentive to make sure these are correct. Many people simply guess at serving sizes, especially if it's a meal they made themselves. This can lead to wildly inaccurate calorie counts Also very common when they are making meals themselves is to just look up a calorie count for a similar food, but this also can be really inaccurate. Lots of people guess at amounts, thus you may think you're getting say 1 cup of a food, when it's actually 1.5 cups. Speaking of measuring by cups, this also is wildly inaccurate. To properly measure calories, you really need to weigh EVERYTHING you eat IN GRAMS. Any other method just isn't very accurate. I also wanted to touch briefly on your comment on exercise. While I think it's great that you're exercising, this really has nothing to do with weight loss. Lot;s of studies show that increasing energy expenditure through lower levels of exercise like you're getting typically leads to lowering your energy expenditure elsewhere throughout the day. This means you really have no increased calories burned and shouldn't think this means it's okay to eat more as a result.

I just checked and at 2 months, I was down 20.6 lbs from the day of surgery. There's really not a hard and fast rule for how much you'll lose. Everyone is different and it depends on your starting point and how much you lost pre-op, too. I had some months when I lost a lot and other months where I hardly lost anything, but overall it moved steadily downward. My weight loss has stalled for the past month or so, now that I am more than a year out. The only guidelines I was given was 60g minimum of protein per day and 64oz water. I am now almost 14 months post-op and I've gone from 225 lbs on surgery day (251 was my highest, which was 6 months pre-op) to anywhere from 162-165lbs. My exercise consists of walking and that's it. I'd like to lose another 10 lbs but I'm also pretty fine with where I am as long as I don't gain (which is why I do hope to lose a bit more). I've gone from a size 22 to a size 12. I think I could still lose a bit more if I focused on cutting out some bad habits that have crept in with sweets/simple carbs, and if I increased my daily exercise to something a little more challenging than a walk. I don't count calories and I don't really track macros at this point, either. I just try to eat reasonable meals that focus on protein and veggies, and not snack too much or eat junk food too often. A typical day is either spinach frittata, Kodiak protein oatmeal, or a Greek yogurt for breakfast, plus a serving of mixed fruit (strawberries, cantaloupe, blueberries, grapes. Lunch is a good size spinach salad with 3oz chicken and some black beans. Dinner might be a bowl of homemade chicken, bean, and veggie soup, chili, or maybe some grilled meat and veggies. Sometimes I eat chickpea pasta with marinara and meatballs but other types of pasta and breads don't settle well. For snacks, I like string cheese and an apple, or some mixed nuts or roasted edamame. I have to be careful of overindulging in things like popcorn, candy, and cookies because they are too easy to eat without getting full (and sadly I don't get dumping from them). Red meat fills me up very quickly. The hardest thing for me now is dealing with the head hunger that makes me want to reach for food if I am bored or stressed. Getting the stuff out of the house completely is the only strategy that really works for me with that. My only real advice is don't drive yourself crazy. Just do your best each day and pay attention to your body. That's more important than counting calories. You're not on a diet! You need to figure out what you can sustain for the rest of your life, while paying attention now to the basics (protein and water, plus vitamins) to keep up your health.

Pre-op diets vary so much - unbelievably so, given they're pretty much all geared to the same goals of shrinking our livers by whatever means in order to permit access to our stomachs and intestines. Mine was 800 calories in meal replacement shakes only - for 10 days. If you get bored then there are loads of sodas you can add in if permitted. I drank lots of herbal teas. And lots of warm bouillon for a savoury hit - because I was permitted that. As long as you stick to your surgeon's/team's parameters then you should be good. Best of luck with your surgery and your recovery. We're all here to help you through your journey. It's such a knowledgeable and helpful forum here.

Hi all! I had VSG back in Dec of 2016. I was very involved in this community for a long time. I lost 124 pounds over about 18 months and maintained a 105-110 pound weight loss for almost 3 years. Then the pandemic hit. Then I had some non related medical issues. I went on a medication that caused weight gain. I got frustrated. I fell off the wagon and tumbled down the road and I’m now facing a 60 pound weight gain in about 4 years. I made a lot of excuses! I also started picking up bad habits like drinking alcohol, not counting calories and indulging in carb heavy snacks. But hitting 260+ again shook me. I was only 15 pounds down from my surgery weight. It’s time to get off the pity wagon and get back on track. so I’m back. I’m counting calories. Eating low carb. Cutting almost all alcohol, bread as pasta out! 10 days down, forever to go! My Stats: SW: 305 SD: 275 LW: 181 MW: 195-200 RW: 263 CW: 258 GW: 200

how long have they been underweight? Many of us who make it down into a normal BMI range look pretty scrawny for a while, but then (also for many of) regain starts. I was really worried about how thin I was getting - now 10 years out I wish I wouldn't have worried about it. I've regained more than I wanted to (it's not awful - but I'm now "overweight" and would love to lose 10-15 lbs - but it seems next to impossible!)

Many of you know my story. Was two months shy of turning 54 in 2019 when I got my sleeve. Lost all my weight & more and was successfully maintaining that low weight. I began gaining weight from puberty: about a stone a year. Then I started my 60-75kg weight diet/regain swing from my early 20s until peri menopause & menopause hit and then seemingly overnight I was 91kg. Nothing I did moved that weight. Hence my decision to get a sleeve. I experienced some weight regain (good 2 almost 3 kgs) almost 4 yrs ago after I had my gall removed. We worked out I had an absorption issue and wasn’t absorbing protein well or it turned out my HRT tablet (hot flushes, etc. had returned). Switched to a patch and lost the weight without doing anything & no menopause symptoms. Had a hysterectomy in September 2024 & then couldn’t access the HRT patch I was using (damn supply chain issues) & this is when my body turned against me again. ALL my menopausal symptoms returned: hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, headaches, creaky joints, acne, etc. & weight gain. Only three kgs so far but that’s in the last three months. And so here we go again. My body working against me. Since this regain began in January (used my last HRT patch in December & was my usual weight at the end of Dec) I’ve made some modifications to my eating. Dropped a snack, reduced some portions (which were still only recommended portion size or a little less). I eat pretty carefully anyway & stick closely to my plan of eating. Was eating about 1600 calories a day and now am probably at about 1300/1400. So at the very least I should have slowed the regain but nope. It’s scary & upsetting. I recognise it as being how my body & my hormones work (or don’t work!) but that doesn’t help. My doctor is trying to help me sort out alternative HRT but nothing is working yet as it all involves at least taking one tablet. I wish I was completely past all this hormone crap & I wish supply chain issues for pharmaceuticals were a thing of the past for everyone affected. I so wanted to be my maintained slim self when I turned 60 in 4 months. I always have been overweight at significant birthdays. This one was going to be different. The way I’m going I’ll be a stone heavier. Not overweight but more than I want to be & have been happy at. Very sad face.

Well, it took 5 years LOL but I finally got there with Gastric Sleeve!! We had COVID, and 2 x interstate moves in that 5 years, so there was a lot going on! Surgery on 16th Jan 2025 - lost almost 16 kg since the journey began and 10kg since surgery 10 weeks ago. This has been so life changing, I am losing slowly, but steadily. Not at all what I expected, I have had friends and colleagues who have been through this and dropped so quickly, my expectations were totally unrealistic as it turns out. I have to keep in mind that losing 16kg in 6 months has not happened before, and probably wouldn't have happened without surgery. Comparison is the cause of so much misery, so I am working hard to not compare and to enjoy this journey for what it is.... my journey! This is me in 2023 probably around 113kg, not my heaviest, I think at one stage around 2010 or so I was over 120kg as my scale at the time only went that high, and it was showing highest for a long time. I will put up After photos when I get there 😂

Hello and welcome! I am also post menopause and was sleeved on Jan 16. I am losing super slowly, I think it's slower if you're older, it certainly is for me, but it's coming off, I am feeling great 10 weeks out! 🥳 I need to start some exercise regime, I have never been into exercise really, but I think it's time! 😂 Congrats on your decision and fingers crossed you have a wonderful recovery! Give yourself time, follow your plan! 😊

@AmberFL love this for you! Major WIN. Thanks for getting on the fasting train with me. I've been fasting the past 10 months now and it has changed me in a lot of ways. I tell people my favorite part of my day is my fasted part of my day and they look at me crazy. Yes I agree with you. It cuts down that food noise by a ton but I guess I'm still in a honeymoon phase because I have minimal food noise hallelujah😂 almost a year out thank goodness I'm gonna hate when that returns. Keep winning chic!

You are doing amazing but I do understand how you feel. In the very beginning I just wanted to lose the weight as quickly as possible but then I had an epiphany! I need to fix my relationship with food! I'm 10 weeks out so I'm still early days but I know that just losing weight is a sticking plaster for the real reason I used food as a coping mechanism. So I think I need to consider therapy! The food noise gets so bad for me sometimes its like torture! I will be so much more happier when I nail these obsessive food thoughts but it will take time, I've had them my whole life. Like many I have lost up to 6 stone and put it back on quite a few times before I took the plunge and had surgery so I guess I need to be kind to myself and learn to understand the parts of myself that I have ignored for so long. Are you counting calories? at the 5 week mark I was managing around 500 cals a day. I didn't have the protein drinks because I was fuller for longer eating minced chicken, tuna, eggs, lentils, cottage cheese and pureed foods for less calories, a quarter of a cup at a time. I still managed to get in my protein and at least 2 litres of fluids too. If I was a little under in my protein I would drink a clear whey isolate protein squash drink, they are around 100 cals and contain up to 22g of protein! I am on 800 cals a day now as my stomach has done a lot of healing since then. Everyone is different though and I know that some people still can't tolerate actual food at your stage, so listen to your body hun. Here's some ideas for purees for you, a quarter of a cup at a time is about right for the stage you are at but if you can't manage it all that's fine, its just a guide for you. Tuna and mayonnaise - 14 grams of protein Blended baked chicken. I would bake chicken in some tinned tomatoes and season with garlic and herbs then blend it. 50g of chicken has 16g protein Egg mayo - an egg has 6-7g protein Bolognese - use 5%fat minced beef and blend with a tomato based sauce or make your own - 11g protein Protein puddings available in all the supermarkets - 15-20g protein readybrek oats with some protein powder Fat free cottage cheese blended with peanut butter powder and some sweetener if you need it. Cottage cheese has 11g protein per 100g PB powder has 8g protein per serving Ricotta cheese bake - you can find the recipe on Pinterest and even on here! I wish you well on your journey my lovely. You are on a path of healing, mentally, physically and emotionally and you are doing amazing! Be kind to yourself the weight will come off and at 5 weeks you are still healing and probably holding extra fluid anyway. xx

Hey guys, How is everyone coping with life after being sleeved? I am doing a lot better than I was a few weeks ago but I still have a long way to go! My surgical wound that would not heal had to be packed by the nurses for a month. I'm 10 weeks post op and it has finally closed but it seemed to take forever! The head hunger is very up and down for me and torturous at times.... but I am starting to learn new things about myself when it happens. I am still very much navigating my way through dealing with it, I have good days and bad days depending on what's going on in my life. Depression is definitely a thing for me, I am very up and down. I have suffered with it on and off my whole life and at times I feel so lost. I am snappy with my poor hubbie and I am forever apologising to him. I have times where I feel as though I am crawling around on my hands and knees in the dark searching for the light switch that never seems to appear. I am distant at times even from my family but I don't want to be alone, probably because I don't wanna sit with my thoughts because I can't deal with them. I notice that when I am feeling low the obsessive food thoughts creep in to torture me. I am starting to look into getting some therapy for this, it may help. Anyway enough about me tell me about how you are doing! How much weight have you lost, how are you coping with your new lifestyle and please show us some progress pics! xx

So I have what I think is Dumping Syndrome or Reactive Hypoglycemia and it is seems like it is caused by 2 things. Taking a shower and exercise. For some reason after I take a shower at night my sugar crashes so bad I have to take glucose tablets to bring it back up. I don't take hot showers (I hate being hot), just warm and it doesn't happen all the time but often enough that I found a pattern and it doesn't happen when I take a shower in the morning only at night. It also happens after I exercise. I eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. I wait at least an hour, hour and 1/2 and I am not a gym rate that I am doing it for hours - 30 minute treadmill, 10 minute rowing machine (I had a total knee replacement so I do this for my knee at a slow pace to get the bend in) and 3 sets of arm exercises with free weights. Literally there are times I have to stop while I am exercising because I can feel my sugar going down. There have been times it has crashed as low as the 50s. I have talked to the doctor about this and the physician's assistant said have protein before you exercise. Well I am having dinner before I do, which is always a protein vegetable and a small amount of carbs. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to exercise but I am afraid every time I do that this will happen and it happens more often than not. I have taken to as soon as I am done exercising to just automatically taking 2 glucose tablets which is adding extra sugar in but in order to have it not crash on me. Thanks in advance for any responses!