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I agree if you’re meeting your protein goals you don’t need to continue with them. You can keep some on hand for emergencies if you want. Personally, I stopped them as soon as week 3 & purées began. They were disgusting! I added a high protein yoghurt to my diet which was more palatable to me. I wasn’t hitting my protein goal yet but I was close and my surgeon & dietician were okay with it. I had never intended to rely on protein shakes or powders. My plan was to get all I needed nutritionally from real food. PS: You can also make a smoothie with the yoghurt by blending a tub with milk and you can add a powdered flavour or even protein powder for additional protein if you want.

Just because you are allowed to eat anything does not mean you, personally, are able to do so. There are a few likely culprits to your issues with discomfort and vomiting. You may be eating too much, too fast, not chewing enough even though you think you are, or the food you are eating is too difficult for your system to handle right now. Check your portion sizes, how fast you are eating, and focus on soft foods. You may need longer between eating and drinking. Some people can handle 10-15 minutes. Some need 30 minutes. If I feel a stuck feeling even an hour after eating, I do not drink anything because it will make me sick. I had enough issues with vomiting that my doctor put me back on liquids at around 4 weeks and I did that a couple weeks just to give my body more time to heal. Even almost 9 months out from RNY, I sometimes get sick. It's usually texture/dryness related. It's gone from once a week to just once in a while, and instead of all the food coming up, it's usually just mucous now. I try to pay attention to why so I can adjust. Basically, you need to listen to your body and make changes based on what is working and not working for you because we're all different.

Hello everyone! I am very sorry to those who interacted with the post and didn't get any replies. Unfortunately week 2 of my LSD my doctor called to say the surgery is cancelled due to fact I failed my psych assessment. I lost nearly £2,000 in money that they refused to refund (the cost was for booking my surgery date) due to being caught in a catch 22. Because I failed my psych assessment it is considered MY fault not theres, therefore under the contract I signed prior, no refund. It really made me depressed. I'm back on here losing weight with Mounjaro. I would still like to connect with people whether you're pre surgery, post surgery, losing with the injection or naturally. I am hoping I can lose enough weight so I don't need the surgery, but if I do, that's fine too. Thanks!

I drank it all the time before surgery. My clinic's instructions were to give up carbonated beverages forever, but I tried Diet Coke when I was about two or three years out. I about died - it tasted like a bunch of chemicals! (which it pretty much is). I ended up dumping it - it just wasn't good anymore - it was pretty bad, to be honest. I wasn't used to it any more - it'd been too long since I'd had it. I do drink flavored sparking water now (didn't start that until after the Diet Coke fiasco - so again, 2-3 years after surgery). Some brands are too carbonated for me (which really irritates my stomach), so I have to wait a while for those to flatten out a bit before I can drink them. Other brands I can drink right away since they're not as carbonated. btw - I don't think carbonation really causes your stomach to stretch out, but it really irritates some people's stomachs (which is why most surgeons will tell you to avoid it for the first few weeks or months after surgery. After that, some surgeons say it's fine as long as it doesn't irritate your stomach, and other surgeons tell you to give it up permanently)

Well that was a fun-filled week! I’m finally on the other side of Covid and feeling tons better. After far too much faffing, I got the antiviral meds on Tuesday evening and, all credit to them, they really do work. Thankfully the only side effect I had was a godawful taste in my mouth which everyone gets apparently. I need to test myself today, just to make sure I’m clear but I have to build up to ramming cotton buds up my nose! Hubby is now in the throws of Covid but without the antivirals as he’s not judged as ‘vulnerable’ so he’s white-knuckling it with just paracetamol for the symptoms. He was a total star last week though and really did look after me as I was floored with it. He’s doing OK-ish with it, still working from home but definitely not at full capacity. So, having a bit reset this week food-wise. I’m 5lbs up from my lowest weight which isn't the end of the world. I just need to tighten up my eating habits and think about what I’m eating. Our postponed anniversary dinner is on Saturday so fingers crossed my gains come off pretty quickly and things settle down in the next couple of weeks. I’ve heard nothing from the hospital regarding the MDT, which is OK. I’m back for bloods on Friday for checking my liver function. Hopefully it will have sorted itself out! I think my second blip was the beginning of Covid. I’ve not taken any of my RA meds in order to give my liver a rest and will hopefully get back to normal with them next week. Nothing else going on here. Just planning on pottering around this week and getting odd bits done. Have a happy, healthy week everyone! Onwards and Downwards 🙂

https://a.co/d/5efMT0T The old one I have no clue what the care instructions are I just tried it thinking if it didn’t come clean then it was garbage anyways. That link above is the one I bought recently. They have really good reviews and they are cheaper than the Manduka brand. It’s really pretty and very vibrant colors in person. I have washed it in the machine three times now in a front loader and it still looks fine but who knows after a while. I take it out immediately and hang it up to dry (over my bar stool). Mine doesn’t have any kind of guarantee, though, that I know of anyways and no it’s not very thick at all. In fact when I went to the other gym that uses one mat I learned that my knees hurt when I don’t have that second layer where they cross one another so I guess i will be stacking two on top of one another for that class now. I quickly grabbed my towel and put that under my knees last time because they were hurting and that worked but it was a little awkward. I agree it sounds like a money thing them expecting you to use their brand specifically. If you buy their cleaner you basically end up paying for a second mat anyways and if you don’t they can say that you voided the warranty and not replace it. Either way they save money.

Officially 5 months post-op today. Here are some progress photos of today compared to two months ago (I missed my 4-month photos because I was on vacation) and to my highest weight, which is almost a year ago. I've been basically stalled for the past 4 weeks with only 2 lbs lost and a lot of bouncing up and down. With vacation, my good habits have slipped a bit. It's too easy to take "just a bite" of this, and also that, and maybe a "taste" of something else... to the point that it adds up way more than I think in a day. And I'm not back in the routine I was in before with walking every day. I have an appointment with my dietician on Tuesday and am hoping to get back on track this week. I still want to lose 25-30lbs so I can't lose focus!

Yes. you're all right of course. I'm just blowing this out of proportion. As the saying goes. "it's a bad day. not a bad life." I think I'm stressed about my long trip to on Sunday and seeing people for the first time in 20 years. And your definitely right. I've been eating more than I have in weeks and more than I shoud, but definitely less than this time last year.

I’m really frustrated and need some help. My dietitian was sick this week when we were supposed to have our appt (not frustrated at her, people get sick). What I’m frustrated about is that my appt was on Tuesday and Wednesday was my 5 week out mark, so we were already pretty much a week behind. I want to start on soft foods and have tried a few, but I’m also nervous because usually the dietitian usually gives me a food plan and foods I should and should not eat. What did you guys start soft foods with so I can feel more confident trying a few more things until our next appt on next Tuesday? I have tried hard boiled eggs, lentil soup, and tuna/chicken from a can.

Had mine sept 18th just over two weeks and I feel great minus the nausea here and there I’m learning to do better with my food choices

I am going to ask you a question that I also ask myself when I have periods of consuming things I know I should not have. How did it get in your house? It's one thing to be in a place where temptation strikes. Maybe you go to a wedding and you are handed a glass of champagne. Maybe you go to your friend's birthday party and you take a piece of cake because everyone else has one. Okay, fine. This is not likely to be an ongoing issue unless your social calendar is booked constantly (in which case you need a plan). (But also, not fine because you are at 8 weeks out and your stomach is like a delicate baby that you are feeding trash. More like fine a year from now.) But if you are on day 6 of drinking wine while watching TV at night, all snug on your sofa... why is there wine in your house? Did you buy it? Did someone else bring it in? Is it left over from something? The easiest way not to drink alcohol casually is to have no alcohol in the house. The easiest way not to eat chips, or chocolate, or ice cream is... to not have it around. Get rid of it. I know a lot of us have issues with "wasting" food or drink. What I've come to realize only slowly is that there is no difference between me eating junk I don't need that is not good for me and putting it down the garbage disposal. Except in the second scenario, I don't gain weight. After Easter, I bought a big bag of jelly beans on clearance. They weren't very good. Even so, I kept eating them. I put them in the cupboard and kept getting a handful every time I walked past. And then I would eat a few and say these are really not very good. And then I would KEEP EATING THEM! Finally, after I did this several times, I stopped and asked myself what I was doing. Why was I eating these? Why did I buy them? And my only answer was because I was bored, and a little stressed, and they were there. Also, I like jelly beans. Only I didn't like them. So, I threw them away. An almost full bag, in the garbage. I know! The waste! But I didn't need them, I didn't like them, and they were making me crave all sorts of other sweets. I just kept thinking about the fact they were there. It made me want them. When they were gone, I could no longer eat them, and I didn't care enough to go buy more. For the first year, I did most of my grocery shopping through curbside pick up. I planned what to buy based on a menu plan, and that's all I got. No impulse buys. No clearance bins. No getting a dozen bags of something bad for me because it was on sale. I gave away all my alcohol or poured it down the drain. I threw away the junk food and organized my pantry so I could find things at a glance. I made a list of healthy things that were easy to eat or take along because I know I will always eat what's easy and not what's difficult. I meal prep for the week so that I don't have to cook and prep every single day and I have no excuse to eat out. I'll also be honest that the hardest times for me were before surgery when I was trying to follow a nutrition plan but had a lot of hunger and cravings, and from around 9 months out when weight loss had slowed and my appetite was becoming more noticeable and my weight loss naturally slowed. The fact that you're feeling like this at 8 weeks is concerning because this is the time when your ability to stay motivated should be highest (constant reinforcement when you step on the scale and lose weight almost every day), and your ability to eat is the least. Don't let this drag on without addressing it. Talk to your team. Because it's only going to get harder. Maybe you're bored. Or scared of change. Or you don't believe the surgery will work and you're turning it into a self fulfilling prophecy because that's easier emotionally than trying and failing. Or you just can't help yourself when the food or alcohol is in the house because you're addicted. Whatever it is, the best day to fix it is today. And ask your family and friends for help. Be accountable to others and to yourself. Because you can fix this, but if you don't, you won't reach your goal.

I never stopped taking stool softeners twice a day since surgery and I'm over a year out. I was concerned to continue as I didn't want my body to become reliant on them but I was told softeners were not like a laxative and only brings more water into the intestines to keep things moving regularly and avoid constipation. With a laxative your body becomes dependent on them. Big difference. The last thing I want is to get constipated and have a weight stall because of it. I haven't had one day of constipation so there is no need to stop taking them. It will not harm you to do so.

Hi there!! New to this forum, but just starting my 2-week pre-op with a surgery date scheduled for 10/15!! Nervous and excited all at the same time!

Today is day one of my liquid diet after a two week LSD. I guess I didn’t realize how much I was doing physically until I felt like I hit a brick wall about 6:00pm. Apparently 3 shakes is not enough calories to be spring cleaning all day. For me anyways. I am glad I don’t have much that I have to have to get done tomorrow because I feel like it’s going to be even worse. Anyone else have a hard time with all liquids? I really hope it’s just that and I’m not coming down with something. Surgery day is Wednesday. That would be awful. I just added it up and I had 510 calories with the three shakes and I just had a yogurt which makes it 600. Zero carbs though and I was working pretty hard.

Also just to add, in those initial weeks post-surgery, my team recommended that I limit each meal to around 8 mouthfuls (using children's cutlery), just because the signals which tell us we are full aren't healed just yet, and that limited the over-eating!

Is it just me, or is it really odd they'd tell you what not to use, but didn't tell you what you should be using? Surely they must have some suggestions that fit what they want here? As far as I know, all meal replacement shakes contain added vitamins as that's sort of the point. They also contain added carbs and fats that most protein shakes don't have. I'd say the vast majority of people here were told to just use protein shakes. That's typically for a few reasons: First, especially if you also take a vitamin supplement, you're not going to suffer any long term harm using protein shakes instead of meal replacement shakes for a few weeks. Second, most meal replacement shakes are lower in protein than a typical protein shake. We want as much protein as possible to help prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue when dieting. Third, most bariatric doctors don't actually want you consuming very many carbs, since one of the main goals of the pre-surgical diet is to shrink your liver to make the surgery safer. The best way to do that is a very low carb diet. (The liver is one of the main ways your body stores glycogen, so by depleting it of glycogen (carbs), it will get smaller, even if no other changes take place.) TL;DR: Ask your team what they want you to use.

I am hoping it is just hormonal or just normal lumps and bumps - but you just never know! I am glad that everything is okay so far - good that you got it checked! It is definitely harder to tell, like when my boobs were bigger nothing felt strange, but now they are saggier and smaller everything feels strange haha I feel that on the cold front!! I have also had this Christmas flu that has been going around and I have been unwell for the last 2 weeks so I just want it to budge before Xmas! I hope you get your wrapping done!

I honestly don’t think them smart scales are super accurate. I’ve seen a few people on here say they got DEXA scans and that their scale was not the same. That being said. They do warn that we will lose muscle and that’s why it’s important to start with some strength building as soon as we are cleared to do so. About the stall, some people do actually gain a little. Usually it’s followed by a quick drop of that gain- plus some. I think it’s your body trying to hang onto every single calorie it gets because it thinks it’s starving. Sorta has to recalibrate for a short time and then you should be back on the downward trend. If my google search is correct 1kg is only 2.2 pounds. Honestly you could see that fluctuation any day. Doesn’t even have to be a stall. Could be your body retaining water or your bowels are full or you weighed at a differnt time of day. Virtually anything can cause that. That’s why they say it’s best to not weigh daily. I know it’s hard not to and I’m guilty of it too but we really do just cause ourselves unnecessary stress by doing it. When I had my sleeve my daily loss fluctuated several times by a couple of pounds. Even 3 or 4 a couple times because I weighed daily. But I did only record my weight once a week and that made it way easier to see the overall downward trend.

In dmv Kaiser has various phases post op for sleeve - they allow coffee & carbonated drinks 6 weeks post op for example protein is always prioritized but how is left to the patient

New Week New Win! I say continued weight loss of about 2.5 pounds a week is a win being 5 months out it's still steady and that's good. I have until April which is my surgiversary to make it to goal weight I think I shall be there way ahead of time 👊🏅🏅

Well, it's highly dependent on where I'm at in a training cycle, but it might look a little like this: Monday: Rest Day. Tuesday: This is my speedwork day when I do intervals. What that specifically looks like is different depending on my current goals. For example, If I'm training for a shorter race like a 5k, I'll probably do more intervals at a faster pace, but the intervals will be shorter in duration. For example, I might do 8 total intervals at RPE 9 for ~2 minutes. In between each interval, I'll rest for 2 minutes. On either side of the interval work, I'll do a 10 minute warm up and a 10 minute cool down. Thus the entire run takes roughly 52 minutes. If I'm training more for a half marathon, I'll do more like 3-4 intervals but they may each be as long as 6 or 8 minutes. Rest periods will probably be ~2-3 minutes. Note that these are done at a slower pace, so more like an RPE of 7-8. Regardless of what the intervals look like, I always warm up and cool down for at least 10 minutes each. Wednesday: This is typically a strength training day for me. Sometimes I may run 2-3 miles afterward, though more often than not, I cross train on the bike, or sometimes do some rowing. Thursday: This is what I call my "Distance Run" day. It's typically going to be between 50% and 80% of my long run mileage, so if I'm doing 30 miles a week, it might be somewhere around 5 to 8 Miles. This is almost always done at an easy pace, but I do tend to add in strides toward the end. (Strides, for those that don't know are short 20 to 30 second accelerations followed by a minute or so rest. Because they are so short, they don't tend to add a lot of extra systemic or muscle fatigue or increase injury risk like you'd have for normal speed training.) Friday: This is when I do Race Specific Pace Runs, Hill Running, Tempo Runs or Threshold Runs. Again, this is highly dependent on where I'm at in a training cycle, but an example leading up to a half marathon might be a 10 minute warm up followed by 40 minutes at my half marathon goal pace, followed by a 10 minute cool down. Saturday: This is my other strength training day. Here, since I've accumulated a lot of weekly fatigue by this point, I'm a lot less likely to run afterward, meaning if I do anything after the strength session, it's going to be on the bike or rowing (or nothing at all if I'm wiped 😄). Sunday: This is my long run day. As a general rule, I don't want this to be more than about 30-33% of my overall weekly mileage. Thus if I'm at ~30 miles for the week, my long run won't be more than 10 or at most 11 miles. Most of my long runs are done at an easy pace, but I do sometimes add in some faster pace work toward the middle or end. It's all dependent on my goals. Overall, 30 miles per week is really not that hard for me at this point. Keep in mind, I'm retired now and my kids are grown so I don't have to worry about fitting this in around work or my kids needs. Now as I increase my mileage working up to 50-60 in prep for my fall marathon, I'm expecting that will be a lot more challenging. Physically I think it will be fine, I'm more worried about my ability to dial in my nutrition. It will be a lot of extra calories burned in a week and my fueling strategy has to be really dialed in for the 18 or 20 mile long runs I'll be doing toward the end. I have a tendency toward hypoglycemia if i don't get my fueling perfect. It would not be good to pass out when running!

I need to get back on working out; I have been slacking. I'm doing okay food wise though so that's good. I just got my bloodwork done so I'm waiting to hear back on how all my levels are since surgery. I had my first cookie and first small glass of wine this week at a baby shower; it was nice to feel more normal again, but also not go crazy.

Surgery day is tomorrow. Gonna be a long day today of clear liquids. I have a slight dry cough so I am keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t cause an issue. I will be sure to let the peeps know when I arrive tomorrow, hopefully I can get a cough suppressant for after or a belly binder. Like you @Waggy I planned this on my off time. I work at a school also and plan to return Jan. 6th. This is a revision for me from a sleeve to GB. I took 2 weeks off last time and it was perfect. Just got a bit tired during the day.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner today. Breakfast- wheat toast with laughing cow cheese, strawberries and a protein coffee. Lunch- a mini raspberry danish. I actually made 2 dozen last night. Baked a dozen and the other dozen are in a freezer bag ready to bake when I have surgery in a couple weeks. There’s leftover jam in the fridge for toast/french toast later this week. (That’s what I get for using all 36oz fresh raspberries I’ve bought the past week!) Dinner- I picked up some vegan chicken on clearance so we had that in rice bowls. I ended up eating about 3/4c fluffed rice, a total of 1 cup cucumbers, about 1/2 cup carrots, and little less than 1/2 cup of the stir fried “chicken” with onions, epis, and garlic in it and 1/2tbsp of sesame seeds. I didn’t eat the seaweed and the grandbaby ate what I didn’t. Also had a protein fiber bar as a snack. Might have another protein shake before bed but honestly, I’m not hungry.

Looks like Covid is getting us all! I hope you are both feeling better, and that this week is a better one. ❤️