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St77 I hate you are having difficulty. Are you still in the liquid or puree phase? I can understand how it would be difficult with your history. I think I will have to drink the protein water and the unflavored protein powder to get all my protein in. Sending good vibes your way.

Overall I'm doing well. However, my team feels that I'm losing too much too quickly because I'm having trouble with getting enough protein in. I've been having issues with food food aversions that I have to get past and learn to eat a bit more. However, because I had hyperemesis during my pregnancy, my nutritionist feels that history is playing a part in having a tougher time getting enough calories. It's a very individual journey in many aspects, but having support groups and forums like this are helpful in learning from other people's experiences.

Same story here! VSG June 14 with Bhatti GI & North Memorial in MN. Recovery has really been a breeze. I took 1 week off from my desk job for surgery recovery. At almost 8 weeks, 32.5 lbs down. Including a recent 10-day vacation, eating normal foods at restaurants, but small amounts. On vacation we walked 3-6 miles a day. Normally I barely exercise…yeah…I know I need to do better, but I do physical farm work too. No food intolerances, nausea, pain, hair loss, or dumping. I get my 65-90g protein, hydrate, and have my vitamins & probiotic. 900-1200 calories/day. Too often my carbs are too high (>75g). It’s hard to get fiber. The “hardest” part for me and the only deviation from the plan that I have committed (besides erratic levels of exercise) was clear liquids. I was prescribed 3 days CL before surgery (lost 4lbs) plus 2 weeks CL after surgery. 2w after was way too long. I got dizzy and weak because I couldn’t get enough protein. Switching to full liquids was like paradise. Did that a week early with no issues. North Memorial’s diet plan is very conservative. I also got Covid for the first time at 4w post-op. I only had a scratchy throat for 3 days and was tired for a week, but had no problems keeping to the dietary guidelines. Almost zero movement b/c I did strict quarantine for 10d to not spread it. I am surprised I’ve done so well given how crazy it all sounds in retrospect. Major abdominal surgery, FT work, life with 3 kids, Covid, harvest season on the farm, and lengthy travel all in 8 weeks. But it’s been great! I have tons of energy! Fear of complications and lack of insurance coverage kept me from doing this for probably 8+ years. It’s nice to hear positive stories collected in one place. I feel for those of us struggling. I still fear something will crop up. We are fortunate.

We all come at different angles with this issue. I had no choice, I had to pay up. I couldn't wait till the NHS recovered from Covid and I finally found a Doctor who would recommend me for the surgery. I have been asking for 25 years and several had already side tracked me onto yet another diet. If I had been given your choices then I would wait for the free option. It would be only 4 months longer than I had to wait anyway. The $18,000, I would save towards skin surgery later down the line. What do you spend on food in a week ? Times it by 52. Shakes, protein powder and bariatric vitamins are extra costs that you may need to factor in too. Keep chatting to us on the forum and read the back pages while you decide. Good luck

Every once in a while I think about how I have to fight for every pound and deal with so many stalls and I think the bypass would have been better. BUT...even though my surgeon was willing to do either one and let me pick, I had to do the sleeve because I have lupus and MS and have pills I have to take (and there's no liquid forms of the pills and they can't be crushed or broken) so I knew sleeve was my only option (no pills with bypass and I have to take them). Some of the things I was told to expect with the sleeve didn't happen for me (hunger hormone gone, food aversion, must chew slow and have small bites or stomach hurts and food feels like it's not going down, restriction, etc...) so there's times it feels like it was a waste of time and effort and money. But I HAVE had success, and I AM making healthier choices with my food. So it's still a win, even if it's a way bigger struggle than I thought it would be.

I was a big diet soda drinker, too. I wish I could have herbal tea or something, but we're not allowed caffeine after surgery. And we don't have crystal light over here. So I'm drinking mostly water and some gatorade, but I feel the gatorade makes my heartburn worse, so I drank less of it today.. I've also had some broth, which is ok but it makes me hungry. I'm also allowed protein drinks, but the ones I have are kind of gross. I did make some sugarfree jello yesterday, and I'm trying to have a few teaspoons of it here and there, but I don't love it. I am so ready for this part of the liquid diet to be over. Right now I'm dreaming of oatmeal, which I will be allowed to have next week. This liquid diet is hard.

Hello All. Can I introduce myself. I’m Paul and exactly 4 weeks post gastric sleeve surgery. I’ve been trying to lose weigh all my adult life with varying degrees of success. All ultimately fruitless. There’s very few I haven’t attempted and I was desperate by the time I agreed to surgery. Although a various times I’ve topped 30 stone I was always able to cope with the excess weight. Not so these last few years and severe arthritis in my worn out knees has forced the issue. To get them replaced I have to be lighter. And hopefully ALM will be in less pain and I can move about easier. I was deeply ashamed about having to go down the path of surgery. I’ve loathed my size all my life and it’s had a profoundly negative effect on both my career and personal life. I was a fairly decent footballer in my time (hence the knackered knees) but undoubtedly the excess weight I carried in my younger years, whilst nowhere near as extreme, hindered my performance and damaged my self esteem. I first joined the NHS bariatric programme in late 2015 after encouragement from my GP but I promptly lost 7 stone and decided it wasn’t for me. Life, as always, got in the way and all that weight went back on by 2018\19 after I was made redundant and lost the plot. I was fortunate to get put back on the programme in 2019 and despite the hiatus of the Pandemic got invited to meet the surgeons in January this year. Can’t say I didn’t have my doubts as the date of surgery to nearer but I knew I was probably on my last chance should I walk away. The liver shrinking diet was extremely easy I felt. I stopped any form of alcohol a month before my date of surgery and I’m feeling OK now. I’ve had a couple of incidents of the foamies and have been sick twice trying to progress to purée/soft food. I’ve put that down to eating too quickly and perhaps slightly too much despite my efforts at not doing either. I find I hard to eat the 800 calories a day target I’ve been told to meet, and sufficient protein but I’m working on it. One thing that I do seem to be unusual for reading through this thread. I haven’t weighed myself since the day of the operation. Am I wrong not to do so? I can feel previously tight clothes getting baggy. My view is this is a marathon and not a sprint now and why torture myself if I can see a plateau going on for a couple of weeks. Nice to meet you all.

Speaking of Fairlife, has anyone tried their bottled ‘nutrition’ drinks? 30g protein, and they taste exactly like chocolate milk, I mean EXACTLY. Zero aftertaste. Sooo frickin delicious. I’m ordering online to try the other flavors. Premier Protein is ok for me, but the Fairlife ones absolutely taste like a cheat. My Costco has them in boxes in the protein shake area next to PP, they don’t come refrigerated.

There is not a right answer, but there are also options under $10K in Mexico. There are many many people who go and do it that way and have nothing but good things to say.

Fairlife milk. 13 grams of protein in one cup and it doesn’t have the fake sweeteners. I just ordered some powders from Clean Simple Eats to try to boost it up to 30 per cup, but worried about the same issue with the sweeteners.

Just checking in; yesterday was 7 weeks post-op. When I weighed in, I'm down 32.1lbs since surgery and 75.5 pounds since I started my extended pre-op 8 weeks before surgery. It's still a struggle to get all the protein and fluids in. I get full on about 1.2 ounces of meat; if I push to 1.5ounces, I feel terrible and/or actually get sick. Non-scale wise, I was able to shop with my teenage daughter for back to school without my back bothering me or needing to stop for a break. I'm keeping up with my 3 year old better as well thought she's a wild child. I've bought a few clothing items and I'm down 3 pant sizes.

Likewise, I don't see the sense of it The ESG by its nature is more limited in what it can do by virtue of its limited surgical procedure - they just can't do as much endoscopically as they can do by going in laproscopically. And, from what I have seen the ESG doesn't have as good results as the basic VSG, either. A few other random considerations: Revisions of any kind tend to have less performance than a virgin procedure - my simple minded picture is that you have already had your stomach reduced from 32-64 oz capacity down to 2-4 oz and you have learned to eat around that; even if it has stretched out some, cutting it back to 1-2 oz isn't going to do much. The RNY isn't markedly different than the VSG in weight loss or regain performance, so don't expect a lot from that, maybe 20 lb would be typical, mostly from a return to the extreme dieting one has to go through around surgery time. If you have had significant regain, first step is to evaluate the cause and treat that; as noted above, the RNY isn't markedly better than the sleeve, so unless you correct what went wrong in the first place, you will be back here again in a couple of years, but with fewer options (the RNY is a trickier thing to revise once you get it, so consider it to be a one way street.) Are you insured, but not covered for WLS, or not insured at all? if you have a significant GERD problem, then correcting it may/should not be considered WLS. but correcting a threatening health condition, possibly the result of an earlier surgery. Check it out before giving up on that avenue. How severe is your GERD? have you had it evaluated? If it is beyond treatment with meds and lifestyle changes, then surgery may be called for. It might be an RNY type procedure (don't refer to it as an RNY to your insurance as that will guarantee a negative answer if they don't cover WLS; there are a number of procedures that derive from the same procedure that gave rise to the RNY, and they are used for treating multiple problems; but they may go under a different name, so let your chosen surgeon work that out with the insurance company. Again, have your issue evaluated - if surgery is needed, a resleeve may do the job without going to the RNY, or it may not as it depends on what's going on with your sleeve.

7 days in to the pre-op liquid diet and one week until surgery. I can do this! Now that the caffeine headache withdrawal is gone, it's much easier to tolerate the diet. I think I have decided not to go back to coffee in the mornings once I can simply because of the awful experience I had with the withdrawals. I only consume one cup in the mornings and I don't wish to go through that again! So instead I think I'm going to start warming up a protein drink or switch to KaCahva or herbal tea or something else that does not have the addicting caffeine. Believe me, I love coffee, but I sure did not love learning how dependent I was on it. One more thing to adjust into my new lifestyle for a healthier me Has anyone else tried that new KaChava drink to replace coffee? Would love to know what you think about it!

Hi all, so I’m having a bit of a dilemma and I was just curious to know what others would do in my position. My wife and I currently have Kaiser insurance here in California. Based on their program, it would be 10 classes (2.5 months) and then I would have to wait to get on the books for surgery, the person I spoke to said it could be up to a year wait. BUT, I have zero copay and the surgery would essentially be free. On the other hand, there’s the possibility of taking out a Care Credit loan at for $18.5k 0% APR and I could get the sleeve at Blossom Bariatrics by next month if I wanted to. I know it seems like a no brainer to just be patient and wait. That is the smarter financial decision. We do have to put a new roof on our house (or we could wait until next year) and we are definitely worried that if I take out an 18k loan… that our financing of our roof would come with a stupid APR and would ding our credit. We are in our 30s… no kids… live comfortably financially but not well off-which is why the 18k seems a little crazy, although the monthly payments are totally doable for me. On the other hand, I’m almost prediabetic, high cholesterol, feel like my eating habits are spiraling each day. I am genuinely upset that I feel like I’m turning to surgery as a last resort and tool. I’ve tried every diet, every app, every diet pill from my Doctor, I have spent thousands at this point for personal trainers, my mind is consumed with the state my body is in, I feel exhausted, not healthy and I also feel like it’s holding me back from progressing in my life/career. My confidence level, well, it doesn’t even exist at this point. I feel defeated and the amount of energy I use thinking about losing weight/getting healthy is maddening and exhausting. I feel as though one can’t put a price tag on health. I feel like the gross amount of money I spend on eating out nearly every day, buying food, paying for this diet or that gym equipment… would also be eliminated to an extent if I have surgery. So, I kind of feel like even spending 18k… I would SAVE in the long run. I have a ton of goals I’d love to accomplish over this next year… and I feel like the thing holding my back is my health/confidence/lack of energy. My wife is wonderful and we have long, real discussions about all of it. She’s kind of the financial whiz of our life and we are both wondering what the best option is. Spend the money… get my health on track ASAP… save money in the long run because I’m not eating out multiple times a day or buying whatever I think will help me finally get on track. (She also feels like this would help her as my eating habits are starting to wear off on her she says)…OR Wait a year stuck in this loop, possibly gaining more. But I'll pay nothing. There’s so much that can happen in a year… but I don’t want to remain stagnant, spiraling for a year… I want to jump start it and move forward and get this over with and move on. But I can’t figure out what the best choice is. Further, I'm so afraid that even using the sleeve as a helpful tool, that'll I'll just fail at that as well. Thanks for reading my vent. Would love to hear some of your thoughts.

You got this!! I’m starting day 4 (of 8) today and honestly, so far so good. I haven’t really felt hungry… the protein drinks from my plan have kept me satisfied. I’ve made my water goals every day. Head hunger is real - but manageable. If I had one “complaint” it’s the constant waking at night to go to the bathroom, but if I get my liquids in early enough - it’s manageable. Best of luck!

I've been using the Premier Protein like others. I have settled on liking the Cafe Latte flavor the most, even though it contains caffeine (my nutritionist advised against caffeine). The rest of the flavors are overly sweet tasting to me, and I have just about had it with sweet stuff. I found Fairlife to be exceedingly expensive in my area, so I've avoided it. I did try Chocolate Muscle Milk 32g yesterday and found it much more appealing than the Premier chocolate, so that is a plus.

I started with Premier Protein but then switched to Fairlife. I like both, but I prefer the Fairlife. I have also used Isopure unflavored protein powder (tried the choc & vanilla, like them too - but the unflavored is more flexible) to make protein smoothies, add protein to soups, broth, yogurt or food that needed a protein bump.

Hey, all. New to the forums.. my surgery date is set for the end of September & I am going to try Nutriseed Superfood Protein powder. It provides 14g of protein. Is that a good amount?

It’s been a week since my gastric sleevectomy, and all things considered, things have progressed fairly smoothly. The procedure went down without a hitch. I was up walking around that afternoon. The most pain I experienced was from the incision where they pulled the stomach out (it’s been a full week, and it is still a bit sore, but definitely much better…,hold on to your side if you have to cough or sneeze). It was strange to drink from the one ounce cups at first (you know it’s coming, but until you have to, it’s hard to appreciate it fully). It is definitely a different feeling when the stomach fills up so fast with so little fluid, but it is real. Since I’ve been home, everyday gets a little bit better. The pain in my side is going away, I’m able to get outside to walk a couple miles each day (not all at once, but working my way back up), and it’s getting easier to feel when I’m getting full as I’m drinking my protein shakes. (I will say that I am looking forward to the end of next week when I hit the purée portion of the diet and can enjoy the taste of “solid” food.)

Hey everyone! I’m finishing up my Post Op Day 1, I had surgery yesterday. Pain was pretty bad yesterday, but managed with the IV medication that starts with a D (I’ve already forgotten the name). All I had by mouth yesterday was ice chips. Very tired. Walked around my room a few hours after being post-op recovery. Took loop around the floor later that evening. Didn’t sleep at all at night because they literally were in my room doing tests at all hours of the night. I was also very nauseous so they gave me zofran and I never vomited. Day 2 started with only ice chips until after my barium swallow study was complete. That barium fluid tasted exactly like what Harry made Dumbledore drink during the lake scene. Never have I ever tasted anything like that. My bowels took forever, so I didn’t start on clear liquids until late afternoon. 1 oz per 30 minutes. Lots of gurgling!!! Much less pain by the afternoon Day 2. They took me off the IV pain med and moved me to Percocet pills and they last longer in the system so that’s good. My surgery was at 7:30am so I’ll have been in the hospital Tuesday, Wednesday and at least the morning of Thursday. Looking forward to going home even though this hospital is so nice (it’s brand new with it’s only bariatric wing). i did a week of strict OptiFast shakes only and did a self prescribed bowel prep because I have horrible constipation and I wanted all that out before surgery. I lost 11 pounds in that week, so I was down to 251.1 on my surgery date. full liquid starting tomorrow. They want me to have 3 portions of 2 oz per day. There is no way I’ll come close to my protein goals. let me know if you have any questions!

Same boat. Sometimes I work really late, and around 8-9 pm, the hunger monster attacks.. :). I started having a fat free, protein yogurt, this didn't cut it. A bit later, I started adding some granola, because "I don't eat enough carbs during the day"... and it went downhill from there.. :), weight loss went down to ~1 lbs / week. Had to stop, and go back to basics. Now, when hungry, and still have some ways to go before bedtime, I eat an omelet (even if it's 9 pm). After I started doing this, weight started going down again.

@SurfingMama my ultimate motivator was my liver function numbers were not good and my liver was enlarged about 3 times the size it was suppose to be. My endocronolgist said my best option was significant weight loss to hopefully reverse the damage. He explained that there was a chance it wouldn't help, but there was really no other treatments for NAFLD & NASH, than weight loss. If I did nothing and my function continued to deteriate, I would eventually need a liver transplant. So I worked my butt off to loose as much weight on my own as I could to see if there was any improvement. 40 pounds later, my numbers started to improve and there was a palpable diffrence in my liver size. My family and I talked about it and with all the risks, the rewards way outweighed them so I made plans to move ahead (my surgery is next week). I am thrilled at the prospect of the weightloss and the benefits that alone brings, but if it hadn't been for my liver I am not sure if I would be on this path right now, but I am grateful for the opportunity to become all round healthier and feel confident in my decision to have the surgery. Congrats on your progress and I am so glad you were able to remove all the cancer!

I'm heading the same way @geilli1048 I've already maxed out on my usual calories today and I'm hungry again so I'm going to have to eat more. Yes I agree we need to be extra good at protein first and everything else will hopefully follow! Lots of people say losing the last 10 - 20lbs is really difficult and can take months. I think we've got this and we're gonna make it to goal!

Hey guys, wanted to throw out a update. If you guys remember me i had atypical case. To sum it up, my surgery was July 21st. I battled intense itching all over my body hives on stomach, severe nausea, weakness, vomiting, couldn’t eat or drink. IV infusion was needed. Nurse came to the house I got 2 liters of fluids,vitamins,and nausea meds. It helped get me back to zero. The itching turned out to be an allergic reaction to GERD medication. Still a battle but I feel I am going in a good direction. I physically can’t drink any protein shakes,etc. I just vomit. So i been moving little ahead with diet. I eat flounder with lemon and it was the best. Felt like I was getting nutrients finally. Im eating other things but its def a full time job drinking and eating.Everyday is a challenge but I’m getting there. (This is for the ladies)-Well I got my period few days ago, and it hasn’t been great. It is so heavy, cramps unbearable,I was so worried. Spoke to doctor said it is normal apparently Estrogen is stored in your fat cells and you are losing fat or something like that lol. I usually take Midol for cramps but I haven’t because it has caffeine. But doctor told me just take it but I’m not going down that road. I don’t need caffeine headaches or any upset stomach issues. My weight was 257 now I weigh 215.

I’m so glad you are do I well! Seems like June 8 was a lifetime ago. yes, Pro-T gold. I’m drinking it now. I find that if I meet water and protein goals, I have absolutely no appetite. congratulations!