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@Hazel40 Hi! And welcome to the forums, and congrats on your surgery and the beginning of a successful weight loss journey! 🤗 Best wishes!

Hi there, it has been wonderful to read all of the stories here. I'm a 39-year old mother of three from Finland and have had RYGB 17 days ago. Here surgeons actually operate more RYGB than SG (contrary to US), and although I was set on SG before when I decided on needing the surgery, the surgeon did convince me with RYGB suiting me better in the end (and she is the surgeon in Finland who gets referred with the most difficult cases and operates a lot both in University hospital as well a privately, so I just ended up trusting her expertise). I don't know anyone personally who has had the surgery so nobody to really have discussions with about the downs (ups is another matter as I do have a family but obviously not all of the NSV's (a new term I learned today, yay) can be comprehended by someone who really has never been there. I started my journey with the decision in May, first appointment at the clinic June 2nd weighing 352 lb (160kg, I'm 5'10 tall so BMI about 50 at this point), 11 weeks later August 10th had a meeting with the surgeon and internist for approval (weighing 320 lb), had to have ECG and gastroscopy due to medical history to be approved, and the surgery was done 26th of August so jyst over two weeks ago. My weight that day was 317 lb (143,8kg), and currently it is 301 lb (136,6kg). Here in Finland we have the possibility to get the operation through regular healthcare system if we fullfil the criteria (BMI over 35 with obesity related diseases or BMI over 40 plus you need to have had experience before atleast of 6 months of conservative weight loss (can be from the past, does not need to be just then) and you need to lose 8% of your weight prior to surgery with atleast 3-4 weeks vlcd to make sure liver loses its fat to make surgery less risky). I obviously fullfilled the criteria and was referred to the process, but unfortunately due to Covid having resulted in so many cancellations of elective surgeries, the waiting time for surgery was more than a year in every University hospital (we have 5, so I called everyone of them). Here we have this wonderful thing, called progressive taxation which ensures that people who make decent money, don't really get to keep more than 50% of my paycheck so having good healthcare and free education (like University is free, free school meals up until you're 18) comes with a prize tag that we just have had to accept, so obviously I would have preferred to get the surgery for that regular prize (which would have been probably around 300 euros in total with the doctor's pre visits and the hospital days). However I quickly decided, and my hubby agreed, that waiting for a year, maybe even two, was too long as my body had gone through so much already last year. I was worried that too long of a wait would result in me yoyoing with my weight and more complications could have a really bad impact on my long term health. So, I ended going to a private hospital in Finland which in overall was a good experience, and I was able to go home the next day as planned. Tried to go to work 3 days later, but had to go back home after a couple of hours and just work from home the amount I was able to. After leaving the hospital I only took a couple of acetaminophens a day, which I found quite surprising. A week later I was already working regularly normal hours (mostly a desk job, no heavy lifting). No vomiting but a couple of times now that after two weeks I was allowed to have crisp bread (and somehow thought it was a good idea to make it less dry by combining it with cream cheese) have I had it block the stoma or just become just a big clump inside the pouch. Not a pleasent feeling, and tried to drink a bit, and I could feel the fluid staying in the esophagus so just waited it out... Thing I find most annoying is that I have never been a person to drink my calories, not a soup person, especially pureed soups are not at all my thing. Vlcd with the shakes was already a 5 week misery and the the liquid and pureed food phase now after surgery. I already hate all the things I previously used to like such as protein puddings and smoothies. I like the textures of differents foods, fresh fruits and vegetables and can't have most of them in a long time. I have started to chew foods like sweet paprika in my mouth to get the experience and then spit it out to not cause problems. I had no idea I would grow such a disgust (it really is like a physical feeling of nausea) towards so many liquid and pureed foods so quickly.. Feels like right now, at this point when I really don't have any of the NSV's etc effects yet, that it is quite hard to stay in positive at times when the physical nausea, inability to join the family dinners etc. makes you feel down. Maybe atleast some of you understand where I'm coming from, some support would be encouraging. At least reading threads about different topics related to WLS is already something to keep my mind of negativity. Final note; WLS aka weight loss surgery sounds so much more upbeat than our translation in Finnish which is Lihavuusleikkaus (direct translation to Englush for it is Obesity surgery). It sort of has the emphasis on the obesity rather than what it aims to do. Person who came up with the terminology must not have been obese themselves... For anyone who actually read the whole post, thank you, I appreciate it! Sent from my AC2003 using BariatricPal mobile app

I feel for you! The worst part is feeling like this and not seeing any weight come off! Like what else can go wrong...lol. Here's hoping we both get back on track ASAP!

Keto is HIGH fat, low carbs and moderate protein. Bariatric is HIGH protein, and from there depends on the surgery team. Some are low carb/sugar low fat. Others are a BALANCED low fat/low sugar diet. Mine is VERY balanced, I have never heard anyone on my team tell us we can't have carbs. Through all the classes, appointments and Nutritionists follow ups. They all say the same thing, balanced diet while making sure we get our protein first and then veggies, if you want or have "room" then have the carb. Understand this is only my opinion: I do not think it is realistic to think someone is going to stay "keto" or "extremely low carb" for the rest of their life. Isn't that how we all YO-YO? By doing extreme diets that we realistically cannot maintain long term? I have lost 100+ lbs 4 different times. (I know, ridiculous) The last time I even had skin removal surgery and still gained it back because eating chicken and broccoli every single day was not realistic! This is what convinced me to finally have WLS. I went through the classes for pre-op still hesitant to have WLS and just figured what do I have to loose by learning more about it in a formal manor. I learned that while some things we might not be able to eat, there was really not the restriction of foods like I heard by travel of words. Even on my worst days, I haven't been even able to eat more than 1200 calories. it really is the restriction of capacity that makes the HUGE difference from a diet to WLS. Eating healthy (most of the time) was never a problem for me. My problem was ALWAYS being hungry, eating 3 servings of chicken rather than 1. Eating 3/4 slices of pizza rather than a half a of slice without eating the outside crust. Again, my opinion and what works for me may not work for you or the next person. I think we all have to figure out what works for us and go from there. Everyone is so different and every bariatric team/center is just as different. I had this surgery so I can eat like a normal person and not like a 400 lb person. I am almost 6 months post op and when I eat around people, rarely does anyone notice my diet being different than their own. I think maybe 3 times someone (who doesn't know I had WLS) has commented about what I was eating. You do you girl, work with your team. Find out what works best for you and run with it! Modify it as you go if needed. We are all on the a different version of the same journey. We got this!! (Sorry for my long post, I got carried away)

I’m not going to lecture you. I can’t solve your problems. I got help for my family emotional problems by utilizing psychology today.com and found a therapist locally. Covid emphasized so many existing problems and like you, I reached out for help. It really worked and I can only encourage you to keep reaching out, be persistent because you are worth it! Even bringing these things up to your PCP will get the ball rolling. You can ask for a social worker to help you navigate the many specialists and paperwork you will need. You can ask for group therapy which is often cheaper and helps you make friends. Some people have tried OA to meet like minded people and support for weight loss. Meeting with real people locally is important for community. You are not alone, we all get in these ruts.

Hello my name is Kelsey and I’m new to this website/forum. I came on here to seek advice/friends to help me out. I have been struggling so so bad lately. I had weight loss surgery 11.28.2015 and I was 400 pounds when I did. After about a year and a half I had lost a lot of weight, I got down to 170 pounds. I was happy at this weight, healthy, had less back/foot/ankle/knee pain, etc, you knew the drill. Until Covid i kept most of it off. In the past 3 years I have noticed a steady incline in weight again, so much so that I got back up to 270 at one point. i went back to my surgeon, dr Scott in search of maybe a revision. What I got instead was a speech on how sncking is bad etc, things I already knew and he told me to do nothing but shakes for ten days. I did pretty well on my shakes, drinking 4-5 a day and got down to 253. Of course, when I started eating again, I’ve gained weight back and I’m back to 265. I am so unhappy, and stressed out about this and I’m not sure what to do. i did have lbs done, my thyroid is acting up and my b12 is not absorbing correctly, vit D low, etc, im thinking hypothyroidism is the main cause of my weight gain and low energy but my surgeon wants me to see a pcp about starting meds. I don’t have a pcp, so I made an appt (I made this appt one month ago) but I’m having to wait until OCTOBER 25 to see the pcp. I just don’t know what else to do. i do have history of bipolar and depression, which causes me to stress eat. I’m fighting this very hard, but I feel like I would do better if I had friends or online even pals to help me through this. Anyway. That’s me. I need help, obv, so if anyone feels inclined, reach out to me. We can exchange whatever info we need to stay in touch.

My birthday is next month and coincides with my projected second week of pureed, as a reward for staying on plan I'm gonna buy a new phone lmao. A local tandem skydiving place had a 160lb weight limit for my height, so naturally I decided when I hit that, I'm jumping out a plane.

See, what you all are saying makes sense, but my nutritionist said I will be eating the bariatric diet for the rest of my life. That's why I was so shocked that she said keto is a fad diet but the bariatric diet is ok. I love keto. My body responds well to it. I have friends that have been on it for years and are doing really well. I lost 100 pounds on it. But I couldn't keep it off no matter how strict I was with it. With the bariatric diet, I was really struggling because my body doesn't do well with low fat. Higher fat with low carbs and high protein seems to work wonders for me. I tend to stay around 70-80 fats per day, 25-35 carbs per day, 70-90g of protein per day, and 1050 - 1200 calories per day (1200 if I work out that day, less if I don't). I may need to call my nutritionist again, because if keto and the bariatric diet both aren't meant to be followed for life, I need to see why she said it would and what I'm supposed to do once I hit my maintenance weight (nowhere near that yet).

Listen to your body and take it easy. Do partial movements without too much weight engaged.  Honestly, I say wait 8 weeks. Then all systems go!

6:30 check in, 8:30 procedure. I have done pretty well on the pre op diet but I have no idea if I’ve lost weight… definitely thinking some water weight has come off though. My feet look thinner weirdly enough!

Hi, everyone... I'm almost 3 weeks post-op, and my feet are still swollen even though the edema went away everywhere else (like my hands). I'll send a message with a picture to my doctor in the morning and let you know what she says. I'm wondering if any of you have dealt with foot swelling still present a few weeks after surgery. ETA: I think I may have found the culprit. They have me on 2 BP meds since I've been home (amlodipine & one other I forget the name of) because it was out of control in the hospital (210 on top) and is currently on the high side even medicated but not scary high. The plan is to keep monitoring my blood pressure at home so my doctor knows when to lower my dose. Once I lose enough weight and can move more, she has hope I won't need them in the future, but for now I do.

Exactly as @SpartanMaker & @i bypassedmyphatass said. Diets are for the short term not the long term. The bariatric diet is devised for a specific short term purpose. While it is restrictive in the first weeks to support your healing, it does encourage you to slowly add more nutritional sources as you progress. One of the things you’ll do as you near maintenance is work out how you want to eat for the long term. Not a ‘diet’ but a sustainable way of eating that works for you & meets the needs of your body. I find it amusing when people consider our bariatric post surgery diet is high protein. It really is just focussed on protein first. Most of us are advised to consume 60g of protein while losing. In actuality, this is less than the daily recommended amount - 1g of protein per 0.8kg for our weight at that time. (Though I was told by my dietician as a woman in her 50s I should be having 1g per 1kg of weight.) So at my surgery, when I was about 85kg I should have been eating 68g - 85g of protein. Don’t know about you but before I started this process I never ate any where near the recommended amount of protein I needed. Remember if there was a single diet that worked for everyone, no one would be obese & we’d all eat exactly the same way. Diets are too restrictive to be be sustainable. That’s why we could lose weight on a diet but could never keep it off. I don’t follow a ‘diet’ at all now. I worked out what foods provide the nutrition I need, enable me to maintain without restricting my life & keep my body happy. Like, I aim to eat 70g of protein because of my absorption issue & I avoid bread, pasta, rice & potato because they sit heavily in my tummy. You’ll work out a way of eating that works for you too. Do your own research about nutrition. Start now so as you add new foods back into your diet you are making healthier choices & to see how your body responds to them. Remember any pro diet sites (keto, Atkins, etc.) will only give you biased information about how great & wonderful that diet is. Just ensure you’re eating a range of foods to satisfy your nutritional needs. In the meantime, follow your plan & the advice of your dietician & surgeon & listen to your body.

ok, breath. My surgeon was ok if I didn’t meet my goals as long as I was making an effort & slowly but surely getting closer. I just couldn’t eat or drink more than I was through the stages: you can only do what you can do while you are healing & recovering & your tummy is being sensitive & fussy. The hormonal flush can be a b*tch. You’re losing weight (yay!) but your stored oestrogen is being released into your blood stream causing things like you’re experiencing almost like a punishment (boo!). I didn’t exercise either apart from the initial short anti blood clotting walking/strolling). Remember trying to walk on my treadmill in the second month because I felt I should do something but the extreme lethargy hit so I stopped (I almost fell of my treadmill I was so tired one day). Even now I just do some stretches, more for my oozing discs, some wall pushups & a few sit ups. Probably wouldn’t burn 10 calories LOL! But you need to do what exercises & level of activity that works for you when you are ready & able.

How much is from pre existing conditions? Or hadn’t been picked up previously like the dentist who said his x rays are more detailed now. If we’re honest for many of us our diet before surgery wasn’t the best & potential for dental issues as a result is great. (The stats on children who drink lots of soda & tooth decay is frightening.) And many don’t regularly see their dentist for many reasons. Genetics is a big factor. My brother has never had a filling in his life. He’s 52 & also obese (always battled with his weight just like I did). His dentist tells him he’d go broke if every patient was like my brother. Acid from reflux or gerd will cause damage to the tooth enamel not fillings. I was diagnosed with reflux more than 20yrs ago admittedly not a severe case & I managed a lot of it with dietary changes. Mind you I know I experienced reflux symptoms from a teenager so 40 odd years ago. I often get my dentist to check extra carefully for any acid damage & none has been found yet though he did say I had a little wear recently but said it was more like what occurs with age. (Yeah that made me feel great.) If you do have issues with reflux & gerd you need to speak with your doctor or surgeon. I think you need to find a new dentist @Erin18. One who is reliable. I immediately thought of the Dr Who episode too (Partners in Crime) with the space babies formed from human fat @Nepenthe44. Remember thinking when I first saw it if only those Adipose pills were real. 😆😆

I can relate. I'm planning to take my son to a theme park and try all the games there in December. I better loose more weight 😀

Sooooo I had the band placed in 2008, did pretty will with it, (so I thought) lost about 50 pounds and held in the 180’s. However, it turns out I really didn’t do well with the band. Almost everything made me vomit. The vomiting continued until I had a hiatal hernia. Band was loosened, the weight came back. They retighten the band, and weight hasn’t budged. I’m about 10 pounds lighter than I was when I had the band placed. Not only am I embarrassed by my weight. I’m embarrassed for people to know I have the band, and it failed, and I am going to try this for a second time. I had an app with a surgeon this week. I’m going to get my band out, and be revised to bypass. This will hopefully help with the vomiting and get the weight off once and for all. He said based on the length of time I have had the band, he wants to do this in 2 steps. Band and scar tissue out and then bypass 1-2 months after. I’m terrified something will happen, the band will come out and then I can’t get the revision.

I don't think keto is any more a fad diet than is the diet recommended to post surgical bariatric patients. They both have specific purposes and are (or were) very effective for their original purposes. The keto diet was originally developed a long time ago as a specific treatment for severe epilepsy. At the time, before antiepileptic drugs, it worked very well in controlling symptoms. The problem is that it became popular for weight loss and it's probably not the healthiest way to eat long term. That said, I think the same thing is true for the post-surgical bariatric diet. It's a diet developed for a specific purpose and it works well for that, but it's not really a healthy way to eat for the general population. The reason we eat a protein forward diet is for a few reasons: Protein helps preserve as much muscle as possible while eating a low calorie or very low calorie diet. This helps keep your metabolism as high as possible so you burn more calories at rest. A carb forward diet (or even a more balanced diet), would cause your body to burn less fat at any given time because carbs are easily burned for energy, whereas protein is not. Protein (actually the amino acids in protein), are essential to your bodies proper functioning, whereas consumption of fat or carbs is not nearly as important. Protein is even more important when healing, thus it's critical post-surgery. The reason the medical community focuses on protein for bariatric surgery patients is due to the above. It's not because protein is actually "healthier". It's just because we are so restricted in what we can eat, thus tradeoffs must be made. I think most doctors would agree that once a bariatric surgery patient can eat more, they should not eat more protein, but instead should work to add healthy fats and carbs ASAP in the form of more whole foods. The general consensus in the medical community is that the healthiest diet is one that starts with lots of fruits and vegetables, has very little processed food, and a lot less meat than what most American or Western Europeans eat.

Do you have an enlarged liver? Or is this just your programs standard pre-op plan? If it's just the standard plan, I wouldn't worry too much this time, just try not to cheat again, especially closer you get to the surgery. While I was encouraged to lose weight before surgery (sleeve), I only had to do a one day clear liquid diet and 2oz of milk of magnesia the day before. I was still, ugh, passing water right up to putting on the hospital gown. I'm a worrier, and was mildly worried about my liver suddenly becoming enlarged even though I only have very very minimal liver problems (some stuff shows up on my blood work but it's not enough for my PCP to worry). If you do have an enlarged liver, I still wouldn't get too worked up this time, just be more careful.

there will be lots of days where you don't loose weight and some where you might "gain" its all part of the process don't stress, don't weight yourself everyday. pick a day and a time and weight yourself on that day at that time each week. some even only weight once a month lol not me though some only weigh at the dr appointment but the more you weight yourself the more fluctuations/ "stalls" and I use that term loosely you will see.

Yes! There are so many things I have not been able to do with my weight, I am looking forward to be under weight limits for things!

I had surgery 9 months ago and didnt hit my goals until at least 6 months along. I had so much nausea and vomiting that taking the extra vitamins and calcium was tough. So I rarely did. I never ever got enough water or protein. Then on the 6th month I saw the right person and got the help I needed. Two doses of the right PPi a day. My husband was so worried for me. Since then I have gained strength and can do loads more. My body tells me when its time to rest and sometimes take a day off. I rarely get more than 60 gms of protein a day and if I had not found protein yogurts that I could stomach, I would still struggle. My calorie count is about 650 to 1000 a day. I am lucky that I have no hunger. I dont count my liquid intake but its probably less than it should be but I am ok with that. Its not a biggy with my team either. I am not dehydrated I can walk anywhere I want to now as before I would need a walking stick to go the shortest distance and be puffing like an old train. I may have had a slow start but it has not affected my weight loss, other than having more stalls when I have not been able to eat enough. Every persons journey is different. Its hard not to compare yourself to others but it does no good in the long run. I didnt exercise until month 6 and I knew I didnt have enough strength to do more than keep my home clean and go shopping. Now most days I have too much energy This surgery makes your hormones go stratospheric. Even at my age I knew my hormones where out of whack. My poor hubby couldn't understand why I was so short with him. I was just like when I had PMT again. My team were never bothered about my progress, just helpful I hope you get through your period quickly and get the right amount of ppi for the nausea. You will then gallop along

I’m determined to make it and happy for you. I’ll send a prayer up for you and all that will be having surgery this month and everyone on this weight loss journey with us.

I still struggle to hit my water and protein goals. Some days I hit them, others I fall a little short. Give youself some grace. My doc's office is staffed with a whole bunch of people who have never had weight loss surgery. I respect their advice but I also have to remember that they've never been in my situation. Also, I'm VERY tall for a woman and I realize some of the advice they give is tailored to to the average person. Instead, I try to listen to what my body needs. I also try not to compare myself with others because my situation is unique. Instead, I focus on my habits. I'm sending good vibes your way. That time of the month is the worst.

Rewards for weight loss? 🤔 The weight loss is the reward.