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I had a gastric bypass around 11 months ago. I turned 69 in January, which means I'm in my 70th year. I had no issues with the surgery or recovery. My eating habits are curbed by what I can tolerate and I now go to the gym 4 times a week, most of the time with a very good trainer. It's been a long time since I've felt this good-- sure, there are trade-offs but to me, totally worth it especially compared to where I was pre-surgery. The biggest issue for me has been building muscle mass.

I did not get a very detailed plan, and my program advances quickly so that in theory you can have no restrictions at 4 weeks. For me, that has been way too fast. I have found the Bariatric Diet Guide and Cookbook by Dr. Matthew Weiner very helpful. Now that my own program says I can have anything, I'm appreciating his stages (which vary from the typical phases you see in most programs).

My hair was down to the middle of my back. It really looked terrible. Split ends, super dry and brittle, no shape, emphasized my scalp and the general thinning. After my surgery, I was nervous to go too short so I went to juuuuust below my shoulders. Looked good for about 6-8 weeks and then started to show the thinning and my scalp again. This time around, I cut my hair just ABOVE my shoulders and decided to stop straightening it. My natural waves came back in full force, which helped A LOT. And it's easier to maintain and doesn't look thin at all.

Hi everyone, I had my gastric sleeve surgery one week ago. I just joined this group today, and I’m excited to join all of you in this journey.

I am on the diet before surgery and they want me to lose 30 lbs, but I am not seeing the scale move. I eat between 800-1200 calories a day I only drink water and I have been exercising. I am worried and I don't understand why I am not losing anything. For the last week I have even been doing just two shakes a day for breakfast and lunch then a healthy dinner. Does anyone have any ideas?

same, same, as the other posters above. i am really, really good at losing weight. I am (was) also really, really good at finding that weight again. i've lost 50-75 lbs three separate times prior to wls, and each time managed to regain it within a year or so, plus a few more pounds for good measure, until i finally hit my highest weight of 235 lbs (i'm 5'2" so thats alot of weight for my height). with WLS (sleeve for me), i lost 120-ish lbs and kept it ALL off (give or take 5lbs) since reaching goal...almost 5 YEARS ago... whats more, maintaining this weight seems relatively effortless compared to before. because i eat so very little in volume (added to the fact that i somehow developed an affection for exercise and activity!), i have quite a bit of leeway in food choices to reach my maintenance calories. i am very grateful for this aspect of my surgery experience, i tell ya. BUT... i will add a disclaimer here that not everyone has the same WLS experience. you won't know what yours will be until you know. though we all of us here already sort of know that low calorie diets alone aren't sustainable long term for us. i mean, that's why we are all here, no?

Don't be in awe of me lol I've had my fair share of ups and downs in this, but I found what works for me personally. Take what you want from my suggestions and toss the rest. But for ME, I noticed that I'm sensitive to carbs. I tend to respond better when I am at lower carbs. I don't eat bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, sugar, little to no salt (and when I do, it's pink Himalayan salt), or fruits high in sugar and carbs (grapes, bananas, and I limit apples). I'm not a fan of chocolate (if I eat it at all, it's in the form of keto brownies and I eat 1 small brownie every 2 days or so). I avoid Starbucks now (didn't used to and noticed my weight would stall a lot more). I avoid cow's milk (almond milk has more calcium and nutrients in it) and if I want ice cream, I get Rebel ice-cream from Walmart (2g or less of carbs for the whole pint of ice-cream, lactose free, 5g of less of sugar for the whole pint of ice-cream depending on the flavor). There's keto bread and keto bagels that I eat when I REALLY want something that requires those (my avocado toast is something I have 1-2x per week, or I have a keto bagel with sausage, egg, and cheese on it maybe once a week). If I want pizza, I get the ones that have cauliflower crust (omg so good), I have cauliflower rice, and mashed cauliflower if I'm wanting mashed potatoes (cauliflower has almost no flavor so it takes on whatever flavors it's mixed with). If I want sweetener, I use monk fruit sweetener (doesn't raise the blood sugar at all and actually tastes sweeter than sugar). If I want a nice flavored coffee, I buy the coffee shop coffee and make it at home, add almond milk, and put in Jordan's Skinny Syrup (no sugar, no calories, no carbs) in any flavor I'm wanting (they basically have every flavor you can think of). If I want fruit juice, I go to Walmart and buy the sugar free mango splash or sugar free fruit punch. Absolutely DELICIOUS. I drink a lot of flavored water with the sugar free powders, Gatorade zero, and Propel waters. For me, the trick has always been to eat within the boundaries of my diet while not feeling like I'm depriving myself. Everything tastes delicious and feels like I'm eating like everyone else, but I'm keeping to what I can eat without having to cheat to feel satisfied. I like sugar free tropical popsicles for a treat while my husband and daughter eat the regular stuff. We can all have popsicles together and I don't feel deprived or left out, yet I'm not breaking any of my personal dietary rules. I also make sure to change up what I do in my work outs. If you do the same things in the same order every time, your body gets used to it and the exercises stop being effective. If you do different exercises in a different order periodically, it will "confuse" your body and everything you do will have a greater impact. For me, not only does exercising help me lose weight, it also makes me feel good physically and mentally. I was 421 pounds and needed a cane to help me get around. Being able to hike 10 miles with my son means more to me than I can even express. So if you're working out, try to confuse your body as much as you can. I hope some of this helps you out. I never want anyone to think that my way is the only way to do things, but maybe something in here will give you some help with getting out of your slump and back to losing weight at the rate you're most comfortable with

Cucumber, lettuce, carrots, boiled beetroot, leeks, baked squash, roast cauliflower. Early out I had to get my veg in by making different vegetable soups and blitzing it. I had a cup as one of my 6 tiny meals a day. Any soup with added cheese was a particular favourite. Broccoli and stilton, onion and cheddar, carrot and cilantro { see I have been on this forum for so long that I am now using the American } lentil and vegetable and Gazpacho are still my favs. Raw veg other than lettuce tend to fill me for too long. I had some carrot batons this week and I was burping all evening, very unpleasant

Ah why do we do this to ourselves? Mind games. OP you've just done the best thing you ever could to secure your ongoing long-term health. Please trust your procedure and please follow your plan. It's there for a reason. A week out (and I had a sleeve not bypass so maybe slightly different) I think you need to be pushing for your fluid goal first and protein goal second. It won't harm you, it'll only help if you can get close, I promise. After that everything will be good. Not drinking in particular seems a recipe for disaster and a readmission for fluids.

Oh, I didn't have staples. I had stitches on the inside that dissolved and glue on the outside. I'm healing very well. I did wear a band around my belly on and off for the first 2 weeks. That helped a lot!! I highly recommend it. I don't need it anymore cuz things are mostly healed. https://a.co/d/5z0wYgL

I'm on a two week liquid diet before my Feb 7th surgery. What's your restrictions? Ask your doctor about taking multivitamins. I'm able to even on the liquid diet. But other doctors might before restive.

Hello! I had VSG to bypass in Sept 2023. For me, it’s been a tougher learning curve figuring out what I’m tolerating and what will trigger upset. Sometimes it’s day to day. However, the last week or so, everything has been causing upset and the last few days I have become bloated and cramping every time I eat. My belly becomes distended and feels like I have gas trapped. After about half hour to 45 minutes or so, the pain eases and my belly starts to go down. Has anyone had similar experiences? TIA!

I totally feel your pain! I already had problems with random, really bad abdominal pain that no one could diagnose prior to surgery. Then after surgery i had 6 weeks of constant, severve abdominal pain and nausea. After i went in for my first followup, i got sent to the hospital to do my labs, a CT scan of my chest and ultrasound of my gall bladder. It turns out my potassium levels were critical and i had to be admitted to start iv (6 bags) in addition to the huge pills. After an overnight stay i was discharged the next evening with a week worth of extra pills. But then after i finished them, i was finally able to keep food down and the pain practically disappeared! It still hurts now and then, but mostly now i have to deal with painful bloating and water nausea. So maybe have your potassium levels looked at?

I had my surgery last week and my surgeon said he has all of his patients stay one night for monitoring. There are other surgeons in the same unit that let people go home same day, but he said he prefers not to rush care. It made me feel safer. I did have some overnight challenges, so I was glad to still be there. I left the next afternoon.

Oh!! And never look at the number on the scale and compare it to others. If you really feel the need to compare, use percentages. Those at a lower weight tend to lose slower, those at a higher weight tend to lose faster. For instance, your excess weight is 50 lbs. That's the amount you want to lose. A 10 lb loss means you have lost 20% of your excess weight already in 4 weeks! That is a lot even though it doesn't look like a lot on the scale. In comparison, my surgery weight was 307. So for me, 20% is 27.4 lbs. It took me until 9 weeks post op to lose that much... So you are a bit more ahead of schedule than it feels! Percentages are a way better gauge of where your progress really is.

Hi everyone, Booked my surgery a few weeks ago, for 3rd March 2023 (I wanted sooner, but my sister is also having done and to satisfy the downers in my family we are having it done together and she needs to save a little more) Anyone else in the March 2023 club? Look forward to hearing from some of you

Hi all! Me again! Wednesday I am 3 weeks post op! I think I have the food down and just trying to figure out when I can do more than just walk my dog lol

Same here I'm like 7 weeks out and can't tolerate a smell of anything meat or cooked and eggs even make me sick and I loved eggs before, I've been eating honey nut Cheerios and pork rinds

I have a question… I had surgery a month ago and lost 20lbs. (That’s it 😒) then this week I weighed myself and I gained 2lbs! Is that normal? I’m doing everything the doctor told me too. Drinking a lot of water, eating a ton of protein and exercising. Am I doing something wrong? Thank you!

If its not diabetes/glucose related, it could be an allergy or intolerance to certain foods. If your body mistakes it for something attacking it, it will cause inflammation in various places, and can put you in a mildly sedated state while it thinks its fighting for survival. You may want to track what you eat for a week or so, and jot down which meals made you feel more sleepy than others. Look for patterns, and check for common food intolerances online to see if there's any overlap. For some people, it could be stuff like sugar, wheat, red meat, nuts, flours, soy, gluten, food dyes/coloring, shellfish, other seafood eggs, dairy, or corn. You may also want to look into elimination diets where you cut a category of food out of your diet for a couple weeks, to see if it goes away, and slowly add them back in (1 item per week) to see if the symptoms return. Good luck in figuring it out!

Hey all, I had my dietician appointment last week, and I am due to have my pre-op assessment this week. Bit of a long one, apologies! Full disclosure - I have ADHD and I am also suspected Dyslexic, and both of these things are making it really hard to plan and to work with numbers etc. We went through all the info of the Liver Reduction Diet (LRD) - I am starting that on the 1st May, for 2 weeks. I've been given 800 calories a day max - already made a small blunder when ordering stuff from New You Plan https://www.thenewyouplan.com/ - I ordered x14 shakes, x14 soups, x14 meals & x14 snack bars. I added up what a typical day's calories would look like with these, and it only comes to about 555 calories - so I had to order some SlimFast meal replacement powder to buff it up for another 222-odd calories. 😰 I don't know why that stressed me out so much, but because my dietician gave me a meal plan template of only 4 items, I got it stuck in my head that I couldn't add an extra shake on top of that, rather than just thinking I am allowed 800 calories per day. I also got through the guidance for the vitamins and the food stages and god...with my neurodiverse brain it is just SO much to take in and try and organise. I am anxious about ordering the right vitamins, and then making sure I am eating the right things - my instinct is always to prep, prep, prep, but I think maybe that will be running before I can walk. Any advise at this stage? 💜

I had gastric sleeve surgery a little over a week ago and I'm struggling with some pretty bad congestion and a clogged ear that just won't let up. I haven't been able to hear out of my right ear since surgery, nothing seems to be helping. I was wondering if anyone else experienced this after surgery and if you have any tips on how to help with either the congestion or unclogging my ear.

Surgery was on May 1. Deep into the puree diet. 2 protein shakes a day and I mix up the meals with scrambled eggs, zero sugar yogurt, tuna fish, chicken salad, broth, cream soups, refried beans. Anywhere from a 1/4 to 1/2 cup, I'm learning how to listen to my body and when I feel full. Going back to work the first week of June. Hydration is still a chore but if I focus I can keep the right amount flowing. Once or twice I've had an urge to nap after my noon meal but no pain, nausea or anything like that. Feeling great!

Had surgery on December 13th. I had the exact same fears. First night after, I had some crusty blood vomit and thought leak, then had all black stools for a few days after and thought upper GI bleeding but it was not, it was from the incubator and breathing tube, then I shoveled snow and had bad sharp stomach pain(Stupid idea, I know but we got 24 inches). Same thing no leakage. Now after getting out of my head and not microanalyzing every feeling or symptom I had, ans focused my time on prepping food, doing a work journal and cardio and I feel amazing. I am 7 weeks post op today and down 70lbs. Follow the program and life gets so much better every week. It sucks in the moment in the first 4 weeks but my 5, 6 and 7 have all brought on improved energy and happiness little by little. Everyone's progress is differant. My goal is 250lbs loss so I have a long ways to go but I am thankful so far for this journey but I have lost a total of 46 inches with 8 off my chest and 7 off my waist. Tomorrow I have my 8 week post op and get to start taking my vitamins. I pray for you all to continually feel the blessings of this journey. 🙏Some progress photos from pictures taken at an award ceremony on December 1st vs pictures 2 weeks ago. Wince the photo on the right, I have lost another 17. That vest on the left fully zips with wiggle room now. 🙏

My program requires it of everyone across the board, 2 weeks clear liquids, with 4-5 protein shakes a day. It's just their protocol. I dislike it but I learned a new thing, I can do liquids for 2 weeks. I've been very rigid about it and these past few days it's been harder cravings wise, but the days are going by.