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Not that uncommon and comparatively not more strict. There are variations between surgeons and surgeries with many of these things. Sometimes it’s also related to you, your health, how much weight you have to lose, your relationship with food, etc, Not being allowed carbonated drinks is common. The differences arise in length of time of this avoidance and then whether you can tolerate it. Also you may be allowed sparkling water that you let go flat a bit but not sodas. Same with alcohol avoidance but there are three main reasons often behind this. One is concern for addiction transfer which can occur after weight loss surgery. Secondly, alcohol is calorie dense and offers no nutrients which are vital while we are losing and eating small portions and lastly it will slow your metabolism & dehydrate you. Again some surgeons just put a time frame on it but it does depend on your surgery too. Caffeine is another thing that is allowed by some surgeons and not by others and again there can be differences in for how long you should avoid it. Deconstructing meals is not a forever thing. Certainly while losing, focussing on eating the protein component of your meal first is very important. If you are able after you’ve eaten the protein in your meal. you then can eat your vegetables then any carbs you are allowed. (There were many times I could only eat my protein at a meal and nothing else.) This is because of the small portions we can eat initially & the necessity of getting that protein in to meet your protein goals. It does make tracking your food much easier too. When you near your goal, and are eating larger portions, it’s not as important to eat your protein first but you must continue to hit your protein goals forever so it will be something of which you are aware when you’re eating. In saying that I often ate soups, stews & casserole type dishes, omelettes, etc. which combined protein & vegetables while losing but not every meal and not every day. Actually not allowing protein shakes is also not uncommon. For example, in the UK, many aren’t allowed protein shakes in the pre surgery diet (they drink milk instead). Protein shakes aren’t the sole source of protein & nutrients in that first stage after surgery. Bone broths, consommés and cream soups are also options. Thank goodness too because after surgery those protein shakes can be disgusting. I found them unpleasantly grainy and crazy sweet & struggled to drink one a day. Best advice is to follow your plan while you are losing.However, if you find it difficult to tolerate your food options or to reach your goals ask for alternatives that will allow you to still meet protein goals & other nutrient requirements within any calorie guidelines you are given. How and what you eat once your weight has stabilised is up to you, what you’ve learnt about your eating and relationship with food and if it allows you to maintain a lower and healthier weight & lifestyle.

Welcome back. Do not worry about jumping in. This is open to anyone. I’m sorry to hear about your COVID and hope it doesn’t derail your surgery BUT being a week post op I can tell you that coughing does hurt quite a bit so if they make you wait that could be why and you may not realize that they are doing you a favor. I hope it all works out one way or another.

Hey there @Star1234 ... I think a lot depends on your starting weight and BMI and your goal weight and BMI. I'm nearly 4 months out and have lost 21.9kg and have 15kg left to go until I hit my goal but I've been pretty much stalled for the last 3 weeks.

Well I had a revision (no surgery on my stomach) so I won’t even talk about portion. Also, I’m pretty active (2-3 hours of at least walking) so take this with a grain of salt but my calories are around 900-1000, protein is 90 plus, net carbs are 60-70, sugar is usually under 20 but my max is 30, fiber is still too low but around 10-15 with the fiber powder, fat is 20-30, water is about 80, and calcium is usually around 1800 or above. I was told that calories alone don’t mean much at all and carbs and fat depend significantly on what kinds of carbs and fat. Carbs from fruit and veggies are usually fine in our portions and healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and nuts or low fat dairy are okay too but you do have to measure of course and not have them multiple times. It’s when you get into the processed stuff that you have to watch them numbers so much closer. They sneak things in. I have noticed that the low carb stuff is usually really high in fat. My goal is to keep it to Whole Foods as much as I can. So far I have had the occasional low carb wrap, Turkey jerky, yogurt drinks, and quest potato chips in terms of packaged food. Ooh and that burrito wrap I had to seriously budget for. But I mean like twice or three times a month. Your team will have the best info for what’s right for you though. So many things make these numbers different for everyone. Did you ever find an app that you can access to log your food?. It has really helped me. Usually when I sit down to have lunch, I enter my breakfast, my lunch and play around with ideas for dinner and snack and see how that works out in terms of macros. I always have fish and frozen low carb veggies that I can pull out of the freezer if I am too high for the day. I found these burritos that supposedly freeze well I wanted to make but they used a real tortilla. They do not have the big ones in the low-carb version. I looked everywhere but I needed the bigger one and order get enough protein. I wanted to make those four nights in a row but every time I entered them I was going over on something. I finally was able to have them last night but all I had was my morning proffee and five egg whites with pico de gallo for lunch. Then I added a little bit more cheese because I was 2 g low on protein. Anyways, it makes it so much easier to be able to plug these things in and you can delete and try something else if it doesn’t work or add or subtract snacks. The only thing that I do not enter, but I always allow myself to have. I kind of learned on the preop diet was the sugar-free popsicles they’re actually 15 cal I believe but they were free foods on my preop diet and I keep them that way in my mind. It keeps me thinking that I’m never going to be not allowed to have food. Mentally it somehow makes me think that I don’t have to starve. I can always have something.. I actually really enjoyed them the tropical flavor ones on my preop but I haven’t wanted sweets very often since. I have had them a couple of times when I wake up late wanting something though.

I almost never post here because I hate the format on this website and prefer fb but wanted to try to inspire more people. The first photo is how big I was the night before the surgery. The other 3 were taken within the last week. I had the duodenal switch December 30, 2021 at the age of 24. My weight immediately going into the procedure was about 301. (My highest weight of all time, I believe was 320) I now hover between 157-160 and basically eat whatever I want. I'm fairly active and also malabsorb a ton (common channel length is 85 cm) Depending on the day, I eat somewhere between 3500-4000 calories a day. My weight doesn't budge. Still, life sucks in other ways. I struggle with serious depression that has crippled me. Mental health is always a work in progress. Any questions feel free to ask.

I'm so sorry you had such a rough week!!! I hope the pain is getting better now. Just think positive that this will be a better week for you Fantastic job keeping your eyes on the NSV when the scale isn't doing what you want. That's exactly the right thing to do. Feel better!!!

I had a gastric bypass about 6 years old. Fast forward to today. I was recently hospitalized with severe anemia (hemoglobin 5.2). I had to have emergency blood transfusions. I'm still receiving weekly IV-iron infusions (8 weeks). I am also deficient in several nutrients despite taking my bariatric vitamins. My bariatric surgeon figured out the reason for the anemia. Two ulcers detected by an EGD (upper scope). I was slowly bleeding out. At one point, my family thought I was falling asleep... when I was really passing out. Anemia hurts. Your whole body aches. Recovery is slow... the fatigue is unreal but I'll get there.

Okay, first, once you have the surgery you will not physically be able to eat that fast without throwing up and/or being miserable with pain. So you'll learn real quick to slow down when the time comes. Trust me. In the meantime, here is what you do to practice and start training yourself. First, if you can, make a commitment to only eat from a real plate while sitting at an actual table for the next two weeks. No eating standing up in the kitchen with two minutes to go before you have to leave or grabbing a handful of something from the pantry as you walk past. Second, get yourself a timer. It can be a kitchen one, or one of those little sand ones that go for a minute, or just the timer on your phone. Whatever works. When you sit down to eat, take a small bite of food. This means something about the size of your thumbnail, or even half that size. Set the timer for one minute. Put your fork and knife down. Chew. Keep chewing. Chew more than you have ever chewed before in your life. Your food will be like paste. You should feel no lumps in your mouth. At this point, swallow. If there is time left on your timer, sit and wait. Only when the timer goes off do you pick up the fork for another bite. Before you take that bite, ask yourself if you feel like you need another bite. Presurgery, your answer is probably going to be yes. But post surgery, this is a point where you might start to think wait, I feel pretty satisfied. This is when you want to stop eating, because with a limited capacity, you will fill up really fast and might overshoot and feel ill. If that's all you do, you will be fine. If you want to be more mindful, ask yourself some questions as you eat. Maybe ask what you like about this food and think about that. Think about the texture and taste. Think about how your body is responding to eating. Do you feel tense? Are you relaxed? Are you feeling any emotions as you start eating, and do those emotions shift as you eat? Use some of your time between bites to write down some observations. You don't really have to do all of that, but on the other hand, you might be surprised by what you learn if you do. Also, I will say that I struggled a lot with this presurgery but the slow eating is second nature now. When I forget, I don't feel well, so I have a lot of incentive to slow down. You will too! Just do what you can to practice now so your nutritionist is happy with your progress. I will almost guarantee if you keep a notebook for the next week or two with what you ate and when, how long it took from start to finish, and some reflections on the food and how your body was feeling while you ate, you will pass with flying colors.

Well I called again just to be safe. She looked up my BMI and said that the two days will be fine. I guess if three different people said it, even if it was not the dr himself, it should be right. I just get so anxious about medical stuff. I feel like they are so non chalant about things sometimes.

I know how you feel! I was hoping I'd be more active but tbh I just made realistic short goals Like my goal now 3 weeks post op to walk 30 mins 3x aweek Then increase the goals slowly. I work better with short term goals and also when I'm allowed to go to the gym I'll get a membership for like 1 month then ill def feel guilty for not going but if I have 1 year membership I'll also say I have time. I'll go tomorrow! But that's just me teehee!# Don't feel so bad as long as u r sticking to Yr program of eating right! It's 80% food and 20% working out! WE GOT THIS!

Sorry for any mistakes I make in my entry, but english is not my first language :) I am in need for some advice since I'm getting frustrated. So it's only 2,5 weeks since I had my sleeve-surgery, and the doctors have told me to be patient, but I just want to check in to see if anyone else have experienced this (I'm sure there is!). I am now on regular food, which means I can eat anything, but as adviced I always try to up my protein. After I eat a meal I feel alot of discomfort in my chest, I feel so much air have to come out, I often get the hiccups and I burp alot, I also gulp in my mouth. I make sure I don't drink water 10 minutes before a meal and 20-30 minutes after. But I have been vomitting my food , especially my dinner, alot. That happend yessterday evening, I ate dinner, waited 30 minutes, drank a sip of water. Then felt so neouses I had to make myself throw it all up, and it was hardly any food since my pain in my chest (gas) keeps me from eating. I have not yet felt full from eating, but I always stop because of the pain in my chest. My quesstion is why am I throwing up and when will the pain in my chest go away. Thank you in advance :)

What a fine man he is, with great taste in tea! 😂 Like everyone says though, it can mean you get more dehydrated but I think so long as you aren't ONLY drinking tea, it should be fine haha. I think the decaf isn't bad at all from what I can remember! Thank you! I am finding it okay! I had a little bit of a stall, but that is expected! But I am just happy to be feeling better!

A new week beckons 🙂 London was fab, a break that was very much needed by both of us. The hotel was very nice, the staff were fantastic, couldn’t do enough to help but some of the guests were just entitled dickheads. You know something is amiss when you say ‘thank you’ and the member of staff looks completely surprised. There were film crews there - one was something about a reality music show shown on MTV/Paramount possibly Love and Hip Hop Atlanta?? Not my thing so wasn’t too fussed. Did chat to a lovely crew lady though who filled us in on what was happening. Also there was some setting up to do regarding some additional Mission Impossible 8 shooting. Apparently the hotel was used for a lot of interior shots 🤷‍♀️ Didn’t see anyone famous though! Anyway, I was complemented on a couple of my outfits which gave me a real buzz! Having my makeup done was actually a lovely thing. It really helped that the MUA was very approachable and actually listened. The Pet Shop Boys were as brilliant as ever and a wonderful time was definitely had! Hubby bought me a commemorative PSB sweatshirt which is a XXL and fits like sausage skin. So, my next goal is to fit in to it comfortably. I think it’s definitely losing a couple of dress sizes 😬 (if not more) I’ve added 3.5lbs to last week’s weight, which isn’t bad, considering. I have my dietitian appointment in 3 weeks and I’m hoping to get that gain and a few more lbs off by then. I never thought I would miss protein shakes and protein yoghurt quite so much! I hope everyone has an awesome week ahead Onwards and Downwards!

Well, great is sort of relative isn't it? 😁 For me it's much better than I expected this week, all things considered. I'm sure for some it's pretty slow. Consider that the world record half marathon time is about 58 minutes. This means I'm running twice as slow as those folks. On the flip side, this time would probably put me in about the 55th to 60th percentile world-wide for my age group. This means I'm probably a little faster than average, but I'm sure not winning any races! I've got another Half Marathon race scheduled in November and hope to break 2:05 in that one. I haven't fully decided yet, but may do one in April or May and if so, will be shooting for a sub 2:00. I guess my point is I don't think too much about how I compare to others. My real goal is to continue to beat myself!

My NHS offer 3 ways of completing the LRD - all shakes/meal replacements or 2 meals of replacements and 1 of food or all 3 meals actual food. All 3 ways are for 3 weeks and must average between 800-1000 calories. If you’re having food for say dinner, they say you can have a healthy ready meal of approx 300 cals plus a yoghurt of around 100 cals. As @Bypass2Freedomhas said, different providers seem to have different rules and expectations so I would contact your dietitian or Bariatric department just to double check 🙂

You’re right, I took the question re: bathroom issues with the sleeve only. In the beginning, the urge to go is generally stronger and the need for a bathroom is quick. As time goes on, most of us can hold it quite a bit longer. On a road trip, rest stops are usually every hour or so, so as time goes on you will most likely be able to wait unless you ate something very fatty or with sugar/simple carbs. Then all bets are off, which is why I pretty much only eat that at home. You are definitely going to need to deal with “going” in a public bathroom. I use this (see below). I spray upwards in my stall as I begin to “go” and then spray a couple of more times as I’m finishing. orange only

I was starving one week post-op. My hunger never left, but the signals changed. The hunger I feel is like hollowness in my abdomen, it feels like physical pain rather than craving something that is specific (taste or texture). I did lose my interest in eating between my snacks and meals (and what to eat was not on my mind), but once the clock hit 2 hours past my last meal/snack I felt the pangs. I lost a lot of weight very fast, and my post-op experience felt like I'm starving to death and withering away if that makes sense. The feeling of physical hunger pain is probably my body's way of preserving itself (I guess). Now that I am a bit more stabilized I have many days where I'm just not interested in food, and days where I'm ravenous (especially when I've hit it really hard at the gym).

Omgoodness. I'm so thankful I'm not the only one! I had a sleeve to mini bypass done on 19th August and at week 3, I developed hives. Initially it was thought the hives were a drug allergy but they weren't. I can have totally clear skin then have a tepid shower and break out again. I break put at work or where my dog lays on my lap. I think of an itch spot and I'll look to find a welt. Lortadine is useless and the mild steroid creams I have are also ineffective. My surgeon has said no to steroid injections too. I'm going crazy with the itch. I wear gloves at work, I flare up, my watch band, I flare up. I've had to change to a heavier fabric scrubs to avoid the "slinky" material ones my organisation has because my skin didn't agree!

I'm working on figuring out how to maintain lol I'm below goal, which is fine is I stay where I'm at. Don't really want to go any lower. I'm slowly increasing calories and carbs, but I can't go too high or I get sick. So I'm just trying to figure it out. My first year post surgery, I was half way to my goal (I needed to lose roughly 200 pounds to get to my goal). I had complications that slowed my weight loss (I lost 113 pounds in 8 months) after the 8-9 month mark. I had my revision 13 months after my initial surgery and lost another 94 pounds in a year. I also had 2 major surgeries during that time, too. Now my weight loss is (hopefully) stopping - 2 years after my initial surgery and 1 year after my revision. I've lost a total of 240 pounds from my highest weight and 207 pounds from my surgery-day weight. And it took me a total of 2 years. I hit many stalls along the way, but it's all been 100% worth it.

Yes that’s awsome I start my diet tomorrow to get the weight off that my Dr says I have to loose before surgery. This week has been an emotional roller coaster my uncle suddenly and I had to fly to Florida with my mom and sister and we have done nothing but eat out.

i am on day 134 since my revision from lapband to sleeve revision. everything started out ok. Now, not so much. I have periodic acid reflux (even with presciption meds). extreme fatigue, and I give myself a shot of B12 once a week. Now I have severe dumping syndrome every morning after breakfast. Doesn't matter if I eat oatmeal or a scrambled egg. The only thing that calms it down is metamucil. My surgeon suggested that I drink a glass of Metamucil when I wake up in the morning prior to coffee or breakfast. This has helped. Now eating is a different story...I feel like that band is still in there. Could it be scar tissue? I eat a small amount and I am almost sick. Severe stomach cramping. I keep wondering if it is dehydration. I don't drink water or those sickly sweet sugar free hydration drinks. Anyway...I am regretting this surgery every single day.

Had vacation with friends last week. A bit worrisome. I read everyone having dumping syndrome and restriction that helps keep you ‘honest’. I cant say i had any adverse effect. We ate out daily. I did watch my portions and proper mechanics- no drinking 30 min After eating. Had a bite of a donut, one day ice cream, a variety of small things that i should not have eaten, a fry or two…..I did not get sick —however, i also only lost 0.5lb this week :( So this week back on track! I still have 85lbs to shed.

I’m glad you questioned everything and have finally got your answers from the horses mouth as it were. Just try to maintain an air of zen now for the next couple of weeks!

some people experience hormone-related depression for a few weeks after weight loss surgery, but weight loss surgery would not have caused bipolar disorder.

As of yesterday, I was back under 200 pounds, so that was an exciting milestone! I have been tracking my food, walking each day, doing a long hike on the weekends, and the weight has been coming off at the expected pace. I am averaging about 1300 calories a day in consumption and my watch says I am averaging about 2300 calories a day of burn, which works out to an average calorie deficit of 1000 per day and I am right on that target of losing 2 pounds per week. I am really pleased that my metabolism seems normal and that my restriction still prevents me from eating too much in a single sitting. I had a long chat with my husband about how "dieting" is so different this time around from when I had lost weight pre-surgery. This is my first time really trying to lose weight since my surgery and it is definitely much easier than it used to be.