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I grieve the convenience of high fat/sugar/calorie foods. The ability to go anywhere with friends or family for a meal and not have to worry about 'will I be able to find something I can eat?' and cruising the menu online first. I grieve being able to go to my comfort foods for emotional comfort rather than having to actually work through it. Even though I'm happier, overall / in the long run, when I first sink into a bad mood that first little while is rough. I don't really grieve the particular foods themselves (yet?) -- but I think that's a mental block on my part at the moment; so many foods have been giving me problems that the idea of many food types make me feel ill, and the idea of anything greasy or fatty makes me downright nauseated. (Seriously, I had a conversation with my mother last week about pepperoni and her stomach issues when she eats pizza, and just picturing pepperoni had me breathing through my nose trying not to gag lol) (I do grieve that on excruciatingly hot days at work, when the guys make a run for iced-capps , there's no soothing ice slushy to make my afternoon more bearable.)

So I'm in the liquid phase, post op surgery and am a little over a week in and I miss food. I understand attachments to food is what got me here, but is it really wrong to miss food? I spoke with my therapist this morning and she said to be careful not to glamorize food. I'm not sure how to think about this. I told her I still want to enjoy food, or get enjoyment out of food later on. Am I wrong to feel this way? I understand it's more about fueling our bodies and of course I want the right foods to keep improving my health. But are we expected to never enjoy food again after bariatric surgery????? thoughts?? thanks

I love to see what people typically eat in a day. I am 8.5 months post op. I've trying to maintain but still losing (eating around 1300 calories a day). Working out 4/5 times a week. Pilates, weight training, walking/jogging and some plyos for cardio. A typical day would be: Pre-breakfast: an oat milk flat white (I can't have anything before my coffee). Breakfast (mind you, was never a breakfast eater before but now I need to eat in the late morning otherwise I feel famished): 1 protein toast with lite cheese, 3 turkey breast slices OR 1 egg and 1 egg white omlette OR light halloumi, with some light mayo/pesto, lettuce and jalapenos. Some days I can eat that in one sitting, some days I need an hour to finish this portion. Snack 1: Fruit, Novo protein chips and a zero iced tea (over the course of 2 hours) Lunch: A chicken salad with baby spinach/arugula, cucumbers, bell peppers, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese. No dressing. Snack 2: 5 sugar free chocolate almonds OR a square of 80% dark chocolate. Occasionally another oat flat white Snack 3: a handful of roasted almonds or cashews Dinner: I eat the exact same food pre WLS and what I make for the family sans the carbs most of the time. our dinners are usually elaborate. Protein and Veg so smash burgers (I wrap mine with lettuce but sneak one or two sweet potato fries), Big mac tacos (I use mission low carb mini tortillas), Marry me chicken, steaks, salmon poke bowls, Thai spicy basil chicken, ceviche, stuffed poussins, enchiladas (low carb), soy glazed chicken, etc... it's different every day. Dessert: Chocolate protein ball, or any other healthy dessert I've made (protein cheesecake, protein brownies) My portions are very small though, and it feels I'm eating all day. On weekends I surprisingly eat less, skip breakfast and go longer hours between my meals, but I do eat out and have a little fun with carbs (sushi, noodles, a little bread).

My win for today is being able to work from home the last 2 days while sick (I'm a clinical medical assistant). I've been returning calls that come in on the MA line that we normally can't get to right away, doing prescription refills, authorizing controlled medications, working on prior authorizations, doing referrals, scheduling infusion treatments, sending in lab orders, and generally getting all 3 of us MAs in the office all caught up with our admin stuff that we have to do on top of all of the clinical stuff we do all day. Needless to say, they were quite grateful to be caught up lol They asked if we could each take turned working from home 1 day per week to do just admin stuff, but sadly, the powers that be don't like that idea. But it's a win for us that I at least got us all caught up now!!!

Hi from UK, Ive been booked in for surgery in July and was told to go on 12 week diet. I thought that's excessive as I've seen heavier people only do 2-3 weeks max. I have to do 9 weeks on milk and jelly, then 3 weeks on weight watchers soup and Muller. For example I've started today and I'm at weight I should be on 20th if I have like healthy protein based meal once a day in the 9 weeks that should be fine isn't it? I had boneless chicken today and weight didn't fluctuate thankfully so one meal a week for 9 weeks should be fine? Sorry if I'm rambling

its been a weird week! Im glad its Friday here and my work day is done in 6hours lol! a GG?! wow I am sure you have nice boobies still even with the weight loss. I think with the weight loss and breastfeeding two of my children for over a year my boobs were like ya there is no way your coming back from this. So booby surgery is a must for me lol! Hoping to have a chillax weekend! You as well and get those lashes girl!!! I am thinking about it too but I spend way too much money on myself as it is hahahah

It sounds it! But also seems like you have coped as well as you could have and you have made it to the end of the week! woo! Yeah - it is like carrying the weight of a baby on my chest at all times 🤣 I don't THINK they have gotten any smaller just yet, but I know it is to come as I am still not even 3 months post-op yet! How are you feeling about the surgery? I am the same haha but I am so impulsive and I am always like "treat yourselfffffffff" so maybe I will get lashes...you should too! 😂

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry that happened to you! I can't even imagine how shocking that must have been to do through, and miserable to experience! I hope they will cover the cost of your replacement bridge! What an awful time to be without it, when you'll have to be chewing SO thoroughly here soon! I've had that on my mind a lot lately -- I never got my top denture to fit right and pretty much had given up on it; and never even tried to get a lower. In order to nail this diet I'm going to have to either settle on eating mainly mush for a LONG time or get on the ball and go back to the dentist. Mt dental anxiety is real so not looking forward to that Glad you finally made it home, though! I'm a week post surgery as of today, and I'm still sitting here with an ice pack. I feel fortunate that my recovery wasn't quite as painful as that of some of you folks out there, but I can definitely feel the pull of the staples and tenderness if I stand too long. Walking hurts less than standing for too long doing something - Maybe it's the slight side to side movement instead of the forward movement? Either way, hope you're starting to feel better and continue to do so swiftly!

Your weight is up likely from all the fluids from the IV. The gas can take a good week to leave your body. But the more you walk, the faster it dissipates. The pain will go away and the bloating will, too. The only thing that really helps is the walking and a heating pad.

The unstuffed cabbage rolls sound good. Believe it or not I’ve never made any type of cabbage roll. I have however been using deli roast beef for my cheese steak for a while. I just get the really rare meat and then heat it for a few Seconds in a skillet. I’ve never tried mixing cream cheese in it though. That sounds interesting. I like to make Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers when I trying to be good. I bet the cream cheese would sorta hold the mixture down into the pepper better. I wish I could try it now. I suppose I could make it for my hubby and puree mine. My AC miraculously came back on last nigjt after two hours of flashing an error code and not working. It just started back up- so weird. We don’t dare touch it because we don’t believe it’s fixed but it’s cheaper to have someone come check it during the week. My husband is going to tell them the error code it was giving tomorrow and just see if there is anything they need to do. Maybe it is fine. That would be a nice break since it’s just barely out of warranty now plus I won’t habe to deal with the workers being here. I’m still thinking about them cabbage rolls. After the purée tuna was gross to me I kinda thought purée meat was gonna be a no go. Was it good? I’m sure iit helped that it was in the sauce and all that too. I was looking at another ricotta recipe that had chicken and spinach that was a casserole with cheese as well I was considering for my early soft food stage. I think it had artichoke hearts too. It was on Pinterest. They actually have a-lot of recipes under high protein low fat and high protein bariatric recipes. One thimg I forgot about is adding to the plain Greek yogurt. The ranch or French onion soup mix or PB2 to make dips. I added that and some peeled apples and a seedless cucumber to my shopping list for soft foods with the ranch and the PB dip in mind. I think the dry onions should wait for regular foods but it is really good so I mentioned it.

Ii haven’t had my revision yet but for the sleeve I was told about 6 weeks and I could do exercise. For the revision it’s a little more complex so at the skull part group meeting we were talking about fitness and I said that I needed to do core exercises and the PA said that 6 weeks was fine for them too and the surgeon was right there and didn’t correct him so I took that for myself as it means I’m pretty much cleared at that point for most things. I think they do say to wait a bit longer for weight lifting and one girl asked about roller derby 3.5 years ago. But outside full contact stuff and weights it seems to be 6 weeks that we are healed enough to be safe from outside stuff so I would imagine all swelling and stuff would be gone by then for sure.

I feel like you're exactly right and your post was really well worded. I bet that's what the therapist meant as well - and boy oh boy are you on target with an 'adjustment period' being needed when you're used to turning to food for comfort! I had a couple of weepy episodes during this week quite unexpectedly when I didn't even feel hungry. Maybe it was the thought of an upcoming major surgery (I've never had major surgery) but I also think it was the sense of 'forced control' and the knowledge that I couldn't turn to chocolate or pizza to make me feel better, even if I wanted to. Maybe I was kind of 'mourning' the lost of that coping mechanism -- but I do think the fact that my taste buds are changing is going to be helpful, personally.

Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me all this! How long were you off work right after surgery? I told them 1 to 1.5 weeks is my guess. But one lady here said she was back in a few days. I don't want to push it if I need to heal more though and my clients are all understanding. My dad passed away last year after 25 years of congestive heart failure then also diabetes and lost one leg then the other. It was extremely heartbreaking and don't want my kids to see that happen to me if there is any way at all I can be healthier. So going to do this. Have 12 dietitian appts. Done two. Already had psychological and was cleared. Have endoscopy Oct 11 and last dietitian appt on Oct 30. Surgery after final approval so they estimate Nov. Hopefully early Nov. Doesn't bother me at all about the holidays. One year I lost 5 lbs from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It's all mindset. But it's when I go back to eating like everyone else I always gain! Sucks. Thank you again! I'd love to be able to text with you if you'd consider that! It's ok if you'd rather not though. Lol! I know I'm a stranger. Lol! You look great and I'm so happy for you. And yes when I'm even at 200 I have the energy for the gym and remember only being able to do the stairmaster for seconds and worked my way up to 20 or 30 minutes. I was so much stronger. It was years ago so can't remember but think I got up to 30 mins and now I love esp the machines and esp the leg machines. Leg day is my fave! Can I ask you, did you grieve your clothes? Even though they are big now I like them. I remember when I lost before I grieved them because I'd raised babies with them all and kept some just as memories. Lol! But will just alter what I can and the rest will buy new. Bet no one ever asked you that one! Lol! Unless you've been there and dropped several sizes before you wouldn't understand. 💗 And do we need to add quote when replying because won't these get too long? Lol! Have a great Friday!! ⚘️ Wow! That's awesome. I'd take even half that loss and be happy. But would sure be nice to lose quite a bit so my low back can calm down. Severe osteoarthritis there. About 240 lbs now. 277 was my highest many years back. Lost 100 through diet and exercise and slowly came back. Then end of 2021 was 265. So did it again. Ate less, moved more and lost 64.5 lbs about 2 years ago and got to 200. Felt sooo much better even there but slowly back now to 240! Blah! Surgery most likely early Nov for sleeve. Said bypass will cause ulcers since only ibuprofen helps my back. Can I ask you about exercise you did? Also that you do now? And did you have any skin removal? May need that around my middle later on. Heard someone with our insurance got that covered also. Praying for that but will save up for it if I have to. Thanks for any advice and info! You look great and I know you must FEEL better. That's what I want. I never sought surgery to look better but hopefully will. I just feel terrible and need some relief and want the weight to stay gone. Using this tool to help me remain smaller.

So in the very beginning, I drank ready made protein shakes, bone broth, protein gatorade zero, and other fluids. You do your best to get close to your protein goals, but the first 2-4 weeks it's gonna be hard and you likely won't get there. And that's ok. By weeks 6, 7, 8 and so on is really where you want to be hitting your protein goals. And it gets easier because more foods are available to you. You can always add in a shake if you really need to. But in the very beginning, fluids are the most important. If you can combine fluids and protein with the bone broth, ready made protein shakes, and protein fluids (like the gatorade I mentioned) you're well on your way.

I’m doing OK. London weight-gain is gone - hurray! Currently taking things easy as I’ve had steroid injections in both my knees today 🙂 Looking forward to seeing Fatboy Slim live in 3 weeks for a bit of ‘hands in the air like I just don’t care’. Hope your driving lesson goes well and your hairdresser doesn’t take too much off your fringe! You will have to let us know how things go with your personal trainer 🏋️‍♂️

@AmberFL In all your exercising have you found that your arms are firming up, if they were flabby before? Just looking for some tips as they remain a problem area for me and doing arm weights at home (mix between 1.5kg and 3kg) a few days a week for some reps doesn't seem to be making any inroads. My legs are always going to be a problem area for me because of lymphedema but that just stops me wearing shorts or a short dress leaving me still with plenty of options but having to keep my arms covered all the time (because I hate my arms) is a pain.

This and I also detest animal print. To answer your questions. I don't sleep any better. I am old enough to have to get up twice every night to pee, I also have Fibromyalgia so I am constantly changing position to ease my pain. If I had a magic wish, I would love to sleep through the night again. Now Activity, I am a winner here. I can stand 8 hours behind a very busy charity shop counter once a week and still manage to get home, just about. I walk miles, any excuse and I am off down the road. I never realised how my obesity made me disabled. My walking stick is no longer needed. You will be amazed. Fashion, I am a late developer here. I hated clothes before. My new love is bright colours and over the knee dresses. I love clothes shopping, actual shopping and not just the online outlets. This big U turn shocked me to the core. I hid and now I want to be seen. People ask where I shop fgs. Anything you can wish for and many you won't have thought of will become your new life. Its so very amazing. You have the very worst pre op as I have said before but I know in the end its going to be worth it for you. Keep going, you have got this.

I am 1 week post op from getting the gastric sleeve and I do not feel full. I was put straight on a soft food diet and only eat 2-3oz of food at a time because that's what i was told however I do not feel full after. I am a stickler for rules so I try and follow to the tee but my stomach is always gurgling as if it is hungry. I try hard to meet my protein and water goals although I am not always successful. Does the gurgling mean I am still hungry or is that just part of the healing process? I am scared that I will suffer from malnutrition (ironic because this was NEVER a concern of mine before lol).

This is awesome, thanks!!! Yeah, I've been low carb for so long that my body just doesn't tolerate them anymore. But I'll look into keeping my protein up and adding in more fats. I've been keeping my fats at 40-50 per day, but I'm going to look into doubling that and see how it goes. I actually really like pork rinds, so I'm going to grab some for snacks. I didn't even think of those!!! I will slowly try to bring my carbs up to around 50 per day if I can, but it was easier when I was working out 5 days per week. Now that I'm not, it's a lot harder to do. But I'm going to work on that, as well. Thanks!!

Did they not put you back on the schedule at all? I would’ve figured they would give you an appointment but then call you if they had a sooner one due to a cancellation. Also, At this point you have been on that diet for 6 weeks, right? I would call and make sure that it’s okay with your doctor that you continue on with that same diet. Some of these diets are only designed to be short term.

I was allowed greek yogurt on my full liquid too, but I found it too thick in the beginning. I watered it down with a splash of milk until it was a thinner consistency, but after a week or so I was able to get it down on it's own.

I’m terms of work it really does vary quite a bit person to person. I had my sleeve 3.5 years ago and physically I could’ve returned to a desk job the next day out of hospital in terms of pain but I was tired and took alot of naps. Some people that had same surgery around same time as me were in pain for a week. I think one of the main differences is whether any air gets trapped in there because that causes a lot of pain and takes a while to get it all out. I have been on these boards for a while though and honestly there are plenty of people with very little pain from day one like me and then there are also others who are in a great deal of pain for a couple weeks. I have even seen some that take a full month off. I’d say MOST fall somewhere in between. I would also keep in mind what your home demands are too. If you can’t come home and just rest then it will probably take you a little longer to be able to return to work because even when you do feel ready for work you most likely will not have your normal stamina for a little while. You most likely will need naps at night for a while after working full time. if you do a search on here for recovery time or time off work, etc. You will see lots of posts about this if you want to get a better idea.

Great list. I took up pilates and like it so much the teacher is putting on an extra class each week for me, just have to hope others sign up also so she keeps them going. I am going on my long wanted holiday to D.C. I now know I can do all the walking and sightseeing I have had on my list and I can fly in comfort knowing I am not restricted in a small seat/seatbelt and can shop in the non-plus size sections of Macy's Bloomingdales etc. I bought myself a couple of handbags as 'rewards' I think I will soon be ready to look at starting to date again. It has been years as I never thought I was worthy, if I didn't love myself why would someone else? But I think I am close to now to being ready to at least dip my toe in the water, albeit the reality of if all makes me feel a bit nauseous. I used to like to walk and I have enjoyed doing that again, even if it is just 20 minutes around the block. Just nice to get fresh air and have a bounce in my step. I am organising a party next year for my birthday which I invited all my family (about 30) to a hotel for a few days away, my treat, to celebrate and also thank them all for their love and support over the last year. (Means I can't buy anymore handbags for a while as have to save!)

Hey everyone, it’s me again. I woke up early this morning feeling pretty good and refreshed. I think I’m still proud of myself for doing my walk last night. I told my husband that I was proud and I know that it’s not really that big of a deal but it feels huge to me and he reminded me that after my sleeve I never exercised so it is a big deal. When he would mention it I would just tell him what my surgeon said that it’s really a pretty small part of weight loss. I left out the part where he said that it is still important for physical and mental health though. So I guess the fact that I am less that a month out this time and trying a different approach already is a pretty good thing. I went to do my grocery pickup this morning and got my supplies for my first week of soft foods which I get to start tomorrow 🎉 I ordered a lot more that I need for sure. The guy just kept adding bags to the trunk and my fridge has never been so full. I got out my book that my Dr gave me and it doesn’t mention a portion size for soft foods. The handout the hospital gave me says 1/2 to 3/4 cup though so I guess I will stick to 1/2 cup to start and make sure that’s okay. I just took a little nap since I woke up early and plan to walk again tonight. I have been scouring the Internet for a solution to my shorts riding up. The best thing I can find is to put a boning in the seam so I think I may order some and give that a try. I guess I have to drag out my sewing machine and relearn how to thread it and all that so I’m not sure how long I will procrastinate before I do it. I did order a pair of inexpensive yoga shorts to wear in the mean time and good news is when I measured my waist and hips to get the right size I realized that I have lost two inches in both. My only concern I have now is that one incision that’s dented in still. Everyone says that they think It will be fine but i just don’t know I think it’s going to stay like that honestly and worry that when I lost and it’s extra skin it’s going to look even worse. I guess no one but my husband will ever see it but I really wish it would just flatten out I hope everyone else is having a wonderful holiday weekend and feeling better and better each day. I know that I am.

I believe in my heart I may be the only one doing this to myself...or even able to muster up the courage to talk publicly about it. I'm not getting my protein in. I'm not getting my water in. I haven't been taking my vitamins. I haven't been to the gym in over 2 weeks. I eat what I want, to the point of making myself puke with intolerable food. I gave up. I drink alcohol. I'm lazy. NO i'm not looking for pity, i'm genuinely curious to know if anyone else is or has been in my shoes.. I'm almost 5 months post-op, down 40+ pounds. Losing 1-2lbs per week SOMEHOW. If you've been here, how did you get out of this fog? I'm petrified to address this with my doctor in fear of being judged. I'm in the closet with all this. Scared/anxious i'll just regain my weight over the next year. I feel im in concrete and have ABSOLUTELY NO motivation to change habits very disappointed in myself. Disgusted really. Recently went to a gathering and seen myself in pictures and I am way bigger than i thought i was. im just all over the crazy table!