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I have to say I haven't come across a protein powder that could be sprinkled over a popsicle without clumping and being disgusting. But I did add unflavored protein powder to tomato soup in the early weeks because I got really turned off by sweet shakes early on. It gave it a similar taste and color as if you'd added a little bit of cream. I want to say I was allowed tomato soup right away (smooth, no chunks).

Its been one month and 9 days and ive been 183 for two weeks now🙃. Im praying this is temporary. I started introducing solids but even in that i cant over indulge. WTF! If i stopped… this will be so disappointing.

My appetite is returning yall. Im offically 27 days since my surgery. I eat little chopped up lunch meat. I had a tiny piece of chicken - just trying things out. I ate 3 chips and chewed them down to bits before swallowing… but the restriction is still strong and im grateful lol. Im at 184 today

Even though my surgery was in July 2023, due to all the complications I suffered, I only consider that my journey started in January 2024 and even then it was a struggle most days to just breath and get out of bed but I have been doing and feeling much better since around May/June this year after (what was hopefully) my final WLS related procedure. I now feel comfortable in myself and enjoy the lighter side of life. Since the surgery I have lost almost as much weight as I now weigh (62kg/136lb/9.7st vs 58kg/127lb/9.1st lost) which amazes me, I didn't actually think it was possible to be this 'light'. I didn't grieve food as I was just too exhausted most of the time to give it much thought so in a way I take that as a positive. I am trying my best to respect my new stomach in that I give it small yet good/nourishing food choices and allow myself the occasional treat and glasses of wine. I have enjoyed finding and trying out new recipes. I took up aqua aerobics and pilates in February and used that to help build up my strength and then in October joined the gym which I love. I find it funny now how my body and brain tells me I need to get up and walk, and I obey, whereas in previous years I would have just ignored the notion and stayed on the sofa. I love the feeling of wanting to move and then being able to move, not restricted by the weight. I also see in myself how I am changing, pre-op if I had a set-back or upsetting day I would usually sit on the sofa for hours/days and drink and eat on repeat but now I think it out, do an activity etc to get through - for example a couple of weeks ago my beloved cat of 16yrs had to go to sleep and it was so upsetting for me (and still is) and in times gone by I would have stayed in bed or on the sofa with a bottle (or three) of wine, popcorn, chocolate etc but this time I scrubbed clean the apartment one day, sorted somethings out for donations another day, went to the gym and just focused on the movements, went for walks. I just hope that I can keep up this sensible me for the years to come! In the last year I have learned to listen to myself, take care of myself and not take sh*t from anybody and I intend to keep that up for 2025. Also for 2025 I look forward to continuing as I am doing now; mindful eating, exercise and enjoying life. Happy New Year everyone 🎉

Landed back in the UK late last night, and boy am I happy to have my own bed and be with my cats! I do however have COVID after doing a test last night, which sucks 😂 Athens was amazing! The heat was more than manageable, and I was walking 20-25k steps per day for the whole week, and I wasn't in pain like I was on holiday last year. It was so great to already see and feel that change. I felt like I could actually keep up with my friends. The only thing that I couldn't/didn't want to do, was get to the Acropolis - that was STEEP and I am afraid of heights, so maybe that will be a future thing 😂 I met so many cats which was ideal, and I enjoyed my time thoroughly. I did try a few glasses of white wine, spread out over a few days, and genuinely it had no effect on me! I was really expecting to feel it, but genuinely there was nothing 🤷‍♀️ I don't think I will choose to drink again haha. I have also managed to lose a few pounds too, so I am feeling happy about that! Unfortunately my boyfriend has put on 8-9lbs due to eating the leftovers from my food bless him 🤣

How are you doing now? Have you started back to some form of movement. I know that when I had the sleeve I tried to do the treadmill and that did not stick no matter how many times I tried. To me, that was like torture. This time with my revision I am walking around the neighborhood instead. Talking with a friend on the phone who is also walking or listening to music and seeing the various houses and people is just a great deal more enjoyable for me than the treadmill even with the television on I still felt like a hamster I am still early out and I definitely wouldn’t call it a habit yet but I can tell you for sure that I do not dread it each day like I did the other and I’m really hoping that I can keep it up I know for sure that the endorphins are great for my mood and my energy I go until I fall into the bed and sleep like a baby. In fact that’s why I’m up right now, because I did so much yesterday I feel asleep at 9pm 😂 I agree somewhat about the fact that if you must choose one place to put your effort then the nutrition is definitely the most important in terms of weight loss BUT, having done this before and been less successful, I can tell you that last time I did not exercise and it felt like less of a huge life change for me as it does this time Again, I am only 5 weeks out so it’s possible that this is temporary, though I hope not because I feel fantastic with all of my choices my point is that adding in exercise, for me, makes it feel like more of a lifestyle change and after I come home all sweaty from my walk I don’t want to put any junk into my body. I am even starting to buy things that are grass fed and organic when they are available and trying to cut back on salt as well as rethinking my artificial Sweeteners (although that’s going to be the toughest for me to give up) because my body feels so good and healthy and I want to feel this way for a long long time. As others have said it doesn’t have to be a specific exercise. Just move your body more. Maybe dance lessons, or Pickleball, something like that. My library had a Belly Dance teacher at one point about a year ago and now that I’m losing a bit I am going to look into whether she is still there because that sounds kinda fun. I also did some research on the weighted hula hoop and it is cardio for most people as well as a bit of strength training so I may try that. It brings back memories of competitions with them as a kid so it could be fun. Something that my PA said at one of my pre surgery support group meetings keeps ringing in my mind that helps motivate me too he said that just 90 minutes of exercise a week in zone two heart rate (which I achieve with a brisk walk) decreases your risk of “all cause mortality” by 15%!! You can even break it into 15 minutes a day- 6 days a week (although it’s really 25 with your warm up and cool down added) but weight loss aside, a 15% decrease, thats pretty incredible. I was afraid of some of the complications from surgery that may or may not kill me and that was once like a 2% risk. So my goal is 30 minutes of exercise a day (I rounded up) and anything beyond that is just a bonus. That has seemed to work for me so far 🤞

Adding to the things that may not be accurate: BMI. BMI is an average that was reduced to a simple algorithm: BMI = weight (kg) / [height (m)]^2. In words: weight * (height * height). This calculation is intended to be a rough estimate to start with not the end all be all it has become. Such a calculation is closer to "correct" at the middle or average height and weight. Tall people skew to a lower BMI, short people skew to a higher BMI. The taller / shorter we are the more the BMI skews lower / higher. Body type also can skew higher or lower BMI. Not all of our bodies are built the same yet the BMI assumes they are. The more muscle we have the more the BMI doesn't work right. Body builders show the extreme of this effect. Arnold at his younger best would weigh in at a very high BMI. But us humans can build enough muscle to screw with our BMI. BMI is a rough starting place. Once you have the number, it doesn't really matter. How we feel, our health both physical and mental, how our eating and exercise are feeling. These are the real measures. Whew, done with BMI. But the post goes on. Then another part of this whole thing is Goal Weight. Simply, It may be wrong. If we're aiming for a certain BMI or BMI range the BMI discussion above should cause us to think. If it's a weight we were when we were young(er), our body has changed since then. If it's a weight our surgeon or medical team created it is another number intended as an idea that has been turned into a goal to measure us by. If it's based on those on-line calculators they give the average progress and result of someone with our demographics: We as individuals are not average. Goals are not written in stone. As a target to aim for when you start the process, it's fine. As you progress things change. Our bodies may tell us the original goal is unrealistic. If our body is happy and healthy at a different weight perhaps we should listen. The thing with goals, we are over the moon when we lose 10, 20, 50 pounds more than goal. Look how unconcerned we are about missing our goals by 10, 20, or 50 pounds. Why is missing goal by 10, 20, 50 pounds the other way so devestating? We misjudged our goals both ways. Ultimately, it's where our bodies that decided where to stop. If we have goals, we should continually evaluate them and change them as necessary. We have more information about our process now than we did when we started. More now than last week. Be honest. Be realistic. Good luck, Tek

I ate cottage cheese, avocado spread, hummus, protein pudding, protein yogurt, and even 3 or 4 teaspoon fulls of split pea soup (my husband had to eat the rest because it was REALLY filling). I also ate some tuna (but VERY sparingly), oatmeal (again, very sparingly and only 2 or 3 teaspoon fulls...my daughter ate the rest of the bowl because it was really filling), sauteed squash (used extra virgin olive oil and it was soft and soooo good), 1 scrambled egg (only had about 2 small bites and then hubby added the rest to his eggs and finished it). I was just so happy to be able to eat stuff, but I was absolutely NOT ready for how little I could actually eat lol

Hey guys! So far everything is going good. I had a RNY on the 10th of April and lost 80 pounds so far! I am also starting to see a huge difference in myself. More energy, feeling more happy and confident. I have also started to see difference in my skin... it feels less tight but I hoping it is just taking time to adjust as I know it takes longer for the skin to shrink. There are some weeks where I might lose 0.5 kg and others where I can lose 3kg bit the main thing is that it is a downward trend. Overall, I am happy I got the surgery.

So #1 is you definitely need to fight to get this rebilled properly. It's insane to me that they won't fix the billing. They get paid more for the proper procedure, so that's crazy that they won't fix it. Then #2 is you need to contact someone about starting a lawsuit. The surgeon should have called an ambulance for you. The surgery should have been done in a hospital. You should have been monitored closely and been up walking within 2 hours of being out of recovery and back in your room. Knicking an artery could have literally killed you and definitely should been noticed before 10 hours. Finally #3 is getting this covered by your insurance. BCBS should be covering any lifesaving, medically necessary health care and procedures. No, they won't cover care for non covered procedures, but that's usually just follow ups and complications of the NON LIFE THREATENING variety. Everything you've been telling us falls into the life threatening, surgeon negligence, medically necessary to SAVE YOUR LIFE category and should be covered. You need someone to fight on your behalf to get this stuff covered and either greatly reduce or even completely eliminate your bill. I'm from Florida, and while it might be done in some places to have a surgery like this in a surgery center and not a hospital, it's definitely not the absolute norm. Did you do extensive research on this surgeon, his reviews, compare him and his pricing to other surgeons? No way would I have had this surgery and NOT been in a hospital. Too many things can happen when you least expect it. This guy distancing himself from all of this, when clearly he screwed up, is the first HUGE red flag. Refusing to fix the billing error is the 2nd one. Not calling an ambulance and instead having your husband take you (effectively making it appear that you left on your own and went to the ER instead of him seeing an issue while under his care and calling an ambulance for you, so he can wash his hands of it and look like whatever happened was on YOUR watch and not his) is a 3rd red flag.

I had to sip for a good 6-8 weeks when I had my sleeve. I really struggled with the sleeve, and ended up with a revision to bypass a year later because of complications. I didn't have to sip at all when I had the bypass. I finished an entire 20oz bottle of water the day I had the revision in 2 hours in the hospital. When they saw that, they unhooked me from the IV because they saw I was getting enough fluids lol

ooo Pilates okay! I haven't tried that, I will have to look into that. That's why I am doing a cardio day and an F45 day. I am not trying to loose anymore weight but I feel so good afterwards. And I am starting to get muscly so I would like to maintain. I lift heavy as well. Do you think 4 days of heavy lifting is good? I am new to this and have been working out with weights for only 4 months but the progress is pretty addicting. I am having mixed feelings about F45 I did hybrid day and it was meh, I felt like I needed more, then I did a only strength day and oh man! that felt good, so this week I am doing an only cardio day and see how that is. I am only doing 1x a week, (works better for my schedule). So this is new but I am so bored with my workouts and I feeling like I am just coasting and not getting sore or tired like I used to, which I am told that is good since I am in shape?

If you have in person support groups you may also be able to find an exercise buddy. I met a lady the other night at mine and we exchanged numbers so we can walk together if I can handle the heat. She does 5 miles a day so I won’t be able to do the whole time witb her right away but hopefully she won’t mind backtracking a bit or I can just turn back alone until I can get caught up to her distance wise. I plan to see what I actually can do to start on my own so I don’t kill myself trying to keep up with her though but wheni had the sleeve I never did exercise or go to support meetings and this time I’m three weeks out and already ordered my walking shoes. The support groups really do work.

I'm the same. I'll be honest, its not that I don't like the gym...I don't like exercising gym or anywhere. I dread every minute of it. I walk (boring) and lift free weights (boring and tedious), I refuse to swim - that would require going to a public pool and putting on a swimsuit and looking like a newborn shar pei. It isn't going to make me want to publicly swim. When we had our own pool I use do laps sometimes. I like hiking, but that involves traveling somewhere and dealing with weather. Its all boring! I have: 1. Free weights 2. Treadmill 3. Nintendo Switch exercise games 4. The Total Gym 5. Exercise bands 6. The Cubii Move I don't like doing any of them. Its not laziness; its tedious and boring! Add on top of that I don't like being sweaty. I do yoga which I used to enjoy, now I don't. I can foresee due to the boredom and not enjoying it not doing any of it soon. I get tired of people, dieticians, doctors, physical therapists etc., telling me I just need to find something I'd enjoy doing. Please, please tell me what that is!? So, rest assured its not just you. I'm struggling with it as well. Also, I have permanent shin splints..so running, walking anything where I have to travel involves a mile of constant pain until it settles regardless of stretching beforehand.

I would have focused more on my therapy sessions. I would have taken it all more seriously. My approach to the whole thing was "yeah yeah, I'll just go along and do what you shrink-folks tell me, let's just get this over with as quickly as possible, just sign me your 'ok' so that I can move on to surgery". At the moment I'm not very much inspired to go into more details and write some more... currently struggling with a serious weight re-gain (almost 20 kilos regain) ... and I don't know... some (almost) 3 years after my surgery, still struggling, just like before the surgery.

I wish I had taken some 'before' pictures so that I could see the great changes. I still don't think I see the real me in the mirror at times so wish I could look at how fat (I can now say that about myself 😄) I was pre-op. I did switch to decaf for the two weeks pre-op as read it online but the hospital were giving me (disgusting) coffee the day after the op and continued to offer it to me every day I was there but my tastebuds couldn't hack it so I went with herbal tea each time. Now, a year later, coffee is no problem and have it running through my veins. I also made a batch of liquid soups for the first week and froze them in 150ml containers so that I wouldn't have to worry about it, just needed to add protein powder at the time, plus I prepped the veg for a second batch of soup and froze them so it meant I just had to put them in the slow cooker with a stock cube, no standing around peeling, chopping etc.

According to my post of instructions, we weren’t allowed to eat regular foods until 8 weeks post op. Maybe try to go back on pureed/soft. Then once you get to 8 weeks introduce regular food.

I found a stock cube in water with some protein powder had a bit of a salty flavouring to it. I am more savoury than sweet for my taste buds so I know how you are feeling. The thing that got me through was knowing I was able to swallow very little of the liquids and it was only for a couple of weeks.

Got home. Got naked. Stepped on scales. Back at 70.4kg. So up 1 kg (2.2lbs) since last Friday .One full month of being stalled today. Starting to get very very very fed up. No way am I consuming over 1000 calories a day even counting every drop I drink, every splash of milk I put in a coffee. So p*ssed off at still seeing a 7 on the scales. Doing my head in. Going to have a nap and reflect.

I’m a while out now (5.5yrs). I was one who never felt hungry. The first time I did was at about 8 months & I honestly took a while to work out what was wrong. I felt restless. Something wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t anything like what I thought was hunger before. It wasn’t until I reflected back on my day that I realised I’d been busy and hadn’t eaten much. Then it was a couple of months again before I started to feel hunger more often. Because of my lack of hunger I ate to a routine, still do, to ensure I met my protein goals and other nutritional needs. I wasn’t someone who ate to sooth themselves in fact I tended to be the opposite and wouldn’t eat. If you are someone who always has used food as a comfort the first weeks can be a challenge as it’s a stressful time ( physically & mentally). You may be emotional too because of the hormonal flush from the estrogen stored in your fat that is released as you lose weight. Generally if you are craving a specific texture, flavour or food that is head hunger. Check your emotions: are you feeling sad, angry, bored, lost, etc.? Then it’s head hunger. Is your tummy rumbling? Again head hunger & also from excess tummy acid. (You’ll continue to produce the amount of acid you used to need for the volume of food you ate & your larger tummy. You’ll likely be prescribed a PPI to counteract the excess acid but if not ask for a script to help.) Distraction can be very useless at these times. Read, craft, go for a walk, contact a friend or family member, meditate, check this forum, etc. Often a warm drink can be helpful. I also agree with @NeonRaven8919’s advice of finding a therapist. Many find the support & strategies they can offer vey helpful. All the best.

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!

Do you change up your workouts? I’d read somewhere years ago that you need to change them every 6 weeks or so as your body gets used to what you’re doing. Can you change your reps/sets? The amount of weights you’re using? Try something completely different? I had to keep doing this and it did work for me so maybe it’s something that could work for you too? I remember I stopped working out for a couple of weeks and dropped 7lbs 🤷‍♀️ Our bodies are weird!

Never too late to give away or donate from your freezer. Then you’ll have plenty of room to freeze single portions of anything you cook. In a short time you’ll have a variety of meals you can simply defrost & heat. I usually only cook twice a week from scratch, freeze several portions then I ‘shop’ dinner from my freezer. Tonight I’m having pork schnitzel from the batch I cooked last week. Once defrosted it will reheat in 30/40 seconds & I only have to prep vegetables. I use zip lock bags for my single serves: any meat cuts (steak, lamb cutlets, etc.) plus soups, meat balls, bolognese, anything really. I even cook a mini roast, slice it up & freeze individual portions in the bags with gravy. Easy to write on the bag what it is & add a date so you remember when you cooked & froze it.

Hello ladies x Had my one month post op appointment today with the surgical team and he told me that all is well and should keep doing what I am doing wnd I am ready to start REAL FOOD and exercise! He did transfer me to a dietician immediately tho because he expected a higher loss than 10 kg for the first month but he did say 10 kg is still good and wanted me to speak to the dietician to understand more. And it turns out I am under eating and avoiding all sort of carbs which is effecting me and could possibly mean I am not retaining nutrients. I have been to scared of eating that I know for sure I was under eating. So she went over my plan and told ne to eat 8 well cooked meals! And to check back in 2 weeks with how I am feeling. She told me not to be too worried about calories now and we will talk more when I reach 80 kgs. I am wondering what your dietician have been telling u guys about carbs? R they part of ur meal plans?

Thank you very much! Congratulations to you as well for your successful journey. It's amazing to finally be free of the fat and, more importantly for me, the addiction to food and the total control/power I have over food now. It's seriously my lifelong dream at 55 so staying motivated was baked in.. Thank you again. I am sure I didn't elaborate or explain my reasons enough but actually I am concerned about slowing down the weight loss. I still eat very small portions and am worried it would be hard to sustain on just protein, without carbs. I like my body running more ketogenic than carbed up with the ups and downs of carbs. Without adding fat, and with our malabsorption aspect of the surgery, I am wondering if its possible or not so much..If I am being honest, at 240lbs, I started eating dirtier with carbs to try and stabilize at 240 until I got my knee surgeries, but then just dropped another 20+ within a month and a half or so. My steps and activity increased, small by normal people standards, but a lot for where I have been, after I got another Cortisone shot to the knees. This just illustrates my concern once I reach goal weight and I am rucking, hiking, and lifting. Those three things will be lifelong for longevity and mobility going forward. Obviously everyone is different as far genetically and such, but I have been extremely low calorie, plenty of short fasts up to three days, and have plateaued at certain points during my weight loss, and after doing a refeed with carbs and basically whatever I want to eat, I recharged my metabolism for another huge run of weight loss. The refeed was usually only a couple days to a few days but less than a week. Now with this approach remember I am lifting weights. I mean hard as I can weight lifting 4 days a week. It sucks! Low energy lifting is not fun but the recomp.. I really believe the built-in calorie burn from lean muscle mass is the most efficient way to permanently stay in shape. Male or female doesn't matter. IMHO if your metabolism is slow and you are struggling with the last few pounds, I mean the literally like 5-10 pounds from goal BF, man or woman, start lifting weights. The body recomp will floor you. And that weight or really I think just your body composition after significant weight loss without adding lean muscle mass leaves you looking(Sometimes) like a no muscle bag of skin. Flat. It's not fun but the results.. Anyways thank you for the reply and just to make clear if any of the vets care to weigh in, the WLS gave me the tool, the only tool I will ever need again to lose weight. It's so powerful for me that I need to think about slowing down my weight loss combined with, if possible, being low carb and more ketogenic as a lifestyle choice I prefer. I just don't know if low carb is sustainable without the fat calories. that specifically is what I am looking for. Does anyone prefer low carb/ketogenic after surgery and is it possible? I already realize that fats can be problematic, is anyone doing carnivore after DS Sadi. Not my preference but the only option it seems for low carb without the keto fat plan. Thanks in advance for any tips.