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Actually, the Sadie is only 25% more male absorptive than the bypass. It absorbs about 25% less of vitamins and food and everything now the traditional duodenal switch is very malabsorption by 50% -80% I believe depending on what material we’re talking about

I did keto a lot before surgery, it was vogue as we’ve all done a million diets in our lives... It works, but cravings. The preop and post diet are similar. Just way more liquids. For the fatigue and headaches, broth was the key. You would dehydrate rapidly and would suffer without the salt. The sugar detox is real, often once it passes you are a ton less Hungery. For those like me, and sugar can start the cravings. 100% agree with others who posted. It takes me about a full week for those to stop. Distractions help, exercise helps, just going to bed helps. I am always less hungry after mild exercise, mostly sweaty and thirsty. It helped stopped the food focus more than plain distractions. Heavy exercise increased the hunger the next day. This might sound crazy, but I had to constantly know when my next meal was. Lunch done, wait 2 hours then sugar free jello, then 1 hour and sugar free popsicle, then start to prep dinner, etc. knowing I was eating something in 1-2 hours helped. I tend to panic eat. Food was scarce as a kid and I tend to stuff myself if it’s not readily at hand and I’m hungry… my next meal is 3 bananas as fast a I can shove them in and I remain food panic triggered and have to talk myself down. I’m working through my hunger panic. I’m 100% not super thin now, I’m huge and need help… it’s why we are all here. :). To give and get support. And trying to not be a clean your plate club, eat any meal you are offered, all meals need a dessert, eat till you have pain and call that “full” kinda gal. I’d also make sure I got all of my sleep. I’m a 10 hour person. Plan a small exercise before you know your mega Hunger hits (I’m lunch). A 15 min walk helps divert my blood to my limbs and gets me craving fluids. Call your food what it is. A popsicle is a dessert. A pudding is a dessert. Sometimes reframing these help, ok in 2 hours I’m having protein pudding as a dessert, followed in 2 hours by a dessert popsicle. We are all different, so need different things. If after dinner I have a popsicle every night before bed, I call it dessert and I always know it’s coming and I will be getting more food… and I’m ok not being as full at dinner. This.. might have been too personal, but… helps me.

Thank you for reading 🖤 I like to think I'm an open book, especially when it comes to my more difficult experiences, purely because I believe having an open and non-judgemental platform to talk about things that may otherwise be hidden away, is really important! That's actually a really good idea - I think I'm going to do that!

Hello there and welcome! I was sleeved about 8 weeks ago now and I spent countless hours, days and months before surgery stressing about every little thing that I read and heard. Right up until surgery I was still hyperventilating! I totally understand how you feel right now. Now I'm on the other side I have to say there are some major challenges for me to deal with. I have been big my entire life and this is like a baptism by fire to me. What do I mean by that? Well I knew I had a food issue especially comfort eating but I didn't realise how bad it was until after my surgery. Head hunger is my biggest enemy I crave food a lot of times during my day. Interestingly enough I don't really crave junk food anymore because I have avoided that from the get go, I just miss the comfort of eating more if that makes sense. I did feel really drained and miserable months before surgery, I was so afraid of things going terribly wrong too, but I was Ok and it was worth it. I don't regret it and I am still early days. I have lost over2 and a half stone in that time and I am feeling much better than I was pre op. Now, you say you don't enjoy healthy food but what do you class a healthy? You will eventually be able to eat chicken, lean beef and pork mince, fish, cheese, yogurts, protein drinks, protein puddings and much more. You will also be surprised how much your tastes and cravings change post op, I know! I didn't believe it either! I make a healthy version of pizza with my own low calorie wholemeal base and low fat protein cheese with ham. It tastes better than the one I used to have before and it is a much healthier version. There's literally loads of ways you can alter your favourite foods to make them lower in calories and healthier too. Get on Pinterest and tiktok there's so much content out there for bariatric surgery patients. The main thing I should tell you with absolute certainty is that the sleeve is a tool not a quick fix. You really need to be fully prepared for the changes it will bring. You will need to put in the hard head work and explore a healthier way of life, Be willing to try healthier food and you may learn to like it. You will not be able to eat unhealthy food and get all the nutrients you need from your diet. If you are certain this is what you want to do then you need to research. you said you don't like healthy food but you also said you don't know how to eat healthy. This is where your research will come in. I noticed you said that you can't find the discipline but when you have a smaller tummy you physically can't eat as much, you will be in a lot of pain and then you will throw up! I wish you all the best on your journey, it's a hell of a ride! x

I live by this. Everything in moderation. I love my protein, salads and fruit, and also love my bread, snacks and my treats. I can't imagine not being able to eat out, try new dishes, new desserts and cuisines. I eat small portions of everything, but I will try everything. A balanced life is very important to me, and cutting out food/food groups just isn't sustainable for me or my lifestyle. On my way to toast some olive and sundried tomato slice of sourdough and slather it with feta and olive oil (YUMMERS).

That’s a feast for the eyes oh and the food looks good too 😝

I reached my goal weight in 2024 and I'm almost 2 years post surgery. While I still enjoy food, I'm happy that my life does not fully revolve around food. I'm happy to move more and make better food choices because it makes me FEEL better. My health was on the decline due to my obesity. Now I'm healthy and living my best life.

I have a few questions for you. The first is, how is your hunger level right now? Are you ravenous, totally uninterested in food, or somewhere in between? Second, how much preparation of fresh food do you do compared to eating of premade or processed foods? I have some ideas that might help, but a lot depends on how hungry you get and how open you are to preparing your own foods from scratch. Also, if you could give us an idea of what your current eating routine is, that might help. Like, how often do you eat each day, and what does a typical menu look like for you? Are there any foods you absolutely love or hate?

@FifiLux is right. Never compare yourself with others. It will only mess with your head. I can guarantee the one thing you can depend upon is that you will do this in your way & is best for you & your body. Whether it be how much you lose, the rate at which you lose, how long it takes, when you experience stalls & how long they last, when you can tolerate certain foods and what foods you can’t tolerate, etc. and there’s nothing wrong with any of that. There’ll be similarities with other & differences & averages which give you an idea of what you might experience that’s all. You’ve lost 13lbs. That’s amazing, Stick to your plan & remember to celebrate every pound you lose.

I can take in liquids and a little soft food like cream soups. Causes a bit of discomfort and my bowels are working fine. Not sure what that means. I did find out that my insurance is active and was given a copy of my card Friday. This seems to have happened for no reason. I live about 30 minutes from where I had surgery. I have now developed pain in my back near my right kidney. Not sure what that means either. I will let you all know what I find out. Thanks!

Routinely knock out 60hr weeks. I think I took three weeks off after the sleeve and that was largely due to a massive abdominal hernia that was repaired at the time of the sleeve surgery. It was my 3rd such repair...and has held up great these last 9 years. You may be able to flip the script......and make those 80hr weeks your best weight loss weeks. There is going to be a time when the protein shakes are the ticket...then maybe those small foil packs of tuna and salmon. Food won't be an issue that occupies your thoughts. You'll laugh at the vending machines and shoot 'em the bird. Make sure you buy all your necessary supplements & shakes and tuna packs and load up your desk or locker. Having those on hand will be one more way to keep food off your mind. You'll not be wondering what you are going to have for lunch every day. You'll have that covered. 8 weeks will be a great amount of time to recover and acclimate. You'll lose a pile of weight in those 8 weeks, too. Those 80hr weeks are going to feel much, much shorter from this point forward. Congrats. Go kick some ass. You got this.

Hi, my operation is on the 25th may, I started the liver reduction diet today and dreading it. My local NHS hospital has given me a very small list of food to have for 3 weeks and not a lot of information. I finished a weight loss injection last week because it wasn't agreeing with me so my appetite is coming back too 🤣 such bad timing haha. How did people's surgeries go recently?

@MrBeeswax I feel that no matter which surgery you receive when we suffer from the disease of obesity and we detour from eating properly then we're gonna experience weight gain. Obesity bodies are different than regular bodies who metabolize food normally. We who suffer from obesity have a metabolic disease, so when we get surgery and start back creeping in those "comfort and emotional eating foods" that we KNOW our body loves to store FAT with such as chips, cakes, cookies, unhealthy CARBS, refined sugars, just SUGARs period in access then we're gonna regain unfortunately we have a horrible disease that requires very proper planning for success. I lost a lot of weight really fast with VSG and I credit my success to 1.Meal prepping for success 2. Being organized 3. Movement. i honestly don't think the type of surgery matters. its that HAND TO MOUTH MOVEMENT what are we putting in our mouths 😂

That is something I hadn't thought about yet - the relationship of sugar with cramps. At this point I don't think that is causing them - I am taking in so little sugar...but I do wonder about the timing and what I eat/drink at night. Last night, for a variety of reasons, the last thing I had before going to bed was a protein shake and I woke up around 5:30 with milk cramps in my shins/ankles...nothing major and easily walked off. So maybe there's something to that last food being protein. Thanks for the info! Sorry you deal with this too :(

Did a thing! Win: My mother has been a petite small lady all her life. She does not think about food, crave food, want food 😂😂😂. could you imagine not thinking about food?! She does not suffer from the disease of obesity. Welp I went home to visit and she was like I think you can wear these pants! The pants is her clothing; her closet resembles that of a small store. So many cloths! I'm like noooooo I will not be able to wear them. Welp I was able to fit in here wide leg size 8 pants from Banana Republic WOW that is crazy!!!!

That looks delish. Maybe you could do a bariatric food blog or something.

I want to challenge your ideas a bit here. This concept that there is some underlying mechanism at work that controls our weight and that we don't have any say in the matter is based on something called set-point theory. In short, the theory is that some as yet undetermined mechanism (likely in our brain), wants us to be a certain weight and thus actively regulates both calories in and calories burned to keep us around the same weight. Anecdotally, most people can attest to the fact that there seems to be a specific weight where they naturally settle when they aren't actively trying to gain or lose weight, so the theory makes intuitive sense. That said, there are some big problems with this theory: Why have we not been able to find the actual mechanism for this set-point if it really does exist? How are some people able to change their set-point? How do we explain that overweight and obesity are significantly more prevalent in some parts of the world vs. others? In those parts of the world where overweight and obesity are more prevalent, how do we account for the fact that these issues were much less prevalent until very recently? (For example, the rate of overweight and obesity in the USA has tripled since about 1980.) To explain this, more modern interpretations have suggested a more nuanced approach. We know that historically, food scarcity was the norm. It's logical to assume our bodies are well adapted to dealing with this as a result. Unlike set-point theory, we do have a solid understanding of the physical processes involved in regulating metabolism during scarcity. This means our bodies know how to handle a lack of food pretty well by down-regulating metabolism. (There are several ways it does that, but I'm going so skip discussing those specific mechanisms for now) What our bodies are less good at is up-regulating metabolism in an environment of where there is an extreme availability of highly palatable foods like we have today. We often think of our bodies like a car that's always running. This is somewhat problematic, but let's go with the analogy for now. Just like a car idling will burn some fuel, our bodies burn some calories just keeping us alive. If there's a shortage of food/petrol, (either because I can't afford it, or because there's a true shortage), I can curtail my movment/driving to conserve how much I use. Likewise, if food/fuel is cheap and readily available, I can move/drive a lot and even fill my fuel tank (fat stores), whenever I want. Unlike a car that has a limited fuel tank that can only hold a specific amount of fuel, humans have a theoretically unlimited ability to store excess fuel in the form of fat. TL;DR: It's not so much that our bodies decide what weight to be. It's more that we were never designed to deal with cheap, easy access to super tasty food. At the end of the day, what determines whether or not you have more fat stores than you might want is whether or not you eat more calories than you burn in a day. The entire point of this overly long post is that there's no mechanism working against you that's keeping you from reaching your goal. Our bodies were designed to store excess calories to keep from starving to death when food was scarce. We rarely experience scarcity anymore, but our bodies don't know that. They still will do everything they can to hold onto those stored calories "just in case". There are ways to get beyond this, but that will have to wait for another post.

"Unless you stole it from an orphan..." 🤣🤣🤣 He's definitely on point with all of this, though I suspect most folks need some help and guidance on how to actually implement these things. I also agree that are no BAD foods, but there are definitely some that are better for you than others. Balance is important, and that may be the one point I'd add to what he said. Yes, eat all the foods, just make sure your "all" includes the salad and the veggies and the fruit and the whole grains, etc.

I'm glad you found something that's working for you. I tried Contrave years ago and it worked for a while, but then the effect faded. Hopefully that won't happen for you. I also wanted to comment on sugar. There's a lot of evidence that our bodies were designed to seek out calorically dense foods (like fat and simple sugars), since historically food was a lot harder to come by. We see this even today in traditional hunter-gatherer societies. Honey is sometimes a significant part of their diet. Imagine having to climb a tree, meanwhile getting stung multiple times, just to pull out a few handfuls of honeycomb. Interestingly, these people know to only take a part of the hive because they want the bees to stay at this location so the hunter can return to it over and over. My point in telling you all that is that it's perfectly normal to crave sugar. If avoiding it for the rest of your life is something you're able to do, then I think that's great. If you know it's not something you can do forever, then you may need to make peace with the cravings and find a way to have some when you can, but be sure to "leave some of the hive alone" till next time. Personally as an endurance athlete, I do consume a lot of simple carbs and so completely avoiding sugar just isn't really something I could do. Keep in mind that glucose (a simple sugar), is the primary fuel that your body uses. It stores glucose in the form of glycogen, but the reservoir is somewhat limited. This means that for longer, harder endurance efforts, it's important for me to consume simple sugars during those runs or rides that will help replenish my dwindling supply of glucose. My normal diet also consists of about 65% of my daily calories coming from carbs to help keep my glycogen supply as topped off as possible. This is a combination of both simple sugars and more complex carbs like fruits, vegetables, bread, pasta, potatoes and rice. If I didn't do this, I simply could not exercise for the duration or at the intensity that I do. My point here is that I've had to come to grips with the fact that for me, carbs are not the devil. They are in fact a necessary and healthy thing. This was a big change for me since historically as an obese individual, I tried to eat low carb most of the time. I now believe there are no bad foods and the best thing for me is to eat a wide variety of foods like most normal weight healthy folks do. Please don't think I'm trying to tell you what you should do! If what you're doing is working, that's fantastic!. I'm more responding to the comment you made that sugar was bad and we shouldn't eat it. For you that may be true, but it's not true for everyone, and certainly not for me.

Isn’t there a carafe in the middle of the table to pour into? I didn’t have alcohol that early on, but I did go to a wine/food pairing event last month (3+years out) and it went ok as long as I only took one sip per kind of wine and ate the one bite of food paired with it. I would bring a shake in your bag in case you find out the hard way that you dump or have delayed blood sugar issues. Or, I would be tempted to say that you have strep throat or the flu, and skip the whole thing. I bailed out on a lot of stuff early on because of foamies and fear of dumping in public. It took about 9 months for me to figure out my new body. I also knew that the surgery was my one shot. (I kept singing Lin Miranda’s Not Going to Mess Up My One Shot.) I still take my health very seriously and don’t care about loosing face with friends/family. You’ve got some choices.

Hey guys! Thanks for taking your time to read and answer I appreciate it. I had Gastric Sleeve last Friday the 14th. I have had a few moments where it felt like I was having low blood sugar, because I was/am prediabetic. It will go away even eating a sugar free popsicle will make it better. My bf told me it's not my blood sugar cus sugar free wont fix that. I have just had a handful of moments that felt like i would pass out if i didn't get something in me. Is that normal? I get in all my fluids and then some, ate my 2ox 3 x a day liquid diet as well. I was getting about 40 grams of protein a day which was all I could really fit in in three meals of 2oz lol. Today I am starting puree so I am expecting it to get better but just curious. I've had 0 complications and 0 dumping as well.

Not the same starting weight, but have been obese all my life and this has been the best decision of my life, other than the man I married. He loves me no matter what I look like. But, I did this for health reasons and not to be skinny. I feel healthier, and my diabetes medications are no longer. I had the bypass, because I didn't want to deal with the possibility of GERD. I had some issues with it, but not any more, and mostly because I'm eating the right food. I wish you well.

Hiiiii Have you asked yourself why you feel so much guilt about eating things that are not so "healthy"? You are maintaining your weight right? You workout daily, you track your calories, you've achieved your goal weight. What you're detailing here is that you eat "badly", feel guilty, workout extra hard, rinse and repeat. Have you thought of not labelling food as "good" or "bad"?

Usually people experience their first stall at around the 3 week mark +/- and they can last 1-3 weeks. However this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are some who experience small stalls of only a few days. I was one who wouldn’t see any loss on the scales for only a handful of days and then would drop again. I noticed this simply because I weighed myself daily and recorded my loss. As you weigh once a week you may have missed a brief plateau at around that three week mark and you are having a larger more average length stall now. Your friends may not have noticed stalls if they weighed once a week or less frequently. The only thing you can rely on is regardless of how often you stall or how long there last they will break. Just stick to your plan & everything will be fine when your body is ready to start losing again. Is there a reason you are only eating one real meal a day and your other meals are shakes? At almost three months post surgery most of your nutrients should be coming from real food not shakes. A shake should only be to supplement your protein intake or as an occasional convenient meal alternative (work commitments, travel, etc.). I also wonder if that could impact your weight loss and the length of your plateau. Personally I never had another shake after the first 2 week liquid stage & was eating real food meals from week 3 post surgery. By around week 8 I was eating all meats (fish, beef, chicken, pork, lamb) & 1 or 2 vegetables for lunch and dinner and eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. This is when you should be introducing better food choices and eating habits for the long term. This would be worth a conversation with your dietician & surgeon.

Sorry I'm a bit sporadic here. I'm nearly two weeks post op (tomorrow is 2 weeks) and have no trouble at all drinking smoothies, Optifast shakes, tea, thin soup etc. In fact I'm a bit worried because I can easily have a cup (250ml) or more quite quickly - say within ten minutes. I go to Sydney on Wednesday to meet with the bariatric GP and dietician at my surgeons office so I'll ask them about this. If I have anything a bit thicker - pureed but thinnish chicken soup for instance - I can feel it sitting in my belly as a lump for a minute or two, so I'm hoping when I move onto puree on Wednesday it will slow me down a bit. Water I find difficult - it makes me burp painfully and feels really rough. I've had something called Vital Zing drops recommended, they add flavour, and apparently help to make water easier to drink. Problem is I don't like flavoured water and I particularly hate artificial sweetener. So I'm battling on with water. I'm hoping the tea I drink is helping to keep me hydrated! I used to drink sparkling water so perhaps I'm also not used to plain water. I haven't had sparkling since the op for obvious reasons! I've wanted something savoury and a bit solider so I've been having my husband's home made hummus for lunch, 100g. It feels a bit lumpy in my belly too but I get sick of all the sweet shakes and things. He thinned it out a bit with the aqua faba but it is still thicker than could be drunk through a straw. I've lost ~9kg so far since start of pre-op diet - 107 to 98. So it's good to break the 100kg barrier. The next one is 96kg, which I got down to in 2023 with a gastric balloon.