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surprise, surprise : a salad. i cut up one rib from yesterday's slow cook for a protein topping. also a pic of the leftover ribs.

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i had an arm lift (and breast lift, and tummy tuck...all in one shot in Dec 2019). i always disliked my upper arms. when i was thin (and thought i was fat) i was self conscious of what i thought was the size of them and rarely wore sleeveless tops. then when i actually got fat i NEVER wore them. if i had to go to an event the warranted (an arm-baring) dress, i always wore a shawl. fast forward to the weight loss and i was left with some saggy jiggly upper arms. while they looked okay when my arms were at my sides, i really did not like the look of them flapping in the wind when i raised them, lol. and i raise them alot, ha...i'm one of those raise-your-arms-in-the-air-and-wave-them-like-you-just-don't-care kinda gals, lolololzzz. so i had them done about a year post op (6-ish months after i reached goal). LOVE EM. while i did wear sleeveless again after the weight loss, i feel a lot less self-conscious about them after the arm lift. and really, it makes all the difference :).. now i do have very prominent scars on my arms (i scar very badly, and knew this going in), but for some reason the scars dont bother me as much as the flapping did. Go figure. recovery is no joke though, i'll be honest. had i not done too much too soon, i would probably have been good to go by 6 weeks...but i didn't, so my recovery was more like 3+ months. that was over 5 years ago now, and i've been wearing tank tops and other sleeveless tops all year round since, hahaha. it really all boils down to what YOU are comfortable with...i was told by countless of people that i didn't need to/shouldn't get it done. but i got it anyway, because the only person who can say i need it is ME. if you have the means and the desire, the option is yours. Good luck! ❤️ some pics: 1st link: 6 months BEFORE the arm lift 2nd link: Day before VS 3 weeks after arm lift 3rd link: 6 months AFTER the arm lift

March 26th Band removal, wait two months then Sleeve. The liver shrinking took a few days to get use to but have lost 12lbs, Mostly water I'm guessing. I like the Whey 30g chocolate, the Premier plant based 25g is nasty but doable. I find one meal, protein ,one pork chop, one piece of chicken with some legumes, mozzarella cheese, sardines and romaine lettuce has helped. End of day is great for hunger since not real hungry during the day. It is so incredible how carbs have ruined me. So addicted to them. Now I hope I will never go back to white rice, white potatoes, pasta, or bad breads. From 397 to 385 and I feel it,

I've heard from friends who've had success with non-medication approaches like mindfulness meditation or establishing a consistent bedtime routine. Have you tried any of these? Also, I've heard you can buy zopiclone online as a solution to insomnia. I haven't personally tried it, but it might be worth looking into if you're open to exploring different options. Just remember to always consult with your healthcare provider before trying any new medication, especially if you're already taking other medications.

Premier protein is the brand I use and what I would do is mix a shake with some decaf coffee. Takes some of the sweetness away. Also I made jello with peach protein waters from premier. For me drinking the shakes are sometimes very challenging. I try to drink one in the morning during my commute. I leave the house at 430 am so i can normally finish it with in an hour.

lol. You reminded me of the sugar free gummy bears I didn’t have an issue with them but I didn’t like them so I didn’t have but one maybe two. I sent them home with my friend who was living a couple of hours away so she ate the rest of the pack on her way home 😂 . She now buys those instead of bothering with fiber or laxatives when she is constipated she swears they work better. I am really hoping that my sleeve is still okay. That’s one of my questions for the surgeon is what happens if he goes in and it’s bigger than it should be. He is the one that don’t it and he is known As an excellent surgeon but For whatever reason I could eat more than I should’ve been able to at every given stage from day one when I was drinking without any issue. I also had very little pain post op so maybe I just advanced through the stages faster because of less swelling or something?? At first I questioned whether they even did the surgery but I definitely do haxe Restriction it’s just not as much as some peoples Anyways, I definitely need to save this post for future reference. In terms of all the dining out options and potential trigger foods this is such valuable information!!

Caffeine is usually restricted for the first few months in a virgin DS/SADI surgery to help prevent dehydration. You may not have this restriction put on you since you already have your sleeve and should keep food and fluids down fine post-op since they probably won't resleeve you unless yours was done wrong. Even if they put you on caffeine restriction, it is only for a little while. There is no reason to restrict it long term, it doesn't harm the digestive system. My partner loves to dine out and we don't have kids, so I've been eating out since a month after surgery. I am careful with my choices, the first thing I ate out was grilled swordfish and sauteed green beans. It was fine. I've since eaten Thai curries (mild), pho without the noodles (they put veggies instead), sashimi, fajitas with guacamole and cheese sauce (no tortillas, rice, or beans), steak (ribeye is my favorite and digests better now than it even did pre-op), wings, traditional Chinese food (nothing fried, no rice), Peruvian chicken, the list goes on and on. I try to stick to protein/veggie options. Anything I wanted to eat at a restaurant I tried to have a version of at home first to know how it would affect me. I tolerate most things pretty well, though it seems my digestive system prefers baby spinach over iceburg or romaine lettuce, but that's not a huge sacrifice. And I can't eat beans at all, but I never really tolerated them pre-op either. Also I try not to have too many cruciferous veggies at once (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage), as they cause bloating, but I had that problem before surgery too. (I have had IBS and an inflammatory bowel disease since I was a teenager.) That said I try to make healthy choices in general whether eating out or eating at home. DS patients don't really need to restrict fat because we malabsorb so much of it (regardless of what the dieticians tell you) and SADI patients can eat a moderate amount of fat as they malabsorb a moderate amount of fat. Too much fat in one sitting can cause diarrhea, but you'd have to really make an effort to do that, and any bariatric surgery other than the sleeve can cause that issue. Coke Zero does not have sugar alcohols in it, it has Splenda, so it is fine from that perspective. Carbonation is only an issue if it bloats your sleeve. However, it can cause you to be hungry faster, or cause gas due to the air bubbles, so it isn't the best habit to have long term. But it won't piss off your intestines. I switched to unsweetened iced tea and carry Splenda or Equal packets with me! Sugar alcohols are things like erythritol, xylitol, and malitol. Allulose can also cause gastric upset depending on how tolerant you are of it. I can usually have a little of any of those, but more than a tablespoon and I'll be in the bathroom half the night. 🤣

I had my surgery on the 13th as well, although my surgery was the sleeve. So here we are, a day away from our first week with our new internal mechanics. Iʻm just going to take a minute to congratulate us both for being brave enough to do this. While I understand that the "food onboarding" process differs from procedure to procedure and even surgeon to surgeon, I hope youʻll consult with your surgeon or program before you eat solids. My program considers sugar free jello a liquid. Would that suffice? I get it, believe me. I made my husband go to our local Pho restaurant last night and buy me just Pho broth because I couldn't stomach one more sweet drink. Regarding meds, I had to switch a couple that were time release to rapid release so that they could be safely crushed for daily consumption. Did your doctor tell you that all medications and supplements had to be liquid, chewable, or crushed for the first month? Mine did, and while the chewable vitamins and calcium are a treat because I get to chew them, crushing the others and trying to mask their awful taste with a protein shake is disgusting. I'm not getting used to it. Like you, I'm not in any pain and for the last two days, even the gas has been minimal, so I must've finally expelled all that surgery gas. Again, congrats on your big decision and hang in there.

Every surgeon is different, but with my program, I was allowed to start soft proteins on Day 7 after a chat with the nurse to make sure I was getting my hydration in and feeling well. I had great luck with tuna salad made with low-fat mayo, yogurt (I did Oikos Triple Zero, but eventually the artificial sweetener taste turned me off them), oh, and cottage cheese was an absolute delight! I made a poached egg and it went down nicely, so then I tried a deviled eggs (yum!) and finally scrambled with a bit of cheddar. I was also allowed refried beans and ground chicken/turkey (which I made with some taco seasoning). After a week of just those items, I was allowed to slowly add in some veg, fruit, and finally grains. This is much faster than what my surgeon allows for sleeve, by the way. He explained that the healing is different between sleeve and bypass, so I was happy to be able to get back to real foods faster. My only issues with vomiting came from reheating some salmon (way too dry) and another time of eating a bit too fast without properly chewing every single bite and waiting long enough between bites. But otherwise, I'm at 4 weeks as of tomorrow and I'm pretty much able to have any types of food, including raw veg. I have a tiny cucumber, tomato, shredded carrot, and edamame "salad" with most of my lunches. As for pills, I crush or sprinkle all of mine over a couple tablespoons of applesauce. Except for vitamins and calciu, which are chewables and have been fine.

Two questions. One I thought I read somewhere that caffeine was a no no post SADI?? Or was it just carbonation, maybe. After I gained it all back I started back on my Coke Zero and I have to kick that again pre op if sugar alcohol is bad. I gave it up for over two years so I can do it though. Second, , have you eaten out yet? If so, How are you with oils and stuff that they tend to sneak in even the “healthier options” I am a little worried I won’t be able to eat in public ever again.

LOL The food rage is real!! I did 2 weeks of a modified diet pre-op (shakes and a small meal at dinner of protein and veggies), then one week of full shakes only before surgery. And then 2 weeks of liquids only post-op. Needless to say when I was finally allowed food I wanted to cry. LOL I was also a little afraid to eat it! But I did and everything was fine. In retrospect I'm glad I stuck so strictly to my surgeon's guidelines. I healed VERY well and that time on fluids only really taught me a lot about how I react to being hungry and how to manage being hungry. It also helped me understand true hunger from head hunger---they are not the same thing, but man can they feel like the same thing! But for real, I was really cranky at times during those fluid weeks and there were some short tantrums... 🤣

Every morning I get out of bed and grab one of those out of the fridge and go crawl back in bed with it! LOL It gets hydration and protein in my system first thing and gives me a nice chunk towards my protein goal for the day! I eat breakfast/brunch about an hour later... They remind me of an iced coffee so they are easy to get down. I don't know why they taste better than the other flavors in that brand, but they do!

I posted this elsewhere on the forum but I thought I'd put it here in case you didn't see it. This is what one of my typical days looks like at 4 months post-op. My personal macro goal is 120-150 grams of Protein a day, under 50 total carbs, and 100 grams of fat. Also, I can't tolerate any raw fruit at the moment. And calories are not relevant for DS patients because we malabsorb most fat and a good chunk of our protein... 8 am: Premier Protein Cafe Latte shake 9 am: Ratio Keto vanilla Yogurt with 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut chips, 1 tablespoon of keto nut granola, and 1 tablespoon freeze dried strawberries 12 noon: 1/4 cup roasted Spaghetti Squash, 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of a beef bolognese sauce 2 pm: Cafe Macchiato with espresso and 4 oz Fairlife Protein Milk 3 pm: 2 mozzarella cheese sticks, 2 mini baby cucumbers and 4 cherry tomatoes 6 pm: Roasted chicken leg and thigh quarter, 1/3 cup of vegetable Soup 9 pm: Homemade Keto banana Walnut Dark chocolate Muffin Total Macros: 150 grams of protein (yay!!), 43 grams total carbs, 97 grams of fat, 1634 calories.

I was going to suggest the protein waters as well. Or if it’s the flavors that you are not liking and you are allowed to have caffeine the caffe latte by premiere protein. It’s kinda like iced coffee if you like that. These two were my go To post sleeve. In fact I am three years post sleeve and I still have the cafe latte in the fridge for morning when I don’t have time to cook or I just wake up really hungry and don’t want to wait.

Have you tried protein water? They are the consistency of a fruity drink, they aren't thick and heavy like a milky shake. SEEQ makes really good ones, especially the watermelon flavor. Syntrax Nectars are good too. And MyProtein makes a cheaper version in Sour Watermelon that I love!! You can get samples of all of these from their sites, I highly recommend you do that so you can find one you like. But don't buy too much, your tastes can and will change after surgery. You can use Fairlife milk to thin out your protein shakes, it is lactose free and lower in sugars and higher in protein than regular milk, but tastes like regular milk. Also, GenePro protein powder is flavorless and dissolves into whatever you mix it in. Don't believe the propaganda on the package that says it is more bioavailable though, only count the protein grams on the nutritional label. LOL

I strongly advise you to stick with the plan your surgeon gave you regarding food. Your stomach and small intestines have been cut and sewn back together, there are a lot of sutures in there that heal best without particles of food irritating them. And believe me, you do NOT want to compromise the healing of those sutures. I know it is hard to do nothing but drink. I was on fluids only for the first two weeks, no pudding, no eggs, nothing but fluids and my stomach couldn't handle protein shakes so I lived on broth, flavored water, and eventually I could do lactose free milk. But I got through it and so will you!! As hard as the changes are to our bodies, it is the head game that will do you in. You are strong. You can do hard things!! You only get the chance to heal once, so heal as well as you possibly can! I ate sugar free popsicles and crunched on ice when I had the urge to chew. This time without food is a very short time in the scheme of things even though it feels like an eternity. Find things to do to distract you from your hunger. Head hunger is miserable but you have to see this through because if you don't get control of the head hunger now it will drive you to eat around your surgery once you add food back in. The surgeon had me taking pills by mouth the day after surgery. It was a struggle but I understood it wasn't harming my stomach to take them, just go slow, one at a time, and give space between each one. But only take what they told you to take. You don't want to add anything extra that could irritate those healing sutures. ❤️

You might consider a version of these: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/keto-banana-muffins-recipe/ They are keto, so they are low in carbs, but you could always add some blueberries and skip the banana bakery emulsion, swapping in vanilla. They keep well in the fridge. I used real dark chocolate in mine and a combo of Splenda and allulose, they still came out to only about 10 total carbs and 8 grams of protein. That would change a bit if you add blueberries though.

I put my protein shakes in an icreami and made protein shake ice cream...(frozen protein shakes) The change in texture helped a lot and I just took small bites allowing it to melt before swallowing!

Jello water sugar free. Gateraid. Broth, tea. Water down protein drink.

Hello ChunkCat. I don’t do Facebook but thanks for the suggestion. I am actually thinking that if eating bad is what causes the side effects and eating good does not it may be just want I need to keep myself on track. I need to definitely meet with the dietician a couple times to learn about the simple vs complex carbs and other macro stuff. I only focused on calories and protein post sleeve and I’m sure that was half of my issue of why I gained it back. Do you have to take a lot of vitamins post SADI or is it just a multi and calcium like the sleeve.

Hi ShoppGirl, I replied to you in the DS forum. You'll probably find the answers you need in the Facebook group I'm in. It says it is for the Duodenal Switch, but we also have plenty of SADI patients in the group and we have veterans of both surgeries in there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1799552573392212 I highly suggest joining that group and posting your questions. Regarding gas, yes, the SADI can have gas issues if you eat too many simple carbs. And eating too much junk food may make your bathroom visits rather unpleasant. I had the DS done about 4.5 months ago and I don't usually have any gas issues and my bathroom visits are pretty normal except my stools are pale colored now due to the fat malabsorption (perfectly normal). But I stay below 50 total carbs per day and eat about 120 grams of protein a day and about 100 grams of fat. With the SADI or DS surgery you are more focused on your macros than calories because we malabsorb a portion of everything but simple carbs. If you keep your carbs low after the SADI you will lose weight better and maintain weight better...and you should minimize the side effects. You'd also want to stay away from sugar alcohols and you might find that some foods digest differently, like lettuce or other leafy greens. Usually most SADI or DS patients learn within the first year what their trigger foods are and learn to eat them at home at night or not at all.

I have all way eaten by the guidelines. Have done very well with the weight loss . So I have come to conclusion this will be a life time battle of gaining weight unfortunately, I regret wishing and getting something that would greatly improve my life. Have I added protein drinks, no I wouldn’t able to leave the house. But I eat proteins all day . Chicken chicken chicken . Cottage cheese. Veggies ect. one cup at a time several times a day. The past few months I have added a whole bag of chips that I can eat thru out the day on top of my healthy meals. Chips is 2000 calories a day. 14 grams of protein. Saturated fats 15 grams . Carbs 208 . Im doing the opposite of guidelines . Blood work is all normal. Should I have such a restriction 5 years out.? I wake in the middle of the nite to eat, I’m so hungry. Yes stress plays a role in weight . I have a pretty good life;)

Yes, the SADI-S and SADI are the same procedure! When you are converting from a gastric sleeve you can either convert to bypass, convert to SADI, or convert to a Duodenal Switch. All 3 impact the small intestines, they vary by degrees of malabsorption. SADI is in the middle of the 3 in terms of malabsorption and doesn't require changing the stomach like the bypass would. They'd just be going in to do the small intestine component. It's a great option for a revision.

I started my liquid diet today but the protein shakes, no matter the brand make me nauseous and gag. Does anyone have any tips?