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I'll usually order an appetizer or else order a (safe) entree and eat half of it - and have them box up the rest to take home. Honestly, that's what a lot of my never-been-obese women friends do, too, so no one ever says anything. On the rare occasion that someone does, I just say I'm not very hungry. it's pretty obvious the first couple of months after surgery that something is "up", but at three years out (or even one year out), it's just not obvious. People will just assume you're a light eater - if they even notice at all.

Hub made Shrimp w mushrooms, squash, zucchini —-sooo good. Ate three shrimp and a few bites of veggies

The thing is you’re actually eating what is a recommended portion size now. Those massive meals that are served at some eating places are two, three or more times what you should eat in a serving. A steak should only be a maximum of 4ozs not those half a cow size steaks that hang off your plate. Look to the appetisers, soups or salads & as @ChubRub said most likely won’t notice. Someone my want to share a meal or ask if venue will do a half serve. (I’ve had cafes scramble a single egg without an issue.) If someone does comment (pretty rude if they do) simply say I’ve had plenty thank you. Or I’m not a big eater (remember hearing people say that in the past & not understanding how could they eat so ‘little’ - we’re through the looking glass Alice). It used to be the polite thing to do to leave a little of your meal on your plate. It let the chef know the food was tasty & the serve was enough to eat.

The purpose of the psychological assessment is to find any undiagnosed mental illness, substance abuse or eating disorders that may make you unsuccessful or even endanger your health post surgery. The MMPI is a very reputable tool to help with that assessment. It’s unfortunate that your clinic doesn’t have a handful of doctors that they use but if they are requiring one that uses the MMPI it sounds like they are trying to make sure the assessment is not a waste of your time and money. My psychological assessment was a joke I did not do any written testing and the talking portion of the assessment lasted about five minutes. They did not even ask me anything about my eating habits or expectations from the surgery. Post surgery I learned that I have issues of emotional and boredom eating that I wish someone had picked up on Prior to surgery. I am slowly losing the weight but I worry if I don’t get to the root of those issues soon that I will be one of those who Regain. I would probably be frustrated about the three months too but in my opinion your team is looking out for you by making sure the doctor they use Does a thorough evaluation. If it were me I would ask them if they have a cancellation list or if you can call ever so often to see if they have any new openings.

Not once have a used a 'bariatric' food product. I was expected to get my protein and other basic nutritional needs from actual food from day 1. The first three weeks I did as well as I could, which was not enough. After that everything fell into place. My plan didn't call for x grams of whatever, rather it was 3 meals a day, each meal consisting of 3oz protein and 1oz veggies, eventually small fruit. Somewhere in the first year I wanted to compare my 3 meals a day plan to other folks plans and I was generally a bit over 60 grams of protein per day. Snacks were not on the menu but if I simply had to have snacks SF popsicles were acceptable. Who's kidding whom.. SF popsicles were fantastic! I got curious about how my plan measured up to other folk, since they were given instructions including x grams of this and y grams of that. After I converted my 3 meals to grams of this or that I learned that my plan was very close the what most other folks were consuming. With the bonus that I don't need to count grams of stuff. Counting grams of this or that feels like one of the zillion weight loss diets I encountered previously. I went into this with the idea I would never diet again. My surgeon agreed that he didn't want his patients viewing this as another weight loss program. Doc and I agree on this point, a match made in heaven. Good luck, Tek

I will be happy to tell you my experience since it is very recent history. However, everyone's doctor and experience is a little bit different. I elected for the gastric sleeve. It was a personal choice. Prior to surgery, my doctor requested that I begin a special diet to reduce the size of my liver. From what I have read on this forum, these diets very greatly, from surgeon to surgeon, in the types of foods you can eat and the length of time you must diet prior to surgery. However, I believe that, in all cases, one is required to consume more protein than carbohydrates or fats. Apparently, your liver, while overweight, is large and fatty. The diet reduces the size of your liver. This reduction allows the surgeon more room to operate. (I have no idea if this is true...just forwarding you what my surgeon told to me.) On the day of the surgery, I arrived at the facility at the appointed time. I was prepped for surgery with an IV. I chatted with the various staff who needed information and chatted with the surgeon prior to the procedure. According to my doctor, the surgery would take a little less than one hour. At the appointed time, I was taken to the operating room. My last memory was meeting the staff in the operating room. I was put under anesthesia shortly thereafter. For me, anesthesia is like time travel. My last memory was in the operating room but I woke up in a recovery room a short time later. I know that time had passed but it feels instantaneous...perhaps like time travel would feel. At this point, there are numerous posts on this forum from people who will recount their experience with recovery. I can only share with you my personal account. I awoke in a recovery room with a little discomfort. It wasn't pain per se, just a feeling of being bloated. I was not nauseated nor was I in any real pain. Again, I only felt bloated discomfort. Apparently, the surgeon inflates your abdomen with CO2 gas in order to have room to perform the surgery. Not all of this gas escapes prior to the end of surgery. This gas was the cause of my discomfort. My assigned post-op nurse encouraged me to get up and walk as much as I could to help relieve the gas pressure. I spent a good amount of time pacing about the floor trying to relieve the pressure. The process works but not as fast as you would like. The remainder of the time, I spent eating some ice chips and taking fluids intravenously. After a few hours, since I had no complications, I was released to my nearby hotel room. This was an outpatient procedure for me. However, an overnight stay at a hotel was required. I was instructed by the surgeon to immediately contact their surgical center if I experienced any issues such as pain, discomfort, etc. Otherwise, if I felt good in the morning, I could go straight home. I awoke in the morning and went home. I had no real issues. My surgery was on a Wednesday. My follow up appointment was exactly one week later, the following Wednesday. I was instructed by the surgical staff that during that week, I could only consume clear liquids. The only things on the menu were clear broths like chicken or beef, no sugar sport drinks, water, protein water and diluted, no sugar cranberry juice. Again, every doctor is different. There are many posts on this forum which provide different details about the immediate post op diet. You can find both positive and negative experiences. In my case, the one week follow up appointment allowed my doctor to assess my situation and determine if I could move on to the next phase of food consumption. At my follow up appointment a week later, I had experienced no pain or adverse effects from the surgery. I was permitted to move on to the next phase of food consumption. I could move on to pureed foods. This phase is to last for a period of three weeks. I am currently in the pureed food phase of my recovery. I was given a list of acceptable foods that I can eat. I was also given nutrition goals to achieve. That is, I am expected to consume a certain number of grams of protein, carbohydrates and fats each day. The acceptable foods on my list would be considered "soft" foods. These types of foods are on the list but this is not the entire list: Scrambled and hard boiled eggs Pudding Yogurt Cottage Cheese Certain canned vegetables Certain creamed soups Protein shakes There are acceptable meats on the menu as well. Items such as chicken, turkey and different types of fish. However, this is the "puree" portion of recovery. I am to puree these foods prior to consumption. That is, I put most of these items, like meat and vegetables, in a food processor to puree them before I eat them. I believe the idea is allow your stomach some time to heal. So there you have it. This is my experience to date. I have followed the doctor's program in its entirety. I have not experienced any problems or issues. I am about two weeks from my next follow up appointment. I expect that I will be able to go back to eating solid foods again at that time. I will leave you with something that I read on this forum. Someone's doctor told them that gastric surgery will give a person about one year to lose weight. During that one year, one must learn how to eat properly to maintain a lifelong weight loss. My plan is to change my past eating habits to more permanent, healthy choices in the future. I have about 11 months remaining to learn. Best of luck to you.

I never did eat food that was really spicy but I can tolerate the same spice level as I could pre surgery. I didn’t try it till about three months out.

Think you’re approaching this with the right attitude @MiniGastricBypassDude. I’ve just survived my third post surgery Christmas lunch. Honestly, it was probably a little harder this year & I’m reflecting on why. Did I nibble on the lollies & chocolates strategically placed around the house? Nope. Did I want to? Yes. Did I have a glass of champagne? Yes - took 90+ mins to drink it. Had a little baked ham, a little roast beef, a little turducken, a little green vegetable salad, potato bake & had still had empty spaces on my plate. Did I eat it all? Nope. Did I eat slowly? Yes - others were finishing their second helping but I was still on my first. Ate a little too much (thought I could have that bit extra.) & had a small bout of the foamies as a result ☹️. In reality if you ignore the potato bake (all that cream & butter) the main course options would be considered sensible healthy food choices. Had some dessert about 2 hours after lunch. The dessert & potato bake were my Christmas treats as I rarely eat them. Don’t regret it & don’t beat myself up about it. No one says anything about what anyone eats or doesn’t eat & no one cares if you don’t eat everything on offer. Generally, I try to basically follow my usual eating regime if I can. I choose the healthier option or take a smaller portion: ‘a taste’. I’ll have a treat or two if I want. It’s only one day. The trouble comes if it becomes two days, three days, etc. Sometimes things are beyond your control especially if you’re a guest. You have to accept that for this one day aspects of your eating routine may have to be put aside. Happy Christmas.

I really need some advice for the last three months I’ve really fell off the wagon how do I get that mindset back I’m only 8 months post op 90 pounds down I’m not sure if I should go with a meal plan or what please no judgment

I had my RNY three days ago and everything went well. I’m still really sore, but the pain is manageable with pain meds. Still belching gas from surgery out, and hoping that will stop soon. I’ve been content just drinking water. I don’t feel any hunger at all, and that’s been a relief since I was starving during the 2 week Preop liquid diet. I would like to know when the pain subsides. Everyone keeps saying it gets a little better each day, but when is it gone?

Today is my 1-month surgiversary! Part of me feels like surgery was just yesterday; another part of me feels like all of the recovery pain was forever ago. I’m a little more than a week into eating soft foods, and so far so good…except peanut butter, which still tastes great but makes me sick. Which makes me sad. I figure I’ll try it again in about a month, which is also when I should get the green light to transition to regular food. Otherwise, though, all is well. I’ve even had nibbles at two restaurants already: two bites of a meatball at one place, and three bites of roasted chicken at another. Tomorrow night I plan to have two or three bites of chicken at a third place, but then the holiday outings will be over and I’ll rely on my own meals until I “graduate” from soft foods. I’ve only lost 14 pounds in the past month. I’ll admit to some moments of feeling frustrated/disappointed that I haven’t lost more yet, but I’ll also admit that I’m not walking as much as I should and I only recently figured out how to start getting enough hydration. But I’ve already gotten some comments about my face being thinner, and my rings and watch are looser, and mostly I’m feeling pretty optimistic!

Thank you all so much. This is the kick in the pants I needed. I got some little containers at the market yesterday and have "packed" my meals and snacks for today. I really like the mentality of planning ahead so I can "succeed" in managing hunger. Also, @MiniGastricBypassDude, you called it on the calories. I left my MyFitnessPal calories at 700 (from when I first had surgery) and had never updated them. Of course I got frustrated with myself for "running out of calories" by dinner... and then I stopped tracking. Also, the snacking (just a few raspberries... three chips...) needs to become more disciplined, so I will keep on with my little containers. After the holidays I will schedule a DXA scan. There are a few providers around here that should be able to help (in the $100-200 range, which is doable). Will let you all know how it goes. Appreciate the input!

Hold on, I'm about to use SCIENCE! Your body has a set number of calories it burns even if you are completely inert (sleeping, G-d forbid in a coma, etc.). It's called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). It fluctuates with your weight and with how fast your metabolism is. For, say, a 40-year-old, 5'4" woman who weighs 250 lbs (not unusual for a bariatric patient), BMR is around 1800. Now add on any kind of daily living to that, which required calories, and you end up with a number called total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). If you're the same woman above and you're sedentary, your TDEE might be 2200; if you are one of those nutters like me who goes to CrossFit and goes running and works a physical job, your TDEE might be as much as 3000 calories. Now. You've had your surgery. You are not physically capable of eating anywhere near that amount. Let's say you're at 800 calories a day. Simply by eating those 800 calories and existing, your body will naturally be in a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Add in sedentary lifestyle, and you're in a 1400 calorie a day deficit. Generally speaking, about 3500 calories is a pound lost (this is not always true and can be overcome by fluid retention, fluid balance, hormonal changes, menstruation, eating really salty foods, vitamin deficiencies, etc.). Now let's say you're "overeating" and you're doing 1200 calories a day; you're still 600 calories short of your caloric needs just to exist, and 1000 calories short of what you need for a sedentary lifestyle. You are going to lose weight. You are not going to 'ruin' anything. What is happening to you is your body is rebalancing its fluids. That is why the "three-week stall" happens. Every body is subject to the rules of CICO (calories in calories out), and eventually CICO will take over from your body's rebalancing and the numbers will drop again. And do measure yourself once a week! Bust/chest, waist, abdomen, hips, thighs, calves, biceps, neck. This week I didn't lose a ton of weight BUT I lost a half inch off my waist, and I can tell because my trousers keep slipping and I had to put a new hole in my belt. One suggestion: don't weigh every day. And if you can't help it—some people just have to, I'm one of them—keep a running tally and then pick a day, let's say Tuesday, and average your weight over the last seven days. Then use the average weight to gauge progress, not the number on the scale that day. Where the thick smoothies and things come in is that your stomach is still healing from the trauma of surgery. But here's the thing—your body will TELL you when it doesn't like something you eat. It will clam up your stomach. Or make you nauseated. Or have unstoppable hiccups until your stomach empties. Or give you the sniffles (which is SUPER AWESOME during a respiratory pandemic, let me tell you). I ate a bite of an egg roll yesterday and got punished for it. So... tl;dr... don't worry too much about it, especially at first. Feed your body the protein and liquid it needs, and then move on to other foods.

Down 110 pounds since surgery on June 20. I’ve decided this week to not worry about losing and just maintain. I’ll start losing again next week. I find that I can eat absolutely anything, just not a lot of it. Yes…you CAN have three dessert ( answering the above post), but just one bite of each. Not every day. Not even every other day. But once in a while. I have begun to try and eat more normally in the past four weeks. I get in my protein and nutrition….but I’ve begun to eat pizza and an occasional cookie or maybe tortilla chips with salsa. But I have two bites of pizza, one bite of a cookie, or 11 tortilla chips. I’m eating it all but very very consciously.

if you feel nauseated, then I'd stop even if you haven't eaten the whole measured-out amount. Some people's systems just aren't ready to progress as quickly as others. Some people have to back up for a few days and then try again. And the above person is correct - a lot of us are on liquids or purees for the first two or three weeks ANYWAY. I'd contact your clinic and just let them know what's going on and see what they suggest.

Team June 2021, I hit my 6 month mark today! Since surgery, I am down a little over 80 pounds and a little over 100 pounds. Overall, I feel so much better! My daily feelings vary though. Some days I feel on top of the world (very healthy/slim) and other days, I feel like I have a long way to go and wonder if I will ever make it to goal (very fat). I have more good days than bad and I am happy for that. I move much better and exercise daily, either walking 3 miles, lap swimming, or playing adventure fit on the nintendo switch (aerobic exercise). I also lift weights three times a week. I thrive on consistency and I track everything. In regards to the upcoming holidays, it has brought on emotional feelings and this is the first time I have had doubts about having surgery (so I can never eat three different types of dessert at one time again...like ever?) It has come on in the form of anxiety and I know my hormones are out of whack; I can quite literally feel them coursing through my body it seems. I am working through this and I think I figured out this wave of emotion is because I previously associated celebration, family, and relaxation with food very deeply. So, while I have no cravings or real fear about making healthy choices, I clearly need to re-read chapters that cover emotional eating and relationship with food. May this holiday season be everything you desire - time with family, time alone, rest, a time to get pesky tasks done, inspiration to set new goals - whatever you need! Take Care All!

Exactly. Remember also we, all have a natural weight fluctuation, we just notice it more now because we ‘re more vigilant with weighing ourselves & recording our weight. I’ve discovered my natural fluctuation is a kilogram (2.2lbs). Any more or less & I reflect on what I’ve eaten or not eaten. Has my water intake been more or less? Did I have some alcohol? Am I constipated? Am I peeing more or less? … Should say I’m maintaining & am pretty vigilant but the principle is the same. If you’re still losing & your weight loss trend is still downwards your golden. If you’re maintaining, reflect on your last week & see what next week brings. Three pounds may be your natural fluctuation. Congrats on your weight loss. Whoo hoo.

I have been thinking about increasing my calories because of this. My surgeon doesn’t have me on a set amount of calories. He was extremely happy with my weight loss so far and asked me to stop weighing my food and eat ‘normally’ (three meals with two snacks), and I am at approx. 650/700 kcal per day right now with those three meals and two snacks. But HOW on earth can I eat more calories without adding fat and sugar? I am at a loss here 🙁 Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

Yes, that's me at 290 (actually 292 in that photo). People are already warning me not to lose too much weight, but there's still a ways to go... and in any case I literally can't eat enough to overcome my TDEE even if I wanted to. It's slowed down. My primary care doctor says 275 would be fine and really he just wants me under BMI 40 (which I am), but I'd like to see where I can go. I went from size 54/34 pants to size 35/34... if I end up back where I was in college, I'll be in 32/34s. I have a DXA body fat scan every three months (it's cheap here, about $40/35€/£30) which reads my body fat. The problem is that the body fat measuring weight scales have two settings. If I leave it on normal mode I get a reading of 42% which is CLEARLY untrue. But if I put it on athlete mode, I get 25%, which is also clearly untrue, though closer. They need to have "kinda fit kinda fat" mode! The last DXA reading last week had me at 31.7% which I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to be under 30%, but it'll get there. Slowly but surely. I just want under 20%. 15% might be a stretch at 45 years old, but it'd be nice to have the beginnings of abs under the loose skin. 😁

Are you able to contact your team? It seems like week three when you are on full liquids you could have protein shakes and add protein powder to your soup. I know nothing about israel but maybe protein products aren’t so easily available there so They don’t put them on the list but maybe they would still be okay for you to consume??

You can’t even do protein shakes after clear liquid phase? I mean I get that a shake is stage beyond clear liquids and for whatever reason your doctor wants a longer time on phase one but why can’t you have shakes week three at least.

My surgery is on December 21 and today (the 19th) I started the "clear-liquids only" prescribed. I can have clear-liquids only tomorrow and then nothing after midnight with surgery the following morning. Fortunately, my clinic is pretty liberal about what is a clear liquid. I can have coffee and tea (no milk or cream), low-cal fruit drinks like Ocean Spray Diet 5, broth, sugar-free fruit-flavored drinks and sugar-free sports drinks, plus sugar-free Popsicles and sugar-free Jello. I made up three batches of the Jello to have on hand. I'm drinking a cup of one of these clear liquids every hour and so far am not hungry. I will have one day of clear liquids in the hospital post-surgery, then start full liquids the second day in hospital, continuing at home through day 7. Full liquids will include strained cream soup, milk, greek yogurt, vegetable juice, Cream of Wheat, broth. Mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and evening, I'm supposed to add 4 oz of high protein drink. Good luck to you, Surgery Buddy. See you on the Losers' Side!

My program doesn't do calories. It's stupid crap like "half a cup of food five times a day" which could be 20 calories if I eat it as cucumbers or 2000 if I eat it as mayonnaise. My nutritionist, who is not affiliated with my program (I fired the program's nutritionist, which I chronicled elsewhere on this site), has me on about 1600 cal a day at three months out. 135 g protein, 130 g carbs, 60 g fat.

One thing I learned was that my surgeon's "nutritionist" was someone who'd gotten a minor cert and was literally reading from a booklet. Find an actual nutritionist or better yet a registered dietitian who has long experience with bariatric patients. In case you didn't hear it: 800 calories is WAY. TOO. LITTLE. I eat twice that at three months out and am losing 2 lbs. a week or so. Bump up your calories to 1000 or even 1200 for a week or two and see what happens.

Don't freak out. Seriously, it will be okay. If you look up "three week stall" on BariatricPal, you will find almost 20,000 posts about it. It happens a LOT. And it's nothing you're doing wrong—it is literally your body rebalancing itself (particularly fluids) after a traumatic surgery. It will break. Mine did—it came late and lasted about a week and a half and suddenly WHOOOOOSH went the scale. I had all the same worries and made a post here and everything. It WILL break. You will continue to lose weight! And once you're fully on solid foods you'll feel the restriction.