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I haven't lost any more weight. I've been going to the gym and even got a walking pad for Christmas that I use but it's just not coming off. I lift weights at the gym 2 to 3 times a week an hour at a time and do at least 2 miles 2 times a week while I'm at home. The last three weeks I cut my calories way down which sucks with how much I work out. For example I did an hour of intense weight lifting today and only consumed 1104 calories and 104 grams of protein. On average I'm only consuming 1300 calories and getting between 70 to 100 grams of protein. My food through the day consists of small meals or protein shakes from 6 am to 6 pm. Like a protein shake for breakfast, one after the gym on my lunch, some low cal soup, jerky, piece kf fruit, etc For dinner (around 7 pm) I have a majority of my calories, usually baked chicken strips or shrimp, etc with a side and then bed at 10pm.. It's just not coming off. I get I could've tried harder through the last year but man this is just tough. I can't even say I've gone down in clothes sizes any more. I just don't know. I do have a one year post op appointment on Tuesday and I'm terrified and ashamed that I have virtually nothing to show for it. What am I missing?

I'm glad it helped!! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that, moving to soft foods will help some, purees just don't have as much solidity to them. There is a huge difference between a 1/4 cup of pureed food vs 1/4 of a solid protein, even if it is a soft protein... At 8 weeks I was cleared for most foods and I think that is part of the reason why my hunger started to ease off around then. If your PPI is omeprazole it is possible it isn't working as well as you need it to, sometimes people need something like Pantoprazole or Dexilant, so if that gnawing hunger at night continues you may want to ask your doctor about it at your next appointment! ❤️

Genepro has unflavored protein powder and it dissolves pretty well into things and it doesn't really have much of a taste. It is my favorite plain protein powder. You can put it in flavored water or tea or milk or whatever... Just be sure to count the protein count on the nutrition label, don't believe the "nano absorption" bull crap they advertise. LOL

There are things like miracle noodles, heart of palm noodles, and of course most of our "fullness" should come from veggies once we are a year out. Think high volume low carb veggies like lettuce, mixed greens, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as colorful things like bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, green beans, etc... These paired with a little fat and a decent amount of protein should help you feel fuller longer. I think it is very well possible you could be experiencing true hunger. You are MUCH taller than the average woman (if you are not a woman I apologize for the assumption) and the dietary guidelines that surgeons and nutritionists hand out are usually useless if you fall outside their standard patient. If you are exercising enough to get your heart rate up for a consistent amount of time or doing weights/strength training, you could be burning a fair number of calories too. Both of these things would make me think you may have a higher caloric need, even though you are a sleeve patient, than the average sleever would. If your surgeon's nutritionist isn't interested in customizing your true caloric need given your frame, height, and activity level, you may need to have a few sessions with someone else who is trained in bariatrics and will actually help you work through this so you can stop feeling guilt when you eat more than your surgeon wants you to. Also, have you tried the Millie's sipping broths? You can get a sample pack of their flavors on Amazon for a pretty reasonable cost. They might help ease the hunger between meals until you find a dietician to talk to.

You could be craving fat. Beef is one of the fattier meats and a low carb bibimbap dish would have been full of fat from the oil everything is sauteed in, and the egg, and the dressing. Plus Korean food often has fermented veggies which are really good for you. I crave Korean food and Japanese food a lot. I finally realized part of the reason why is because they eat a little bit of a lot of things. Banchan and Bento boxes! *swoon* Quantity doesn't satisfy me, I hate eating one thing per meal. I need a bite or two of multiple things to feel satisfied. A little fat, a little fiber, a little carb, a lot of protein...something crunchy, something sour or pungent, something a bit sweet, something creamy. I have to hit multiple of those categories to feel satisfied in a meal. So I eat a tablespoon or two of numerous things. Then I'm satisfied and happy, even if I'm not bursting at the seams full... So you might be needing more variety and a bit more fat?

Your feelings are valid @Nan CC, surgery is stressful and the idea that we have done so much for so little loss in the beginning is discouraging and depressing!! I have some thoughts to share about your experiences... 1. That hunger you are experiencing is normal. It doesn't go away for everyone. I woke up in the recovery room ravenous which pissed me off because all they kept saying is I wouldn't be hungry! And I ended up more hungry than I'd been in years!! The first two months I was hungry all the time. True hunger. I think it is because the body is panicking and trying to figure out what is going on. Plus we've been lied to, that growling sound is often not hunger, but just our system digesting and moving air and fluid through our system. After surgery our internal digestive process sounds louder to us for some reason. Maybe because we are paying more attention?? I don't know. But I had true hunger constantly. One thing that will help this is a PPI (proton pump inhibitor). Our tiny tummies are still making enough acid for a normal tummy and that can irritate it as it heals. That gnawing hunger can often come from this and gets worse at night... 2. No, you aren't supposed to automatically feel full with 1/4 cup of food. A lot do, but not all by any means. The reason for this primarily is because all the nerves that communicate fullness to us were cut during surgery. It takes at least 3 full months for those to heal enough to accurately communicate again. The 1/4 cup portion size is to keep you from inadvertently overeating and stressing your healing stomach. At about 8-10 weeks you may notice you can eat more, that's because the internal swelling has gone down. By then you should be able to start gauging your fullness signals. They are often different post op and can look like sneezing, a congested or runny nose, hiccups, pressure in your breastbone, nausea, etc... By 3-4 months out you may be eating more like 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food at a time. Not everyone progresses that way, some have high restriction all the time and have to stick to smaller portions. But the key here is to start building that relationship of listening with your body and learning that the feeling of hunger does not mean you are starving. If you are eating 1/4 cup of food 5-6 times a day, you are getting enough nutrients for your stage in the process. As @AmberFLmentioned, I suggested Millie's sipping broths (you can get a sample pack of all the flavors on Amazon) they help a LOT when you want something, the warmth and savoriness can really soothe the extreme hunger until it balances out on its own. 3. Stalls are normal and can happen early and often. I lost about 15 lbs in the first 3 weeks and then proceeded to stall for 6 weeks and gain and lose the same 4 lbs!! I was horrified and really worried my surgery wasn't going to work. I lose weight VERY slowly, my body is resistant to losing, and I have diabetes and such like you, which I think makes losing hard too. This stall was normal, even though it didn't feel normal. DS patients are known for losing dramatic amounts of weight and my surgery weight was 307, there was no good reason for the stall. But my body needed to take a break and recalibrate and heal, so it did. Finally after those 6 weeks I SLOWLY started losing again. Then at the beginning of February the weight loss finally started to pick up! A lot of people lose a ton at the beginning, I didn't. Apparently my body needed 3 months before it felt safe to start dropping weight steadily... All you can do is get good movement, good sleep (sleep is crucial to weight loss), good hydration, eat every few hours, and stay off the scale for a bit...it will break when it is ready to. 4. Hunger does eventually return to normal, or whatever is normal for you... I'm almost 4 months out and mine is back to what is normal for me. I still have to eat every 3 hours, if I don't I feel drained and irritable and my weight loss slows... I drink plenty of fluids during the day, it helped with the hunger. I feel my fullness signals clearly now, I think all that healing is finally done. I just have to eat slow enough to allow those signals to get to my brain (it takes longer than you think!). Broths, milk, coffee, tea, flavored waters, all these will ease hunger pangs, but the best cure is time and learning to heal your relationship with your hunger so you can feel it and not feel stressed about it. The great thing about eating every 3 hours is the next meal is around the corner, so I can drink something and tell my system to wait until mealtime. This helps heal the insulin resistance too by allowing your body to go through the full insulin response cycle post meal. I'm sorry this feels so hard. I hope your stall breaks soon! And I hope it helps to know you are not alone. ❤️

We are surgery twins! I'm sorry that this is happening, it totally sucks! and your feelings are so valid! I do feel hungry so what I had to do is change what I ate. So for bfast instead of a shake I now eat something with substance like eggs with avocado ect..then my shake is my "snack" I eat every 2-3hrs and that has helped me. *knock on wood* I have not hit a stall YET because I am sure one will come. I walk everyday for 30min, i wake up drinking water and my Isopure mix such as mixed berry or mango lime. Then I will have my decaf coffee with sugar free torani syrup and a dash of my nutpod creamer. Then an hour later I eat my food breakfast. It took me time to get there. I eat around 825 cal, 110g of protien, 35g carbs and under 20g of fat. When I am bored or feel hungry I chew gum or @ChunkCat suggested Millie's sipping broths and they are DELICIOUS!! Always protein first, something that I still am working on because I love my carbs LOL You got this and use this platform, we are here for you!

I have the best luck with the Fairlife 30g shakes and their 26g and 42g "core" shakes. They dont' have that chemical taste that most other shakes have, and taste closer to a Nesquick. They do have monk fruit and sucralose in them, but I've been able to tolerate them. I am sensitive to a lot of sugar alcohols (sorbitol and xylitol in particular) which trigger a bad insulin response for me, but I haven't had that experience with the Fairlife brand. Premier protein isn't bad, but I think Fairlife tastes a lot better. They can be hard to find, but I've had the best luck checking at Sams Club (or Costco / BJ's Wholesale if they're in your area). They sell out fast, so I check in the morning and place a pick up order for after work.

I need to rant a little! I have always struggled with excess weight in my adult life. Over the years I tried Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, my own thing, you name it. For the past 8 years I have been struggling to lose 50-60 lbs. It was extremely difficult for me to lose anything at all unless I severely limited calories - like 800, 900 per day - which I could only do with the help of prescription medicines. When I'd stop taking them the weight would come back despite that fact that I was rarely overeating, usually around 1500 calories per day. Over the years I gained and lost the same weight this way. I took Contrave, but it hyped me up so badly I couldn't stand it. I took Belviq, which worked well - I didn't care if I ate or not so it was easy to consume so few calories, but it was taken off the market. I used Qysmia, which also worked the same way. I lost 30 lbs, but I was paying out of pocket and couldn't afford it any more. One of my issues is that I lose weight VERY slowly, and it was frustrating to work so hard and lose a pound or 2 a month. After gaining all the weight back plus 10 more pounds in 2 years, I knew I could lose it again by getting back on Qysmia but I couldn't bear the thought of the "yoyo" again. I'm 67 and have diabetes and heart disease in my family, which I was afraid of developing if I didn't take and keep the weight off. I'm on blood pressure and cholesteroI meds already. I can't play with a yoyo any longer at this point in my life and so I began to consider sleeve gastrectomy. I researched and thought about it for a long time before finally having surgery 1/24/24. Yesterday it was 4 weeks since surgery. In the 1st 2 weeks I lost 10 lbs. While I hoped to lose more, this was a good result because before surgery it would have taken me about 6 months to lose 10 lbs. Victory!! Or so I thought. Since then, however, I haven't lost any weight. I've read about the 3 week stall, which I guess is what I am experiencing. I think I get it. And at the same time I am enormously frustrated and sometimes find myself thinking that I made this drastic and permanent change in my life only to have the same result - consuming very little calorically and the weight just not coming off. Except now I'm consuming even fewer calories (still on purees). And on top of that, I am hungry almost all day. After breakfast, I wait 15 minutes and start on water/fluids again. Fifteen minutes after that, I am hungry again. And yes, it's genuine hunger - with growling and an empty feeling. Eating 1/4 cup of food is not filling me up. I am getting usually around 70g of protein each day in what I'm eating and drinking, so it's not that. I had some wild expectations, I'll admit. My doctor gave me a goal weight that requires me to lose 50 lbs. (60 for a "stretch" goal). I (crazily) thought that it would take about 2 months to lose that much. I've since realized that with relatively little to lose it will go slower, but geez! For who knows what reason, I also thought I would hardly ever be hungry. Five days post op, natural hunger returned. I was mad! And surprised, but I relied on this forum and learned that hunger was still normal. I thought once I could actually eat something it would be more like "normal" hunger - like before surgery - when it was about time to eat. Instead I find that I am often just hungry all day (usually worse at night) and the amount I'm eating isn't enough. I eat the recommended 2 oz of food and I never feel full, but I stop because that is the recommended amount. The instructions I've been given have implied that this should be more than enough to fill me at this point and that I might not even be able to finish that much, but it hasn't been the case for me. In 30 minutes or so, it's like I didn't eat anything and I'm hungry again. Of course I realize that a lot of my problem is my unrealistic expectations. But sometimes I do feel frustrated that I did this drastic thing only to have nothing change - I still can't lost weight. Mostly, reason prevails and I know that sooner or later the weight has got to come off. Reason is reassuring for the mental issue I have here, but reason does nothing to help the hunger. Ok, rant over. Does anyone have experience like this? Very slow loss and constant hunger? Does the weight loss pick up? How long does the 3 week stall last? Does the hunger ever return to normal? Help!!

Does Premier Protein have that "fake sugar" aftertaste?

Premier Protein for me.

Hi all...I am just starting my journey to getting gastric bypass surgery. I met with a Registered Dietician yesterday and she discussed the importance of having several protein shakes every day. Here's my problem....I cannot stomach anything sugar-free. I have such a hard time with aspartame, sucralose, stevia, etc. Any unflavored protein powder suggestions?

Well, apparently part of my problem was that the nutrition guide I was given at my final pre-op appointment was not the same one that the dietician is currently working from. 🙄 Just got sent the correct one, and it's way different, especially in regards to protein shakes. So that's fun. Makes it kinda hard to trust my program when they can't get their **** together enough to give patients the correct materials.

I am two months out and each program is very different. Follow the nutritionist. I had a two week stall and you just keep doing what they tell you. My protein is 60-80 and water is 64-100. I try to get closer to 100 because that is when I see more weight come off. Everyone is different trust the process! Congrats to you!

Try some different protein sources. Like 3ozs tilapia is 22g of protein. 3oz beef fillet, lamb, or chicken thigh is 20g. Pork loin will give you 23g. Chicken breast provides 26g. All of these require you to cook the meats yourself not processed or pre made. Your can of chicken breast may weigh 3ozs but there are other ingredients as well as the chicken in the tin. Then purée or finely dice, shred for whatever stage you’re at. It’s not easy to get all your protein in at first but it does get easier. As long as you’re making an effort & are close you’ll be okay. I never had another shake after the liquid stage. Was never my personal plan to rely on them. Plus they were disgusting!

Wow congratulations on the massive weight loss! Sorry to hear that you’ve had such difficulties getting there though, my heart goes out to you. I haven’t had any complications from the procedure, but my poo situation did change dramatically. I used to eat a ton of veggies and fruit, and had bowel movements 2-3 times daily on average before the operation. Obviously afterwards my diet had to focus on protein, so I lost most of the fibre in my diet. As I was taking Metformin, my stool was very soft and I didn’t notice at all until my Dr said I didn’t have to take it anymore (which was great), but then I quickly realised that I was constipated all the time. I started experimenting with different fibre supplements, and I’ve found a regime that works with my body. Nowhere near the problems you’ve experienced, but boy was it awful! I've lost 25kg/55pounds so far, and I’m definitely plateauing. Not sure if I’ll lose more, but my Dr is very happy and so am I. I’m walking every day and not calorie counting anymore as I have a good routine going. Hope you solve all your problems! Always around if you need any support or help!

I finally mastered the protein waffle recipe (again) the texture and flavor was perfect. Tracking is for the entire Belgian waffle, the pic was the last quarter that I remembered to photograph.

Wepa! Have you already had your surgery? I would first recommend you speak to your team/dietician on specifics. Every program differs in some ways. Also what people can tolerate also differs. I personally had the bypass not the sleeve, but I don't think there is too much difference in the stages. While many programs don't typically give exact calories and carb totals, a lot recommend 50g or under for daily carbs. I would think it may not be the best to try to have plantains in the pureed stage. Your main goal is protein and fluids and plantains are a pretty heavy carb. I would try to hold off to a little later stage when your capacity is a little better. I think I tried maduros around 4 months out, but really just a taste. Gandules might not be a bad option as beans provide a good amount of fiber as well as protein. There definitely will be room to enjoy all the favorite traditional foods down the line, just in far lesser quantities. I can tolerate rice - however I've only had like 2 spoonful's of arroz con gandules at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That's interesting... I had revision surgery the day before you, so we should be on the same stage, but even over a week after you posted this, I'm only allowed 3oz protein and 1oz veg, fruit, OR starch. 4 oz. total, with no indication that these amounts will ever change moving forward. And I'm being told that I should not be using protein shakes anymore if at all possible. I'm struggling with how to consistently get 20g of protein per meal when I can only have 3oz. at a time. If I could just eat plain chicken breast for every meal, sure. But I'm not cleared for unrestricted textures yet, and canned chicken breast is only 15g protein for 3oz. The dietician also REFUSES to give me any guidance on how many calories I should be aiming for per day and says that I shouldn't be "restricting," because I'm in my "maintenance phase" now. Which I am extremely confused by, because according to their plan, I'm still on "soft foods" until Monday, 2/25. And I have 25-50lbs to lose, still at the high end of the "overweight" BMI range.

I went through similar, op in July and only finally home from hospital start of November. While in hospital I found it difficult to hold anything down and was put on a feeding tube for a couple of months and then the second time I was put on a tube it was because I had a leak and they wanted to bypass the area so it could try to heal. I am also on daily medication for my stomach, have to take before I eat anything, and I have strong meds for nausea if needed. Over the last few weeks I have slowly started to increase the calories I take and exercise I do, gone from about 500 cal a day to approx 900 cal but for me the more important aspect is ensuring I get enough protein. I am able to now hold food down but it is hit and miss, like Sunday my dinner did not stay down but it was something I had eaten before without issue, it just depends. I have to push myself to eat three meals a day as I just don't feel the hunger (or interest at times). I don't sleep well and am exhausted all of the time which is why I have tried to push myself the bit more on food intake and exercise. I do see small improvements but I am not where I thought I would be this far out from the op and it can upset me at times but I try to focus on the good things. My weight loss as slowed down over the last 6 weeks or so but I am hoping it is just my body is still in recovery mode after going through so much stress since July. I would think your body is probably going through the same, a lot of trauma has occurred and it is trying to cope. Don't compare yourself to others, everyone has a different experience with the op and we all recover in different ways, just try to focus on the progress you can see in yourself. If your doctor is ok with how you are doing that is important and it will get better for you, just need time to recover and destress. Hopefully you will be slowly able to up the food intake or find a source of high protein that you can keep down. I don't know how you are on fluids but for me I can now take coffee again (even the smell of it turned my stomach for the first six months or so) so I take it with protein powder which means I am getting protein through fluids as well as the food I can eat. Same for collagen, I put it in my coffee also and it is another dose of protein so in two coffees a day I get 20g of my protein requirements. Happy to chat if you want. We can do this. 💪

I agree with Arabesque that your body is probably more along the lines of what things would look like for most people at 4 months. The central line feeding would have been high calorie to prevent malnutrition, so I'm assuming you didn't lose any weight on it? Or did you? I remember reading about your rough start, I'm glad you've been able to get off the feeding tube and that you are able to eat, even though you are taking meds to help with that. Going from the high caloric intake of the central line to an extremely low caloric intake has probably been a shock for your body. Many of us stall somewhere in the first few months, some for a few weeks, some for a month or two, as our body readjusts and tries to decide if it is starving or not. I know you can only get in so much food with your digestion issues, but is there a reason you aren't supplementing with whole milk or shakes a few times a day? These wouldn't be affected by your slow stomach issues. And they may give your body a bit more energy to work with. Protein waters could work too, things like SEEQ are thinner and as easy to get down as water. The watermelon flavor tastes like a watermelon jolly rancher. LOL Weight loss post surgery is a delicate balance. We want to be in enough of a deficit to facilitate good weight loss, but if we are too low our body goes into stress mode and won't release any weight because it thinks we are in a famine and are trying to burn through our reserves. So we have to eat enough to reassure it that we aren't slowly starving to death. Decreasing your activity and increasing your intake a bit (even if it is just a shake or a few glasses of milk) might give your body enough of a signal that you aren't starving and have what you need to continue to lose weight safely. Things like hydration and sleep are crucial too, as these are also markers the body uses to determine how much stress it is under and if it is safe to lose weight. In fact, some studies have shown that sleep is MORE important for weight loss than even exercise is! I tend to think they are both important, but the point is, you have to look at the holistic picture of how much stress load your body thinks you are carrying in relation to how much energy it has to give. My last stall lasted 6 weeks and drove me crazy! But my body broke the stall when it was ready to, I just kept eating well, drinking well, and resting well. That's all you can do really. You can't push the river. ❤️

Just follow what the Medical professionals tell you. Don't deviate. Just be sure to get your water and protein in. I had a two week pre op liquid diet. So, water and protein shakes and zero sugar gatorade was my menu. But everyone's Doctor is different, just follow what they tell you.

I had a very regimented 4-week liver shrinkage diet. The base was the shake but I would also get to have specific items like a low fat string cheese, no sugar yogurt, ands a few snacks of sugar free pudding or jello. The only thing was that I could add whatever I wanted if it was fat free broth, vinegar, or raw veggie after I had gotten in all protein for the day. I definitely hit the broth and vinegar hard when I just needed something that wasn’t sweet.

Oh my. Two weeks is too long to go without a BM. An enema is your best option at this point, but you really do have to get help as this could have serious consequences such as an obstruction. I felt awful after 3 days of constipation. Now there’s roughage in my diet there’s usually movement every other day. are you in pain? I would not be beginning to get concerned, I would most definitely BE concerned. Please seek help.