When you decide to get weight loss surgery, you’re probably very careful. You consider your choice of surgery type carefully, you find out what you can about your surgeon and the pre-op prep, and you follow the pre-op and post-op diets as well as you can.

No matter how careful you are, though, you can make a mistake. It can be something big, such as going with a surgeon your gut told you not to go with, and finding out that the post-op support was as bad as you expected. More likely, your mistakes will be relatively little, such as rushing your post-op diet and finding out the hard way that the rules were there for a reason!

So, what is the biggest mistake you have made in your weight loss journey so far? Was it easy to overcome? Or did it have long-term consequences?

As far as personal consumption. I learned quickly that the "don't drink for 30 minutes after a meal" meant 45-60 for me. I'm almost 3 years out and I will still violently heave if I drink too soon after eating.

Ohhhhh, let's see:

Absolutely ignoring Water intake (or any liquid that wasn't a Protein drink)

Thinking Isopure drinks would taste better after surgery (they don't. At all. )

Not paying attention to my protein intake (at all)

Getting liquid Vitamins with Iron (tastes like the worst parts of being a vampire)

Trying to rush meals (who has time? Apparently you have to make time)

Thinking food rewards wouldn't tempt me into overindulging (hello queso chips, my old friend)

Getting cheap Jerky (too much sugar and too tough to digest)

The list could go on and on and on.

Wow, thanks for sharing! Your experiences can really help out other members! All of these mistakes are so easy to make, and it can be so useful to others to learn from your hard lessons.

@@Kindle, I am so glad you are okay. Hindsight is always 20-20, isn’t it? I mean, looking back, the risk factors were there…but I know I wouldn’t have thought to disobey doctor’s orders in a situation like.

@@sharonintx, I hear you on the counseling issue! Thinking about it, it seems like WLS should be something we can handle mentally, especially since ideally we lose weight and improve the quality of life. But the WLS journey can get really long and it’s hard to deal with delays and setbacks, not to mention the unbelievable physical and emotional changes.

@@Christinamo7, good call on being patient! You have your entire life to get fit and develop the exercise habit. The only things you can do by rushing it are depriving your body of nutrients, getting injured, and burning out. It’s great to start with a manageable amount!

Yep, @@Nurse_Lenora, too many WLS patients don’t take their Protein and Water seriously. It’s a magic combo for weight loss!

@@Gaylene Davison, uh-oh! Too funny – at least, looking back. I’m sure it wasn’t so funny at the time. I bet more of us than we care to admit have had similar unfortunate experiences eating in public too soon.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your mistakes. At least making mistakes is a good way to learn.

My Biggest Mistakes so far:

1. Dehydration ..... early on post op, 10 days or so .... I thought I was going into shock ..... very nasty and scary experience. Happened in my car, on my way to an appointment. Luckily, only 5 minute drive on small roads, I was ready to pull over ... I felt dizzy, faint, cold and clammy, unwell. I was told I looked pale/grey ready to collapse, when I walked into my apt.

Was given a glass of Hydralite, got well within 10-15 minutes

This made me lot more conscious re my Water and Fluid intake

2. Acid Reflux ..... Terrible attack after straying off my prescribed diet, 3-4 weeks post op.

Yes, I caved in, it was emotional (frustrated with my very first weight loss stall), I decided to "reward" myself with 1/2 of a chocolate Bunny (it was after Easter), together with a large serve of ice-cream ..... late at night ...

Bad Idea !!! I woke up at 4 am, choking on and coughing up copious amounts of stinging yellow bile ....

I was so worried that I may have aspirated some of this bile/acid ....

These 2 above episodes scared me so much, that I think I needed to be shaken up hard, to pay more attention to my post op instructions and to my body.

Even on my daily PPI, this Acid/Bile attack was so violent that it is unforgettable.

These are my mistakes during my 6 weeks post Gastric Sleeve op.