Guys, I am desperate for information about this subject. I am 2 1/2 months out and I’m really concerned about how things are going. It is so easy for me to eat absolutely anything. I’ve never had anything get stuck. I don’t dump. My appetite never did diminish even right after surgery. Like I still get hungry often. While I do eat a lot less it’s very concerning that I could easily graze all day if I let myself. I read so much about people having no appetite, having a lot of restriction and I’m so envious. I feel really cursed that I don’t have much in the way of restriction. I’ve lost 30 pounds since surgery which yes, it’s good but it’s not typical. Most people have lost a lot more by now.

Those who are in the same boat, DID YOU LOSE WEIGHT? like even if it was a little slow did you lose all your weight? Do you struggle to keep it off? I’m so scared this won’t work for me. I’m really trying but I have to use a lot of willpower as my surgery didn’t change my appetite at all. I could easily eat any meat, anything greasy, any bread, pasta, etc. no problem ! (Not that I do, just needed to test the waters)

I want to mention that even though I can eat anything I am sticking to my plan. I eat mostly protein and get all my water and vitamins every day and ZERO sugar. No sweets or fake deserts like protein cookies.

Any insight about long term success?

At 4 months I *thought* I could eat anything because everything was going so easily. I was wrong. Your tolerance can change in an instant.

At 2.5 months out you've already tested the waters so now you know they are deep and murky. But honestly Don't worry about everyone else. That's a recipe for unhappiness. Your journey is your own.

You *may* likely be required to exercise restraint and control beyond the surgery. Your success *may* depend solely on strictly following the formula your surgeon laid out for you. Same for most of us in the losing phase: Protein, vegetable, hydration/water, log food, exercise & positive outlook.

Good luck

@greentealael what changed? What happened at 4 months?

1 minute ago, jasmineinmymind said:

@greentealael what changed? What happened at 4 months?

I tried something that was too rich for my tolerances.

I feel the same , especially as I had a band before and that used to cause all sorts of issues. Now I can eat just about anything and I don’t have a full signal.

BUT

I am eating far healthier and if I follow the guidelines I find they work.

I dish up a small sideplate of food in the right proportions and eat that. Generally that satisfies me even though I don’t have what others refer to as a full signal.

I eat snacks between meals but they are planned, healthy and 95% of the time in accordance with the guidelines.

So if you follow the instructions you will find that your tool works, but you have to remember it is only a tool it won’t do all the hard graft for you.

I'm like you, a little over 2 months post-op and down 30 lbs, but I wish it was more too. I can tolerate just about anything, including things that I couldn't stomach just a few weeks ago (beer and other carbonated no-no drinks for example).

I still feel restriction, but I could easily get in a lot of calories if I graze all day, especially with bad food choices. I'm very wary. I guess the only thing we can really do in this kind of situation is be extremely vigilant, track our calories and food choices, and try our very best not to fall into old bad habits (I ate a small bag of Cheetos the other day and the guilt was immense -- but I'm afraid it won't be enough to stop me from doing it again).

Good luck to all of us trying to fight the good fight!

I had this, and never really lost my hunger. It's why I'm only down 67 pounds instead of 100 at 8 months out. I got a wake up call when I didn't lose weight at all for several months and I had to start being much stricter. I weigh and track everything I put in my mouth, I don't eat gluten or processed foods, I drink at least 70 oz. of water daily, I eat sugar once in a blue moon (usually a piece of dark chocolate) and I exercise like a fiend. All to make up for those months when the weight should have been falling off of me but I was eating whatever I wanted. It's definitely not too late for you at 2.5 months out. Just go back to your plan, eat slowly, track your calories, and don't chase fullness. We should only be eating until we're satisfied, if we eat to fullness we've already eaten too much. You got this!

I'm four months post-op and there's still food that my body won't tolerate (steak, bread, tortillas). I know that the surgery was just a tool and the rest is up to me and my adherence to the diet guidelines set out for me by my surgeon. I have to be diligent whether I feel hungry or want to graze or not.

IMHO, docs (surgeons) and RDs don't always level with us as pre-op patients. They do this not due to malicious intent, but because everyone is so unique. So is their journey. We each have to hack our own body to understand what we have to do to be successful in this journey.

The things that helped me:

1. Don't overeat. Just. Don't. Do. It. - It's not worth it. Follow your surgeon's and RD's instructions for food VOLUME at each stage of your diet progression. This is important cuz VOLUME is king! It really is. I go so far as to place a 1cup measuring cup on my food scale and measure my cubed or ground protein into the cup. The room that's left gets filled with al dente veggies. When that food in the cup is gone, there are NO seconds. The meal is over. You stop if you are full or the hunger is gone--even if you still have some of your 1cup left. Put it away immediately. Give yourself a 20 minute limit for eating using small utensils and concentrating on chewing each bite fully and completely. Put your spoon or fork down between meals. NO SLIDER FOODS/MEALS.

2. Don't drink and eat. Evs. Try to hold out 1 hour or 2hours after a meal. It will help keep food in your tool longer.

3. Focus on separate foods: dry grilled lean means, dry al dente veggies with lots of fiber, 1tsp of healthy fats per meal OR 1oz of avocado OR 1/2oz of nuts OR 1tbsp nut butter. No meat lube! (no gravy, sauce, dressings on your meat)

4. No snacking between meals unless you aren't meeting your protein goals in 3 meals. If you need to, plan "scheduled" mini meals between your 3 meals.

5. Eat plainly. Simple. Fresh. Try to go for "low reward foods" without a lot of "comfort" involved.

6. Avoid sugars and simple carbs. Avoid fruit while you're in the big part of your losing mode. Avoid artificial sweeteners.

7. Eliminate grains and carby stuff until you know if it helps reduce hunger and helps you lose weight.

8. Weigh, measure, log everything in MFP or your food diary. Eat ONLY to your macros. Know you macro goals for the day.

9. Weigh daily.

10. Get 100+ oz of water in per day if possible.

Edited April 12, 20197 yr by FluffyChix

2 hours ago, thatch said:

I had this, and never really lost my hunger. It's why I'm only down 67 pounds instead of 100 at 8 months out. I got a wake up call when I didn't lose weight at all for several months and I had to start being much stricter. I weigh and track everything I put in my mouth, I don't eat gluten or processed foods, I drink at least 70 oz. of Water daily, I eat sugar once in a blue moon (usually a piece of dark chocolate) and I exercise like a fiend. All to make up for those months when the weight should have been falling off of me but I was eating whatever I wanted. It's definitely not too late for you at 2.5 months out. Just go back to your plan, eat slowly, track your calories, and don't chase fullness. We should only be eating until we're satisfied, if we eat to fullness we've already eaten too much. You got this!

I definitely can't eat to fullness as that never really happens. I am not going to push my luck and see how much I could eat if I really wanted to. But yeah I'm still eating according to my doctor's plan and started going to the gym.

36 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

IMHO, docs (surgeons) and RDs don't always level with us as pre-op patients. They do this not due to malicious intent, but because everyone is so unique. So is their journey. We each have to hack our own body to understand what we have to do to be successful in this journey.

The things that helped me:

1. Don't overeat. Just. Don't. Do. It. - It's not worth it. Follow your surgeon's and RD's instructions for food VOLUME at each stage of your diet progression. This is important cuz VOLUME is king! It really is. I go so far as to place a 1cup measuring cup on my food scale and measure my cubed or ground Protein into the cup. The room that's left gets filled with al dente veggies. When that food in the cup is gone, there are NO seconds. The meal is over. You stop if you are full or the hunger is gone--even if you still have some of your 1cup left. Put it away immediately. Give yourself a 20 minute limit for eating using small utensils and concentrating on chewing each bite fully and completely. Put your spoon or fork down between meals. NO SLIDER FOODS/MEALS.

2. Don't drink and eat. Evs. Try to hold out 1 hour or 2hours after a meal. It will help keep food in your tool longer.

3. Focus on separate foods: dry grilled lean means, dry al dente veggies with lots of Fiber, 1tsp of healthy fats per meal OR 1oz of avocado OR 1/2oz of nuts OR 1tbsp nut butter. No meat lube! (no gravy, sauce, dressings on your meat)

4. No snacking between meals unless you aren't meeting your protein goals in 3 meals. If you need to, plan "scheduled" mini meals between your 3 meals.

5. Eat plainly. Simple. Fresh. Try to go for "low reward foods" without a lot of "comfort" involved.

6. Avoid sugars and simple carbs. Avoid fruit while you're in the big part of your losing mode. Avoid artificial sweeteners.

7. Eliminate grains and carby stuff until you know if it helps reduce hunger and helps you lose weight.

8. Weigh, measure, log everything in MFP or your food diary. Eat ONLY to your macros. Know you macro goals for the day.

9. Weigh daily.

10. Get 100+ oz of Water in per day if possible.

OK lots of good advice here. I just started going to the gym so I will need to eat a little more but I'll make sure to avoid snacking etc. I need to reframe my thinking with food and go for more of fuel and less reward. I honestly have been really good about not eating any sugar, no junk food, no processed food but I dont track and measure because the stuff I eat is random sometimes. Like I made brown rice, curry and ground turkey. I have no idea the calories etc. So I guess the lesson is to eat stuff that can be measured and calculated till I can get my weight loss moving quickly again. I'll do your cup trick and see how that works for me.

1 hour ago, jasmineinmymind said:

OK lots of good advice here. I just started going to the gym so I will need to eat a little more but I'll make sure to avoid snacking etc. I need to reframe my thinking with food and go for more of fuel and less reward. I honestly have been really good about not eating any sugar, no junk food, no processed food but I dont track and measure because the stuff I eat is random sometimes. Like I made brown rice, curry and ground turkey. I have no idea the calories etc. So I guess the lesson is to eat stuff that can be measured and calculated till I can get my weight loss moving quickly again. I'll do your cup trick and see how that works for me.

1 cup is too much volume for you at this point. You need to follow your surgeon's guidelines. And most people who are losing steadily and successfully are tracking in a program or app. Seriously. Comforty casseroles allow you to eat more with higher calories and with less satiety. They tend to slide right through. And while they do it, they have woken up your palette to a "more-ish" one.

And you can't out exercise a poor diet. Unless you are doing super heavy workouts, no need to "feed back" some of the calories. I walk/jog 3mph for 1 30 minutes, 2x per day and don't eat back any of my calories.

I don’t eat a full cup of anything unless it’s salad. Also I’m going to the gym because my doctor told me that I am just one of those people who will need to do weight lifting in order to burn fat. My metabolism is garbage and it has been since my 20’s. I come from a long line of obese people and my body holds on to every ounce of fat like crazy. The first month after surgery I only lost 18 pounds and I was following the diet absolutely perfectly. 15 of those days was a liquid diet. So I am obviously not good at losing weight. I also want to reiterate that I never made sugar-free pudding or any of that kind of stuff. I really just have to work harder than most people to lose weight I guess