Hey everyone,

I’m new here, just had sleeve surgery on the 14th so I’m a week out. I’m on an all liquid diet and I’m genuinely hungry - please don’t say it’s in my head, this is not that. I’m up to 64 oz and my two protein shakes but this is stressing me out. I don’t want to eat a lot but I do want something! My nutritionist said no foods at all only liquids until the 29th. And it’s Christmas, y’all!

I saw someone mentioned hypoglycemia and I’m wondering about that. My doctor told me to drink a little apple juice when it gets really bad and that has helped some (little equals an ounce).

But this is just a real lot right now and I guess I’m overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. My moods are all over the place too and I just don’t know if I’m coming or going. I’m thankful for this forum and all of your posts, it’s helped me to get through this evening.

I know you're not asking about eating real food but just thought this might be helpful info which will make you not be tempted at all.

Food will hurt right now anyway. Even soft food hurt me during the "soft food" stage. Your stomach needs time to heal. You will be in a world of hurt if you tried to eat real food now, not to mention it could get stuck in your sutures and cause a leak.

Not going to lie -- this stage sucks.. I just ate sugar-free popsicles and protein drinks during that time. Some jello. Broth grossed me out & I didn't like it, so I only did that once.

I am going to do a "reset" after the holiday to see if I can shrink my pouch & kick start losing some more weight.. not looking forward to it. (reset is when you go back through the beginning stages -- liquids being the first step).

Some positives: you will likely lose the most weight during this period. And your stomach pouch will be the smallest it has ever been in this stage (7 months out & mine has stretched someone.. I wish I had my tiny pouch back)..

I wish I could give you some advice to help you feel better.. Just know this only lasts a few weeks -- it seems like an eternity when you're in the midst of it, but in a few months - it will just be a memory!

Ok try this worked for my friend. Make you self some strong and I mean super strong Broths, Get yourself a big pot about 3 gallon and follow : how to make Chinese vegetable broth. Be careful on the Salt, as a trained chef you do not need to add all that salt. If it says 1 pound of carrots add 30% more to make it stronger. What you are doing is taking all the vitamins and minerals out of the bases and making the water Supercharged. You can do this with beef bones, chicken bones, Seafood ect. Now since you can not eat the meat yet Do not panic buy it fresh and freeze it when done to be eaten later. She sipped this all day long and it kept the hunger issue down and manageable. I did the same thing with a seafood broth and it kept me sane during the liquid only phase. As for x mas do not let it bother you, Just wait to see what Santa brings you next x mas when you down 75 pounds or more.

1 hour ago, Lanie992 said:

I know you're not asking about eating real food but just thought this might be helpful info which will make you not be tempted at all.

Food will hurt right now anyway. Even soft food hurt me during the "soft food" stage. Your stomach needs time to heal. You will be in a world of hurt if you tried to eat real food now, not to mention it could get stuck in your sutures and cause a leak.

Not going to lie -- this stage sucks.. I just ate sugar-free popsicles and Protein Drinks during that time. Some Jello. broth grossed me out & I didn't like it, so I only did that once.

I am going to do a "reset" after the holiday to see if I can shrink my pouch & kick start losing some more weight.. not looking forward to it. (reset is when you go back through the beginning stages -- liquids being the first step).

Some positives: you will likely lose the most weight during this period. And your stomach pouch will be the smallest it has ever been in this stage (7 months out & mine has stretched someone.. I wish I had my tiny pouch back)..

I wish I could give you some advice to help you feel better.. Just know this only lasts a few weeks -- it seems like an eternity when you're in the midst of it, but in a few months - it will just be a memory!

Thank you Lanie,

That helped a lot and I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I need both perspective and practicality to get through this I guess. One more week to see the doctor...I should be able to do that!

12 minutes ago, Mr Alley Gator said:

Ok try this worked for my friend. Make you self some strong and I mean super strong Broths, Get yourself a big pot about 3 gallon and follow : how to make Chinese vegetable broth. Be careful on the Salt, as a trained chef you do not need to add all that salt. If it says 1 pound of carrots add 30% more to make it stronger. What you are doing is taking all the Vitamins and minerals out of the bases and making the Water Supercharged. You can do this with beef bones, chicken bones, Seafood ect. Now since you can not eat the meat yet Do not panic buy it fresh and freeze it when done to be eaten later. She sipped this all day long and it kept the hunger issue down and manageable. I did the same thing with a seafood broth and it kept me sane during the liquid only phase. As for x mas do not let it bother you, Just wait to see what Santa brings you next x mas when you down 75 pounds or more.

Hey there,

Yes this is a good idea, thank you so much for writing it all out to share. The days I’ve eaten a really good broth (not that watered down canned stuff) my wife or 21 year old daughter made have been better days. I’ll make sure I just do more of that. I like your suggestion of a Chinese broth and now I’m thinking of a nice creole tasting gumbo broth too - just the broth but with lots of the flavor. I’m going to work on this today.

You’re right about Xmas too. but after the year everyone’s had it just seems like one more thing that was taken away from normalcy. I’m gonna get it together and make it through this next week and focus on the rest of my life.

Ahhh, what a great forum this is! Thanks again for the support.

Have you tried sugar-free popsicles? They come in a variety of flavors and give you a "crunch" instead of just plain liquid. It really is head hunger. And you're thinking about missing Christmas foods, celebrations, etc. It's natural. But this too shall pass. Sugar-free jello counts as "liquid" as does sugar-free pudding.

I appreciate your suggestion about the popsicles and yes, I have. It’s not that I want to bite things, though I’m sure I miss that too.

My stomach is growling when empty and I feel lightheaded until I drink a shake or have thinned out yogurt with protein powder mixed in. It’s real hunger. I recognize this is uncommon post-op, but it’s genuinely my experience, and there is enough research that supports it.

It’s not that I want to eat everything possible in the quantities I did before, I just want more than liquids - a few teaspoons of mushy something. One thing I’m really learning, each doctor has a slightly different regimen that they adhere to for their patients - I was told jello but no pudding, though when I called my nutritionist we “negotiated” to watered down yogurt and pudding too.

I had a whole list of other things I tried to get her to say yes to and she was like nope. My taste has changed overnight also to not like sweet things, which is also causing issues.

I do miss all the Christmas things definitely, though. My girls and I would always bake and plan out our holiday menus together and I’m sad at not having that this year - I’m just too tired to cook anyway. They’ve been great, it’s just that I’m grieving over old things.

I should also mention that I had a hysterectomy in September and then with the sleeve, they had to do a hernia repair. The doctor said that this is exacerbating my whole experience because my lung collapsed (“just a little”, he said). I’m like surgeried out at this point, really tired and tired of the tired.

Anyway, today is better than yesterday and hopefully it’ll keep getting better.

I'm two weeks post-op (rny & hiatal hernia repair) and experiencing something very similar. This isn't "head hunger:" nor thirst. I both drank and did my meditation/mindfulness and this continued throughout the afternoon and evening. It's nice to know I'm not alone! I have no idea if it has to do with my cycle but it stinks. Like you, I am over sweet tasting things. Miso soup (broth) has been the only appealing thing to me lately. Good luck, chin up and happy holidays!

Happy holidays! Congratulations on your surgery - sounds like we have had similar experiences. Thank you for the soup suggestion, I have sent one of my daughters to pick some up today!

So over sweet tasting things. I’ve gotten my first shake down for the day but bleh, was it gross.

I almost never complain like this - I’m known to be an optimist to the point of annoyance to friends and family alike, but this is really hard. I had a relative suggest I’d taken the easy way out and they really don’t know what they’re saying!!

We will get through. It’s so comforting to read accounts of people further along who are now eating real foods and sticking with their goals. We will be ok!

Every surgeon is different, I'm 3 weeks out and having lentils, legumes, mashed potatoes with cream cheese, mashed carrots with a little butter. Lots of different soups and smoothies. Just try alittle and see how it makes you feel, also make sure there's no lumps just a thin consistency. I didnt bother with protein shakes i can't stand the taste of them eughh

On 12/27/2020 at 9:39 PM, Meera said:

Every surgeon is different, I'm 3 weeks out and having lentils, legumes, mashed potatoes with cream cheese, mashed carrots with a little butter. Lots of different Soups and smoothies. Just try alittle and see how it makes you feel, also make sure there's no lumps just a thin consistency. I didnt bother with Protein Shakes i can't stand the taste of them eughh

All of those foods sound amazing!! Let’s see what he says today, I’m meeting the surgeon for my two week appointment. Hopefully I can eat all of those things after this appointment!

I’ve been muddling through drinking my shakes and surviving. The hunger pangs are making me anxious though and I want to discuss that with my doctor as well.