Hey everyone!

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to reach out and ask about your experiences during the first week after gastric bypass surgery. I had mine on July 24th, so it's been 6 days since the procedure, and I've been feeling a bit concerned about my eating progress.

I had my surgery in Belgium, where I'm from cause it's free there! Unlike most of you, we don't have to stick to liquids only for an extended period. After the first 2 days, we can move on to puree and soft foods, which is a relief.

However, I can't help but feel like I'm eating too much already. Today, for breakfast, I managed to eat 2 small french toasts and 1 egg in one sitting. While I did feel some restriction afterwards, I can't shake the feeling that it's still a lot of food for this early stage. I've been consuming around 900 - 1100 calories a day, and it's making me worry that the surgery might not work effectively for me. Additionally, I've been having trouble staying hydrated, which is something I never struggled with before.

I would really appreciate hearing your experiences and any advice you might have. Thanks a bunch!

I'm not sure how much I was eating at that point because we were told not to count calories early out, but I'm sure it wasn't that many. I averaged around 800-ish calories from about months 2-10, I think. But then, plans differ. Your surgeon's office may be able to give you some guidelines.

Early on, I was eating maybe two tablespoons of yogurt for breakfast, a couple bites of refried beans or soup for lunch and usually the same for dinner. The last few days (5 weeks out), I can get down maybe 1/4c of yogurt for breakfast and 1oz ground turkey + a few small bites of zucchini and squash for lunch / dinner. Not too much, but everyone is different. I can drink a lot at one time. I was consuming 70-80oz of fluids pretty quickly.

Edited July 30, 20233 yr by sleevedinthe817

Congratulations on your surgery and doing so well. In Europe we seem to be given a little less rules and strict regulations than our forum friends based in the USA. Your team do seem to have the most laid back approach that I have come across. I had 4 -6 weeks of baby type foods until my stomach was healed and went on to normal foods.

1. Ask your team because everyone has a surgeon with a different idea of what a pre op or post op diet should be.

2. I had a wicked restriction so only managed 300 calories for the early months. 1200 - 1500cals a day is where I am now. It doesn't really help you because your team may want you on much more.

3. Many foods are slider foods. Cake, biscuits, crackers, chocolate etc. You will not feel any restriction eating these. They just slide on through.

4. At about 6 to 12 weeks, your real restriction will kick in. It happens when your stomach has healed and your nerves begin to knit together again.

Hydration is a different matter all together, if you can eat so many calories ? why can you not drink enough?? It just does not make any sense. We are told to drink up to an hour before meals and wait one hour after to drink again. In the early stages drinking is a 24 hour occupation, it is tough. Take little sips at every opportunity, day and night. Try hot, cold and frozen drinks. I was allowed coffee, so had lattes. Great protein.

Not being able to feel restriction is usually pretty common till you get past the soft food stage. I remember thinking the surgery didn't work for me either, till I started eating regular food at 5 weeks. It was then I really felt the I'm full pain. I have since learned when to stop before it gets to that point. Liquids and soft phase were pretty easy for me. I still go back to it sometimes when my tummy is not feeling so good.

Just be careful that you don't eat more than you should. Especially this early out. You don't want to pop a staple or blow out your stomach. Extremely dangerous. Nerves have been cut too during your WLS and can contribute to why you aren't feeling that restriction. Give them time to heal.

At this point you want to go by how much your Dr recommends eating because you can't trust that not feeling restriction phase. I could always eat more than 2 TB of food but never allowed myself over 1/2 C early on. Also wait 30 minutes to an hour after eating to drink. If I don't, liquids won't stay down. I would concentrate right now more so on getting all your liquids in. Good luck!!

Here's what my nutritionist recommends:

5 weeks to 6 months: 600-800 calories, 65-100 g protein, less than 45 g carbs, less than 30 grams fat.

6 months to 12 months: 800-1000 calories, 65-100 g protein, less than 60 g carbs, less than 35 grams fat.

Over 12 months: 1000-1500 calories, 65-100 g protein, less than 75 g carbs, less than 30-60 grams fat.

Wow! That seems like a lot of calories so soon. I think I didn’t have more than 800 for the 1st 6 months. I was told to concentrate more on protein. To have 60-90 grams a day.
Good luck to you.

Hi OP - I am a little concerned as to whether french toast is considered a soft food in your program. I have a sleeve so feel free to ignore, but I didn't have bread for some months after my surgery - it takes up a lot of room and gives almost nothing back in the way of nutrition. In addition to that, in the weeks immediately after surgery your stomach will be healing. Nerves have been cut that need to grow back. Sometimes we can't feel our restriction so we need to stick to tried and tested rules.

Might it be worth trying the generally recommended progression: clear liquids - full liquids- pureed foods - soft foods - that most of us are asked to, even though you haven't been? Especially if your own program is causing you concern.

Other than this I echo everyone else - please speak to your team and clarify what you can and cannot have right now.

Hello. I had my gastric sleeve surgery done on July 10th. I am in the USA, so I am a bit jealous of the folks overseas in the UK and Europe with lax restrictions. My team also seems to have some of the strictest restrictions from what I've researched online. I was on clear liquids for 7 days following surgery. After that, I was on a full liquid diet for 13 more days. During this time I've only been consuming protein shakes, sugar free gelatin and sugar free pudding, low sodium beef and chicken broth, and strained healthy request campbell's cream soups(cream of chicken, celery, mushroom, tomato). I've only been getting 300-400 calories a day. Its a struggle for me to get enough protein and my 64oz of clear liquids a day. It isn't that my body won't tolerate what I am putting in, but I am trying to do everything exactly as dictated by my treatment team. I can eat more than 2oz of yogurt at once, but they say to limit portions to that. I can put 6oz of soup in my stomach without any pain or discomfort, but they say only 1/4 to 1/2 cup at once. As for liquids, I am a gulper. I am used to drinking in excess of 1-1.5 gallons of clear sugar free liquids a day.(mostly crystal light iced tea mix). I am finding it so hard to take a sip and remember to keep taking sips. I usually just drink down 16oz and move on. Like others have mentioned, I too am able to drink more than I am supposed to without any discomfort. I am not doing it on a regular basis however, because I am terrified of complications. Also, I know I will have a much easier time of mastering my new lifestyle and diet changes moving forward if I learn and practice moderation early on. So for that reason I have been following my teams' advice verbatim. Until today that is. I decided to move on to the pureed food stage a day early. I went back to work last Tuesday, having taken roughly 2 weeks off for my recovery. My first two days were good. I had more energy than normal and enjoyed being back in the grind of things(pun intended, I am a butcher. :P) Yesterday and today, however, I've been dizzy, light headed, and my balance has been off. Also I've had a lot of muscular pains, more than before surgery, in my back and neck and sides. my blood pressure during one of these episodes was 88/41. I self diagnosed myself as having hypotension brought on by dehydration and possible lack of protein in my diet. So I left work early today with two bags of groceries to fuel my pureed stage of my diet, and set off to make up some egg salad, pureeing the eggs with nonfat greek yogurt and light mayonaise. I ate 2oz of that to test my stomach's reaction, and I didn't have any discomfort at all. This evening I made some adult baby food from 1 pound of skinless boneless chicken thighs, which I boiled, drained, chopped, seasoned, then pureed with a cup of low sodium chicken broth. I added 2oz of my chicken paste to 4oz of my creamy cheddar and mushroom(strained) soup, and that was dinner. At the moment it was the greatest thing I've ever eaten. As a Carnivoire pre-surgery, I really missed eating meat. I feel better tonight after getting more protein, and having gotten my 64oz+ of clear liquids in me. I am a bit concerned though, aside from my stomach gurgling and being a little gassy and occasionally bloated, I've had absolutely no adverse reactions like vomiting, nausea, trouble swallowing, or feeling really full. Maybe it is because I've adhered to what my treatment team told me to do, or maybe it is the slow pace of their rules. Here's the full list: Week 1 - Clear liquids. Weeks 2 & 3 - Full liquid diet. Weeks 4 & 5 - Pureed foods. Weeks 6 & 7 - Soft foods. Week 8 - Slowly start to introduce regular healthy low fat foods. The saving grace to all this is the fact I have no physical hunger, so it is easier for me to stick to this restrictive, slow pace. I think I am going to stick with it instead of trying to eat something 'normal' too early, risking injury. My total nutritional info for today: 588 calories, 29g fat, 63g protein, 18g carbs, 1,679mg sodium. Today I've eaten the most calories in a single day post-op.

I echo the advice to go back to your surgeon for guidance & if you haven’t got one, find a dietician/nutritionalist with experience supporting wls patients. There are differences in plans, your very quick cycle through the return to eating stages as an example. But we ourselves are very different & consequently have different needs. For example I’m shorter, probably older, likely had a different weight loss/gain history, had no comorbidities before surgery & aren’t very active.

I wasn’t given calorie goals only portion size: 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée slowly increasing to about a cup at goal which was 6 months. I remember for months it would take me three days to eat two scrambled eggs. I could eat one egg at 6 months - just the egg nothing else I didn’t have to track calories but I know I was barely consuming 300 in around the soft food stage & was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months. My plan did not allow for any rice, pasta or bread at any stage while losing.

Beat advice is to go slowly & be more tentative with your food choices while you are healing (& it does take a few weeks). The staged return to eating we work through is to protect & not strain your healing tummy & support your recovery. Remember all those staples & sutures holding your tummy & digestive system together & all the nerves that have been cut too.

All the best with your recovery & weight loss.

Doesn’t the UK have sugar tax and restrictions on garbage being put in the food in that country? USA does really care what they put in our food and that may be why we have to restrict the we do before we are able to get a full meal. They don’t want our new stomach to be filled with crap too early? Lol idk.

Thank you, everyone, for your messages.

I revisited the post-op diet sheets provided by my dietitian and discovered that I'm actually supposed to eat even more than I currently am at this stage!

Rather than focusing on calorie counting, the primary goal is to prevent deficiencies, and they are confident that long-term weight loss will naturally occur.

Yesterday, I made a mistake by eating too quickly and consuming too much food (including 4 oz yogurt, 2 small toasts (see attached pic), 1 egg, and 3 oz pureed salmon and broccoli).

As a result, I experienced terrible abdominal cramps before bedtime. Today, I'm going back to a diet of liquids and yogurts only. Your mention of "staples rupture" did give me a little scare, but I appreciate the information.

Regarding water intake, I can manage to drink water, but swallowing is painful and creates uncomfortable air bubbles inside. So, I reckon I'm drinking around 500ml to 1 liter a day.

Thank you all for your support and understanding during this post-op phase. Your encouragement means a lot to me as I work towards a smooth recovery.

2 hours ago, MsTeeTee said:

Doesn’t the UK have sugar tax and restrictions on garbage being put in the food in that country? USA does really care what they put in our food and that may be why we have to restrict the we do before we are able to get a full meal. They don’t want our new stomach to be filled with crap too early? Lol idk.

They have plenty of sweets and junk overseas, don't you worry about that. If their diets were perfect they wouldn't need to offer surgeries like this "over there" because no one would be heavy.

Edited July 31, 20233 yr by pintsizedmallrat

52 minutes ago, lolyschmoney said:

Thank you, everyone, for your messages.

I revisited the post-op diet sheets provided by my dietitian and discovered that I'm actually supposed to eat even more than I currently am at this stage!

Rather than focusing on calorie counting, the primary goal is to prevent deficiencies, and they are confident that long-term weight loss will naturally occur.

Yesterday, I made a mistake by eating too quickly and consuming too much food (including 4 oz yogurt, 2 small toasts (see attached pic), 1 egg, and 3 oz pureed salmon and broccoli).

As a result, I experienced terrible abdominal cramps before bedtime. Today, I'm going back to a diet of liquids and yogurts only. Your mention of "staples rupture" did give me a little scare, but I appreciate the information.

Regarding Water intake, I can manage to drink water, but swallowing is painful and creates uncomfortable air bubbles inside. So, I reckon I'm drinking around 500ml to 1 liter a day.

Thank you all for your support and understanding during this post-op phase. Your encouragement means a lot to me as I work towards a smooth recovery.

In the UK we call these Melba toast and I was allowed these. They are slider foods though. To us French toast is Good bread dipped in beaten egg and fried and topped with sugar. Vive la difference.

2 hours ago, MsTeeTee said:

Doesn’t the UK have sugar tax and restrictions on garbage being put in the food in that country? USA does really care what they put in our food and that may be why we have to restrict the we do before we are able to get a full meal. They don’t want our new stomach to be filled with crap too early? Lol idk.

Yes the sugar tax is a thing, Anything with more than recommended levels are taxed. Things like Sugary sweets, cakes, biscuits, cereals and fizzy drinks. If you buy the diet version its cheaper. Its a choice you make at the check out.

Many suppliers have reduced the sugar in their products which can only be a good thing in the long run.

Edited July 31, 20233 yr by summerseeker
added content

22 minutes ago, summerseeker said:

In the UK we call these Melba toast and I was allowed these. They are slider foods though. To us French toast is Good bread dipped in beaten egg and fried and topped with sugar. Vive la difference.

Well I don't know. I got mine from Tesco and it reads "French toast" so I thought that's how you british call them. In Belgium/France where I'm from originally, we call it "Biscotte" and what you described as french toasts we call it "Pain perdu" which translates to "Lost bread" in english lol. Anyway, vive la différence indeed!

Edited July 31, 20233 yr by lolyschmoney

My partner is Chinese and from New Zealand so we have these "I call it this, you call it that!" discussions all the time. LOL It is very informative!

OP, have you tried different temperatures of fluids to see if they all cause the pain and bubbles? Sometimes warm fluids go down easier, or really icy ones, depending on who you are. Also, some can't stomach water but do well with broths, teas, and sugar free drinks which all count toward that fluid requirement. Even skimmed milk would be better than getting dehydrated and it may feel smoother going down... Or a thinned out, pureed soup?

@Big MattyI had not considered mixing a meat puree into a soup! Good call. I'm remembering this for my surgery... LOL

Edited July 31, 20233 yr by ChunkCat