I just had surgery on 1/4/24 and I am struggling. I never used to be obsessed with food and now it's all I think about. I am so sick of the Protein drinks and jello because everything tastes too sweet for me now. It feels/tastes like I am drinking sweetened condensed milk from the can. I am limited with broths I like, so that's an issue. I couldn't take it anymore, so I broke down and has refried beans yesterday (I'm not supposed to start pureed food until Tuesday). I regret having the surgery, and am resentful about not being to eat the foods I want. I have been on the liver shrinking diet 1 week before Christmas, which was awful watching everyone eat all those delicious Christmas treats, while I just watched. I think between that and the liquid diet post-surgery has broken me. I am emotional and miserable. Am I the only person to feel this way?

"buyer's remorse" is pretty common for the first month or so after surgery - but it goes away pretty quickly and you'll be glad you had the surgery. In the mean time, try to stay on plan - it's important for healing. You WILL get through this...

You will get through this! Your mind gets challenged a lot in these days. I went through the "buyer's remorse," stage and wondered what in the world have I done to myself. Five months post-op, and I am on top of the world.

It is very common and normal to feel regret in the early post-op days. This is probably the most difficult part of the WLS process because your diet is very limited, you're still adjusting physically and emotionally to your post-op life, but you're not seeing the benefits of the weight loss yet. In other words, this is the time when you have the most drawbacks and the fewest benefits, but as time goes by, it will become the opposite -- you'll be able to eat more normally and you'll experience many scale and non-scale victories. It's hard to see that now when you're in it, but when you look back on this time a year from now, it will seem like an insignificant blip on your journey.

Our heads are often our worst enemy. Making you crave certain foods, flavours or textures, making you want them more simply because you can’t have them, trying to convince you that this tiny portion of food simply can’t be enough for you to function, …

In time you work out strategies to help you manage this but it’s not easy at first. Many of us find distraction helpful. Read, craft, check social media or this forum, ring a friend or family member, go for a walk, play a game, clean out a drawer, cupboard or pantry (get rid of the clothes that are too big & foods you can’t eat or may be tempted by), etc. Even sipping a warm/hot drink can be helpful.

The change in our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell can make it challenging to find foods you can tolerate for a while. I found the shakes disgusting (too sweet & grainy), bone broths too salty. Thank goodness for cream soups. I also diluted my shakes so I could tolerate one a day. Try making your own smoothie with yoghurt, milk, protein powder & an appropriate flavour. The change in your taste buds can have the reverse affect too & foods or flavours you didn’t like before suddenly are okay so don’t rule out something because you didn’t like it in the past.

All the best.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and encouragement! ?

23 hours ago, Bdonahue said:

I just had surgery on 1/4/24 and I am struggling. I never used to be obsessed with food and now it's all I think about. I am so sick of the Protein Drinks and Jello because everything tastes too sweet for me now. It feels/tastes like I am drinking sweetened condensed milk from the can. I am limited with broths I like, so that's an issue. I couldn't take it anymore, so I broke down and has refried Beans yesterday (I'm not supposed to start pureed food until Tuesday). I regret having the surgery, and am resentful about not being to eat the foods I want. I have been on the liver shrinking diet 1 week before Christmas, which was awful watching everyone eat all those delicious Christmas treats, while I just watched. I think between that and the liquid diet post-surgery has broken me. I am emotional and miserable. Am I the only person to feel this way?