Surgery fixes your stomach, NOT your head.

Being successful after WLS requires constant vigilance and a completely new relationship with food. The folks who slide into old habits, like emotional eating and binging, tend to be the ones *****gain.

The people here who've been successful at losing and maintaining for 5, 10, or more years continue to weigh, measure, and log their food, and stay accountable for everything they eat and drink. Surgery is not magic and it requires a lifetime of hard work.

If you don't think you can commit to that, spare yourself and don't have surgery until you're ready to commit and follow-through.

I had my gallbladder out years before getting VSG, and it didn't affect my ability to lose weight.

Color me skeptical on this claim.

The sleeve surgery does not have malabsorption. Your medication will not be affected.

I have bipolar and my medications were not affected at all by the VSG.

How are you drinking? Normal-size drinks? Or teeny sips? Smaller sips can help.

I'd also suggest trying different temperatures. Hot, cold, room temperature. Some people have better luck with warm water (or broth or tea) sitting in their stomach.

Try different temperatures. Some people have better luck with warm or hot liquids as opposed to cold or room temp. See what your sleeve can handle!

Definitely ask your surgeon. My doctor said I was OK to rub a little bit of unscented soap on them and let shower water run over them, but your doctor may have different preferences.

I would suggest going for as much lean, dense protein as you can. Chicken breast, lunch meat, beef jerky, other ways of preparing meat, maybe some cheese in there. Shakes, lettuce, protein bars, and fruit won't stay around in your stomach and keep you satisfied.

If you're struggling to lose weight at your current intake level, that probably means you should cut calories. There are plenty of folks here, especially several years out, who need to drop to about 800/day to lose weight.

Not completely sure. When I had my second surgery they did fix a hiatal hernia, which can contribute to GERD. They also discovered that my sleeve had stretched somewhat, but I don't know if that's generally a contributing factor. I believe there are some other theories on it as well (increased acid production, or the esophagus taking more time to move things through) but as I understand it it's not uncommon to develop GERD hears after VSG.

There are no doctors on this site. We're mostly people who have previously had surgery.

Your best bet is to get your protein and other nutrition through normal foods. For the standard high-protein, low-carb post-op diet, that's mostly going to be lean meat and dairy products. Check the daily menu thread on the RNY board if you need ideas.

One Premier Protein bar has almost 300 calories. Most people who are in the weight-loss phase aim for 600 - 800 calories per day, so that one protein bar takes up a pretty significant amount of your food for the day. Protein bars don't make you feel full the way that lean, dense protein does, so that makes it easy to overeat.

Some people also struggle with protein bars as your brain can treat them a bit like candy bars, which are (of course) off-limits after surgery. If you tended to binge on candy, it's best to avoid protein bars.

Some doctors allow patients to have the occasional protein bar in situations where real food isn't an option, like while you're travelling. If that's the case, there are better options; some folks really like the Quest bars, which are closer to 200 calories. Even then, though, you're better off having only half of one as a snack and limiting the calories you're getting in that way.

"My body, my choice." Make it your mantra.

Sure, there are dangers associated with surgery. But in the long run, those risks are TINY compared to the risks of obesity.

I experience this sometimes, and it's most often if I don't have something good before my workout. Even though the best general strategy after WLS is "high protein, low carb," I have the best luck with some slow-burning carbs before a LONG workout. For days when I do a long swim (2000m+) or bike ride (20mi+), I eat half a container of overnight steel-cut oats made with protein shake instead of milk, or half of a whole-grain English muffin with peanut butter-- something that will stick with me.

I also tend to get that ravenous feeling if I'm not properly hydrated. Drinking lots is good, and I've recently started using electrolyte tabs (Nuun) which seem to help a lot.

Are you logging your weight? (Click the plus sign in the top-right corner of the nav bar, then "log weight.") Without that, there's no data to populate the ticker.

Most people lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks, have a bit of a stall, and then the weight loss slows down to a pound or two per week. The rapid loss does not sustain itself and most folks take 9 - 12 months to reach goal.

Search this site for "3 week stall," most people experience a slowdown at the end of the first month.

What are you eating right now? How many calories?