Michelle920

My NUT would say it is far more than a suggestion, or even ideal. She would say it is required. But if you need to argue semantics, I'll leave you to it.

I had been on every diet under the sun, and I always put the weight back on because I went back to my old bad habits. I'm 2 years out and have regained 10lbs since my one year follow up because, well, I went back to some bad habits. I got lazy. I didn't think it would happen; in fact I swore it wouldn't before I had my surgery. I also swore it wouldn't every time I dieted too. My two year follow up is Thursday and I know my surgeon will still consider me one of his biggest success stories because I keep fighting the good fight. I show up at support groups, and I'm doing so much better than I would be if I hadn't had surgery. Do I wish I'd done everything perfectly and didn't gain weight? Of course. Do I wish I didn't struggle with binge eating disorder and stress eating? Of course. I have a wonderful therapist and nutritionist who are helping me through this, but I never expected surgery to solve all my problems. I knew I'd have to put in the work. And I am. Oh, and I was completely on plan for the first five months, and got to the weight I am now. Then I had a hysterectomy, and that was the first of a few setbacks. I never thought I would fall back into old behaviors but it happens. The difference between before and after surgery is I know too much now to let it get out of hand, and of course, I still have a pouch.

Get back on track today!! The whole "I'll start tomorrow" thing is dangerous, for me anyway.

I said depending on their needs. I'm sure some people need more than the perimeters I laid out but I think the average person falls within the numbers I suggested. I keep my water intake to half my body weight in ounces and thankfully that number is less than 100.

It sounds like we're in the same boat. It's nice to know we're not alone!!

The ideal diet for WLS surgery patients is simple. 64-100 grams protein a day, depending on your needs. 64-120 oz water, also depending on your needs. Eat your protein first, then veggies, then complex carb (I like to stick with sweet potatoes, brown rice, cous cous or quinoa) if you have room for it. No liquid with meals, or 30 mins before and after. 95-99% of the time. That takes the weight off and keeps it off.

I'm confused. Are your surgeons and NUTS recommending keto? Why would you have weight loss surgery and then go on what is basically a fad diet? I had surgery to stop letting fad diets get in my head. Yes, they work. Fad diets always have. Until they don't. If I follow the guidelines my surgeon and NUT gave me, I'm ultimately eating low carb anyway. They don't recommend simple carbs, and I admit like everyone else, they don't work for me. But I shake my head at all of these post op people following keto plans. It sounds to me like keto is to lose weight. Surgery should accomplish that on its on. It did for me.

I liked the idea of dumping too, but it really doesn't happen for me. I can overeat (slightly, I still have a pouch after all!) sugar and carbs, and while I don't feel great, I wouldn't call it dumping. But I'm not that disappointed, although I do need to be more responsible for my eating now that I'm two weeks away from being two years out. It can be a struggle, but when I get back to basics, it's much easier! I have to be honest and say I have been far from perfect and even had weight gain. I'm learning a lot more about why I eat, things I'd never considered before. I admit this is something I've been working on for 30+ years but hey, I'm a slow learner!! And yes, I know I should have done that pre surgery, but I thought I had. Then I had to go back to work after a year of not working (nine months after surgery, and at my goal weight) and it took me a year of being back at work to realize how the compulsive urge to binge is directly related to work stress. Stick with the basics for as long as you can, and if you ever stray or have regain, just get back to basics again. Most importantly, no liquids with meals or 30 minutes before or after (or at least 15 minutes), meet your protein and liquid goals (whatever yours may be) and eat your protein first. That's the rest of your life. I might not be the right person to answer this because I'm still taking two steps forward, one step back getting back on track, but I do know the rules, even if I don't always follow them!! Bottom line? You absolutely have to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I wouldn't recommend following my path but if you do, don't beat yourself up. Just pick yourself up, and get back to basics asap. And stay plugged in to groups. Socialize with other bariatric patients, in all stages of the journey. You can do this!!

Wow. No nice restaurant has a kid's menu? While I don't necessarily disagree with that statement, I would not have been so condescending. Your insides don't seem that attractive to me.

I'm in central Jersey. There is a girl in my support group who did it. I'll chat with her at our next support group and see if I can put her in touch with you.

I do the PB2 powder. I put it in my yogurt. I love it!!

That doesn't seem bad to me! I never can cook chicken as good as restaurants. I'm sure it's because they use oil and salt but it's better than not getting in your protein.

I'm having a very hard time getting myself back on track. I had RNY in June 2015, lost 70ish pounds (248-180) starting putting some weight back on in March/April 2016 after having emergency surgery for an eternal hernia, then putting my dog to sleep, which was devastating. I kept it at 185 for a while but falling into old habits caused the weight to come back slowly. I've been back and forth for months now. This morning I was back up to 203.5 and am worried. I'm working with my therapist and a new NUT to get to the root of why I eat. One huge issue is my history of going on and off diets. I'm used to either restrictive eating or binge eating and not much balance or maintenance. Now, since I'm back up over 200, I'm tempted to restrict again to get down to 185 by my two year follow up, and a lot of the posts I see here seem to be about restricting carbs, increasing exercise, more protein and water, etc. But I'm concerned that will just be me repeating old patterns, and will result in going off the rails again. My question is, can anyone relate? Or better yet, has anyone been through this and gotten out of it?? I'm kind of panicky this morning, and wonder what my day is going to be like. I have a crazy couple weeks coming up (in fact no end in sight until the end of the month) and that usually means no planning or prepping. And that is exactly what I need to focus on. HELP!!!!!!

That's what I've been doing... getting back to basics. I know the rules, I just got away from them. I'm actually doing much better now... I didn't get notifications that I had any replies!! I'm reluctant to do the pouch reset because the last time I tried it, I was overeating within a day. I may talk to my doctor about having an endoscopy to see if I've stretched my pouch. I used to worry about that six months out but I definitely get full with a small amount of food. My regain is from grazing and bad choices.

That's how I felt too. It changes.

You should be able to get medical transport to take you home. I don't know how you arrange it but my mom does it in Florida all the time, and my ex boyfriend has done it in NJ. I think your doctor will allow you to be discharged that way. Although sometimes when you have an outpatient surgery they want someone to stay with you for 24 hours. Good luck!!

Are you getting in all your protein, water and vitamins? I would imagine it's easy to let those things slide after ten years. Also, do you need to lose a great deal of weight? I know you can have RNY reversed but I don't know if you can then get sleeved. I've just never heard anyone talk about that. I've heard of sleeve to RNY. If your weight is stable and you've made all the necessary lifestyle changes, why don't you just have the RNY reversed? But definitely talk to your surgeon.

Please message me with details!!

I didn't have much of a waiting period. My first consultation was April 15, 2015 and RNY surgery was June 8. In many ways I wish I had one. I didn't make any changes in those seven weeks, although I had good intentions and I tried for the first month, but then it started to dawn on me that I would *never* have things like ice cream or pizza, or drink beer or wine again, and so I indulged in everything I thought I would miss. I didn't binge but I ate whatever I wanted. And gained ten pounds. I did nothing to mentally prepare myself, or to get to the root of the reasons I was fat. I'd been in therapy with an eating disorders specialist for almost twenty years so I guess I thought all that work was done. Um, no. I'm dealing with a slight regain now, and am finally working on why I always end up going back to food. Oh and I've eaten ice cream and pizza, and had wine and beer since surgery. I'm not condoning it, but it happens.

I also can eat pretty much anything in small amounts, so sometimes I indulge, but I track my calories and watch macros too. I haven't been perfect at any of this over the last 21 months since surgery but I'm getting back on track. Pre surgery I didn't think about missing certain foods because I was tired of those foods ruling my life. I was ready to get rid of them. Then nothing made me dump and I was disappointed because I "could" still eat junk. Now it's on me to avoid them. Frankly, I don't really want them and wonder why I eat them, even in small amounts, when I do.

I can ditto every word Gail said!! I can understand being terrified of weight gain but it may happen, as it did for me, and I've managed to not go crazy and gain everything back. I lost 65 lbs in a year, and gained 15 back after putting my dog to sleep. I didn't go off the deep end, just made bad choices because I didn't care about anything but my grief. Now I'm back on track and losing again. I'd like to be back where I was at my one year follow up appointment, at my two year in June. Then maybe lose the last ten. No matter what, this surgery was a success for me, and I'm exactly where I need to be. I learned a LOT about myself through all this, especially about why I always turn to food, and am continuing to learn.

So you had to see a cardiologist and he doesn't think you have potential comorbidities? Just curious, why were you seeing him? And shame on him! Every doctor I told (PCP, gastroenterologist, therapist and orthopedist) was very supportive. I didn't have comorbidities either, and my BMI was 36. My insurance approved the surgery because of my history of depression, which my therapist said was affected by my weight problem. And it was! The chronic dieting, with massive weight losses and gains over the years, had me near suicide. We all do this for different reasons, but ultimately it's to save our lives. I was beyond caring how big my butt was, and I'm still more concerned with my mental and emotional health.

I hit numerous stalls! Surgery was June 2015 so I don't remember all the details but I was 20lbs down at one month, 50lbs down at 6 months, and I stayed there for a while, give or take five pounds, then was down 65 pounds at my one year. I gained 15ish back after putting my dog to sleep (I would have put on 40 pre surgery) and now I'm working on taking it off before my two year appointment. After that I'd like to lose another ten but will be ok if I don't. I try to focus on how far I've come, live with the plateaus, stay positive and not beat myself up. I feel better physically and emotionally when I'm doing the right things, and lousy when I don't. The subsequent weight loss or gain is secondary. I hope this helps!

Your doctor is right! I never dumped (surgery in June 2015) and wish I did. I'm still struggling with sugar. It would be nice if it made me sick! It's one reason I went RNY instead of sleeve.

Actually your entire stomach is left behind with bypass. That's one of the reasons I chose it. To me it felt less drastic than removing most of my stomach. Plus I had issues with reflux too. In fact I'd had surgery in 1994 to fix a hiatal hernia (fun fact: my WLS's mentor was the surgeon who did it, and said there's a chance he was in the OR!) My WLS had to undo that surgery before he could do my bypass. I haven't had issues with reflux at all. Now for dumping. I haven't had issues with that either, and I'm a little disappointed. Another reason I chose bypass was because I had such problems controlling my sugar intake I thought dumping would be a GOOD thing. As for deficiencies, I've always been a faithful supplement taker so I wasn't concerned. If you take your supplements you'll be fine. I have a lot more friends who've had the sleeve, and are at various stages post up, and long term I see more success with the bypass. Oh, and they all lost their hair. I didn't.