catwoman7

my former PCP - and now my new one - were thrilled. I think a lot of doctors have come around to the fact that this is a safe, effective surgery - and often the only treatment that "works". You may end up being pleasantly surprised by your doctor's response!

I'd just hit 800 calories at two months out, and I remember feeling at the time that it might have been too high. It seemed like lots of people were in the 600-800 range at that point, so I was consistently at the top end of that. I don't think I hit 1000 until I was several months out. I know at a year out I was in the 1000-1200 range. My program is pretty balanced rather than ultra-low carb, so we didn't count carbs, but I averaged under 80 grams a day for a really long time (so it was fairly low carb - but not one of the Atkins-like programs that a lot of post-ops are on)

from everything I've heard & read, most people have a 10 to 20 lb rebound after they hit their lowest weight, so I probably wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm at a normal BMI as well, and I'm actually trying to lose another 10 lbs or so to give myself a cushion in case I rebound

I'm not sure that anyone really knows what causes them. I think your body just has to stop and re-calibrate once in awhile. Really all you can do is continue to stick to your plan - hide the scale if you have to - and know that the stall *will* break!

Just stick to your plan and milk that first year for all it's worth - esp those first few months when you have no hunger. It will *never* be easier to lose weight than it will be these next few months - so take full advantage of it!!

p.s. be aware that it takes a lot of water to metabolize carbs, so if you've been following an ultra-low carb diet and suddenly start adding carbs in (even the good ones), you may put on a few pounds - but it's all water.

I never did ultra-low carb, even from the beginning. I avoid simple carbs like sweets and breads and white flour but I've really never restricted the complex variety like fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes. I also occasionally eat whole grain products. At this point (almost two years out and in maintenance) I'm usually in the 100-150 gram a day range - but I only know that from my logging my food intake because I don't count carbs. Some people are really carb-sensitive (eating carbs makes them crave more), but I'm not. Maybe because I just allow myself the complex ones? Not sure.

if it's available in sample packs, get a couple of those for now. That way you'll be sure you like it before you spend a lot of money on tub of it that you may end up not liking. That being said, a lot of people do like Muscle Milk, but everyone's tastes are so different that you can't really go by that. A lot of people love Premier Protein, too, and I really dislike it.

my program is pretty balanced, and I'm *very* compliant. I don't count carbs, but I'm supposed to avoid simple carbs (sugars, starches) and have moderate amounts of complex ones (fruit, beans, whole grains)

agreed!!

some people do - but I don't. I wanted to be an extremely compliant patient because I wanted to lose all my excess weight, and I have (I've lost 227 lbs and am now at a normal BMI). I'm afraid a little fast food would have been a slippery slope for me, so I didn't do it. Like others have said, some fast food places have decent choices - Wendy's chili, Panera chili, the grilled nuggets at Chick-Fil-A. Those are the things I stick to if I'm out on the road and fast food is my only option.

Oh Yeah bars are very good - but get the Oh Yeah One version. Those have one gram of sugar. the other Oh Yeah versions have a lot more sugar in them. You can get the Syntrax nectar sample packs in a lot of places. I got mine directly from syntrax. I've also seen them on amazon. The Bariatric Pal store also carries them. Just google it - but here's the link to the Bariatric Pal Store's: https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/syntrax-nectar-protein-powder-sampler-variety-bag-15-flavors

the statistic I see thrown around these boards a lot is that 30% of RNY'ers dump. I don't know if there's any research data to back that up, but suffice it to say, not everyone dumps. I don't - but I sort of wish I did!

I'm post-menopausal, but I've heard of people having crazy cycles post-op. Some say it's because you're flooded with hormones since estrogen is stored in fat cells. It *sounds* logical, at least...

Mine is the same as yours and also 30gms fat per day. My weight loss has been very slow and I am curious if the carbs may have something to do with it. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App maybe...or maybe not. Weight loss rate can depend on so many factors - age, gender, starting weight, metabolism, whether or not you lost weight pre-surgery, etc. I was a slow loser - I was constantly behind the curve the first six months post-surgery, and even one of the medical residents who saw me told me I was a slow loser (not what I wanted to hear), but I've lost 227 lbs and am at a normal BMI. And I never did ultra low-carb eating (and I'm assuming not many other people in my program did, either, since it wasn't required). So who knows.

plans are all so different - some push ultra low carbs (like 50 or lower), some are OK with moderately low carbs. Mine was one of the latter. At 19 months out, I average about 100 grams a day, but early on, I was usually less than 80. However, I'm not particularly carb sensitive. If I *was*, I probably would have really limited my carbs even though my program doesn't require it.

like the above poster said, pretty much everybody goes through it. Mine lasted two weeks.

oh yeah - James is right. I didn't catch that you were a sleeve patient. You guys still have your pyloric valve intact, so I don't think you have to ever have to worry about separating liquids and solids, do you?

"starvation mode" is overrated. Your metabolism does drop when you're eating low calories, but at 600-800 calories a day, you're going to lose weight. You're just in a stall. What you're doing sounds fine. Just be patient, and the weight should start dropping again.

I'm not particularly carb sensitive, but I know a lot of people *are*. Carbs make them really hungry. Try cutting way back again and white knuckle it for a few days and see if that helps. And yes - make sure you're getting all your protein in, as well as fiber and some healthy fats. All that stuff keeps you feeling full longer.

at eight months out you can pretty much eat anything. Stews just eat as you normally would. For soups, I eat most of the broth first and then eat the solids. Or you could do it the other way (solids first, then broth), but then you'd have to wait 30+ minutes between them. Easier to do the broth first.

sure people have died from it. People have also died having their tonsils taken out. But in both cases, it is SO rare. This has really become a routine surgery and they've made so many advances over the years that the mortality rate is now something like 0.3% from bypass, and even lower for sleeve. That's lower than hip replacement surgery. On the scale of surgery safety, this rates as one of the safest.

I was afraid they'd do a sleeve instead of an RNY (I had surgery in the US). Afterward, I was afraid they hadn't given me any surgery *at all*, because I had no pain and couldn't feel restriction for awhile (until I started eating solid food)

most people don't lose enough for anyone else to notice, and some people don't lose any at all (I didn't lose any). Plus, it grows back.

I don't know that there's much you can do. But it *will* stop eventually