JupiterinVirgo

This man is unworthy of you. You'll see.

Your sleeve will measure your food. It takes a while to understand the new signals.

So amazing! You look great!

Only you know what's right for you, but I can honestly say there hasn't been a single day since surgery that I've regretted my decision. The sleeve has provided me with a new lease on life! I'm only 3 1/2 months postop and down 60 pounds since surgery, 75 to 80 in total. I am planning a whole new kind of life, because it is now obvious that I will be physically capable of living in the way that I want to. It is a sacrifice. But for me, so far it has been incredibly worthwhile!

Yes! I was always a big meat eater, particularly red meats. I can tolerate most but I have found myself much less interested in meat as my post op life continues to unfold. It really started when I was on solid foods, and following my surgeons advice eating the most Protein dense food Per ounce: meat. 3x a day. After doing this for a month I noticed I felt like crap. That I was feeling sluggish physically and emotionally and mentally. And I started to feel kind of sick at the thought of eating meat. I still use it to supplement my protein, but only a few times a week. When I listen to my body, it seems to prefer cheese, particularly grass fed raw organic. It prefers organic fruits. It prefers nuts and seeds. On a day when I eat meat, it's usually just once and my other meals are based on the foods I already listed. Blindly following the direction of so-called authorities, including our surgeons offices, can lead to problems. Most people who have the surgery are doing it as a way of taking responsibility for their own health and well-being. The critical part of this is being educated from more than one point of view. Another critical part, is learning how to listen to your own body. What do you need, to be healthy and happy and fulfilled. In my personal opinion, it is a huge mistake to assume that all bodies respond the same way to the same things or need the same things. We need to learn how to talk to our bodies and how to listen to them when they talk to us. My body is intelligent and so is yours.

I'm not six months out yet but I lost 60 pounds in the first few months. My surgeon said the AVERAGE weight loss at six months is 80 pounds.

Thank you!

Yes and they hurt. I like to buy a fine cut of beef, cook it in sauce in a slow cooker all day. You can do this with most meats, and it makes it wet and it goes down much easier.

I have found that in days when I feel ravenous, which really stand out Bc most days I have almost no appetite, it is because my body needs nutrients. On those days I give it all it asks for and find that within a day or two I'm back to normal. I also hydrate it well and get sleep if I need it. If theses an emotional factor involved I address that too, but mostly it's the nutritional thing. And my weight loss has not been hurt by this at all but I sure am feeling better!

Congratulations! I understand that not tracking seems to be working well for you, but how do you know whether or not you are getting enough Protein? Just curious. My surgeon suggests only 40-50 g of protein a day so it's really easy to get into that ballpark without obsessing over grams. A cup of yogurt, a handful of nuts, Collegen powder in a green smoothie or a cup of coffee and some cheese usually does the job.40-50 grams of protein seems really low. Is that the protein target ongoing or was that just the target in the few days after surgery when it was harder to get in protein? This is first time I think I have ever seen a protein target under 60 grams, and most are closer to 80-100 grams. Mine is 100. I was surprised when he said that to. 40-50 grams of protein per day is my surgeons recommendation as of Monday. I thought it was supposed to be 60-80. Fifty grams is very attainable for me. I'd have to eat all day to make 100.

Is there a reason you use collagen powder? I was specifically told not to use collagen because it is a low quality protein that isn't utilized as well by the body. I was told to only use whey isolate when supplementing. I use collagen powder because my surgeons office gave me a list of gmo chemical products I would never put in my body. I tried other options but this is truly tasteless and non gmo so I can slip it into anything. It helps me meet my protein requirements. Without it, I get ravenously hungry. It's also good for your hair, skin and nails. For interested parties you can get a high quality Collagen powder on draxe.com.

Congratulations! I understand that not tracking seems to be working well for you, but how do you know whether or not you are getting enough Protein? Just curious. My surgeon suggests only 40-50 g of protein a day so it's really easy to get into that ballpark without obsessing over grams. A cup of yogurt, a handful of nuts, Collegen powder in a green smoothie or a cup of coffee and some cheese usually does the job.

Medicare primary covers like 80%.

If it's not non-gmo I don't buy it.

Good God! You're downright average sized! And exceptionally lovely. Congratulations!

I am about three months post op. I have been experimenting with a variety of ways to approach my eating habits, so that I can find something I can live with for the rest of my life. I refuse to diet, because over many years it's become clear that diets don't work and that is why I needed bariatric surgery to begin with. I love my pouch. There are many days when I have little to no appetite, and practically have to force-feed myself. Especially during the first half of the day, where I mostly just drink coffee with Protein powder. Eating before 2 PM seems to make me very nauseous. I am finding though, that is where gets busier, and other areas of my life are beginning to fill out more, and become more demanding, I am feeling a lot more fatigue and stress. During these times of tiredness, when I have the need to continue pushing myself to get things done, I find myself eating too much and eating the wrong things to keep myself from falling over from exhaustion. What do you do when your body and mind are overtired and you do not have the option to replenish yourself properly?

Don't you dare let him stop you!

From the beginning I only took them as needed.

Most vitamins are synthetic and contain gmos. Before surgery I took non gmo gummy vitamins and there was not a single recommended brand on my docs list that wasn't full poisons. I'm 12 weeks out and going back to gummies.

I'm a couple months out and my experience is that my pouch is temperamental. I experience nausea frequently after eating. I've learned that some foods - anything really greasy, or foods that swell like pasta- really make me feel sick. My pouch does really well with fruits, avocados, high end cheeses, cashews, coffee with Collegen Protein... In general it seems animal fats and chemical ingredients upset it most. But my point is that I understand it to be normal for the pouch to be temperamental some days, for nausea to be part of the program some days, and that as a general rule I have to listen to the pouch! And she changes her mind whenever she wants.

I was the PTSD poster girl for most of my life. Before surgery o spent years getting emdr and using eft and other healing modalities which made it possible for me to digest decades of former experiences. I had my surgery a couple of months ago and Bc I'm so well equipped to process my emotions, I really didn't grieve the change in my lifestyle once complete. I was ready.

I have long felt that Western medicine simply refuses to learn about food. My surgeons instructions to eat a lot of meat and then only eat vegetables, then fruits, "if there's room," had me feeling sickly within weeks. I did tell my body was in desperate need of nutrients. Specifically, minimally and unprocessed foods that grow naturally and are not genetically modified. Foods that still had micro nutrients, foods that still had the sunshine living in them. I started to follow my instincts, and I'm still learning how to listen to my body. I think a lot of our problems come from placing it's already outside of ourselves, on the "other. " I am eating a lot of cheese, nuts, fruits and vegetables, and have cut back on eating dead animal flesh. Overall, I feel healthier. I'm Losing weight, but I also feel like I'm eating more, but everything I eat has general genuine nutritional value. I didn't get fat eating fruits and nuts. I got fat eating cakes and Cookies. Eating candy and yodels. I got fat stuff and down my feelings with food like products that were poisonous to my body, and I feel so much better about the way I'm treating my body now-How i'm eating now. But I don't see much support in forums for anything except high-Protein, very low-carb eating styles, which do not align with what I know about overall wellness and health for the long term. What I see is people reporting other health problems within the first year after surgery, that probably come from this radical in balance and shunning of real food and nutrition, in exchange for creating a chemical environment in which that burns fast, but at the expense of overall well-being. Kidney and gallbladder stones for instance, seem to be very common. I guess I just wanted to express this, in the hopes that others are also finding what's right for their specific bodies. If you are blazing your own trail i'd love to hear about how you eat and why, and how it is working for you post surgery. I am especially interested in hearing from people who are familiar with this thing called the Mediterranean diet, which seems to be what my body wants. I think you kindly for your eyes, for your time, and for your comments.

I've been recovering from trauma for a long time and have been seeing a therapist weekly for years. I thought that this would work in my favor, as despite my personal challenges, I have worked through an enormous amount of emotional material, and I am more sane than almost everybody I've ever met. Despite all this, it was held against me that I had a need for long-term therapy, and that I did not openly discuss all of my most painful personal problems with the Bariatrics therapist who I met once for one hour. Her communication was violent and aggressive, but she had a smile on her face the entire time. It was coercive, violating, and triggering. Before approving my application for bariatric surgery, she insisted on getting A written statement from my psychotherapist, and speaking to him on the phone. He was supportive of my decision, and ultimately she submitted my application for approval, but in my opinion a person like her has no business working with people that have been hurt. I felt like I was trapped in a room with a sociopath. My sister also have the surgery done, and she lives in another state. Her experience was completely different. The therapist that she had to see was kind and supportive and did not probe deeply into her past. I guess it's the luck of the draw. My advice, is to stay in your personal power. People who have the guts to confront their personal anguish in therapy or in any other form of self healing are stronger, not weaker. There are few legitimate causes that should prevent somebody from getting surgery, unless their emotional issues produce very extreme and completely out of control behaviors, like a compulsion to eat an entire pizza that can't be stopped by the threat of their stomach ripping open. Anything much less than that, and weight-loss surgery can only help. People with depression, grief, people who are having difficulty engaging with life, can benefit dramatically from the surgery. It empowers us to take a residence in our homes, our bodies. It increases confidence, And gives us a chance to embrace a life that we could not have due to excessive weight holding us back. Our mental health improves with a better nutritional diet, and our body image improves as we release the weight.

Yes definitely , especially a few weeks out. As time goes by you'll find some foods produce this more than others for you. I admit that I sometimes will eat extra light if I'm afraid of having gas during an important meeting, or just drink coffee with protein powder in it.

Friends, thanks for all the feedback. It wasn't my intent to spark a heated debate. For the record, I'm not a vegetarian. I went Veg a few years back and at times felt I would collapse and was always a big meat eater but my surgery changed the game, obviously. I still eat meat but much less of it. Not several times a day most days, but only when I crave it. Mostly I have been craving nuts, fruits, and raw chocolate and coconut oil based foods. I supplement with non-gmo Collegen protein. I just hear the bariatric gospel of high protein, low carbs so much that I started to worry, but I did Atkins 20 years ago and I don't think it's healthy and that is basically what many surgeons' offices advocate.