theantichick

I'm wondering about how everyone is defining "snacks".

I was told to eat 5-6 small meals a day, and I've seen that described in many places as 3 "meals" and 2-3 "snacks" with the term "snacks" just meaning a smaller amount or lower calorie count than the "meals".

I consider this different than what I call "grazing" which is snacking on various things through the day instead of having defined meals/snacks.

My "snacks" are just smaller versions of my "meals", with the emphasis on Protein. So I'll eat a P3 pack (small amounts of cheese, meat, and nuts).

I don't graze, but I do have Snacks, using these definitions.

I also have emotional eating issues. I highly recommend finding a therapist to help with that. The physical changes have helped me a lot, but the surgery can't fix the thinking in your head.

When I think about the things I miss eating, I realize that it's all about stuffing down my emotions, not that I really loved the foods. Now that the food isn't an option, I'm having to work a lot more on self care and figuring out why I feel the drive to eat, and what to do about it instead.

I have used GENEPRO. I don't find it completely tasteless, but more importantly it changes the texture of things I put it in and makes it unpalatable for me. The best I did with it was to mix it up with a small amount of Water and add it to chicken broth. That went down quite well.

However, my daughter has started drinking fruit smoothies in the mornings, and throws the GENEPRO in and she says she can't tell it's there. I'm trying different things to put it in hoping to find something that goes down easily. I got samples of a bunch of different Protein shakes, and even though I liked one really well pre-op, I didn't tolerate it post-op and had to switch to Premier Protein for my morning "get the Protein started" Breakfast.

I've just started getting cold some of the time, and I'm thrilled about it. I've been the overheated, sweating fat lady for so long, it's a nice change to be able to wear a sweater.

The thing that has made me the happiest I sought out before the surgery because with the onset of my auto-immune arthritis, my feet are always just blocks of ice, and make it hard for me to sleep.

I found something like this at Bed Bath and Beyond, and it's my favorite thing EVER.

https://www.amazon.com/Serta-Triple-Electric-Heated-Warmer/dp/B00G1X4A06

Keeps my feet toasty while I sleep, and hubby even scoots over to share the warmth.

Throw blankets on the couch are awesome, and though I haven't turned it on yet this winter, my family bought me this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-TSM8US-R608-25B00-Microplush-Heated-Throw/dp/B008BF2SVA/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1477336650&sr=1-4&keywords=heated+throw

Staying warm is easier for me than cooling off.

Also, remember that they're quoting an average. Averages are nice, but they don't tell the whole story. Some people will lose 100% of their EBW, some 10%. I believe you get out of it what you put into it. An average shouldn't be seen as a guarantee or a limitation. Ask what makes the difference between the 60%'rs and the 90%'rs. Emulating them is how we exceed "average".

Other possible things to keep an eye out for: Constipation (yes you need to poop in order to lose weight), impending period, meds that might be causing Water retention, and broken/wonky scales. As the poster above said, unless you are sipping milkshakes all day every day, you are not gaining fat.

This. I have IBS and the constipation has made it worse. My weight will stay the same for days and days and then I'll take meds for the constipation and have great success. Then 2 days later I'll be down 2 or 3 lbs.

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I'll second @@jenn1 's mention of a music playlist and good headphones...has changed my gym-going life. I get super bored doing cardio without them, and they help distract me when I get self-conscious and think that someone surely must be staring at me (even though they're totally not). I splurged on a pair of Bluetooth earbuds after nearly strangling myself with a pair of regular wired ones while using the rowing machine one day (ok, people probably WERE staring then) - one of my best investments. They get constant use in and out of the gym, and I can tuck my phone away and not have to worry about it until I'm done working out.

My other favorite gym-related investment? Waterproof iPod Shuffle. Rocking out while swimming laps? Yaaaaaaaas. Makes 60 laps a LOT less tedious.

I have to have music when I'm working out, or there's little chance I'll finish or come back. I looked at a waterproof iPod Shuffle, but my music is all streaming, and the Shuffle doesn't allow that. So I did a BUNCH of research, and decided to use a waterproof case like this one with waterproof earbuds.

https://smile.amazon.com/Wildtek-Universal-Waterproof-Cell-Phone/dp/B00N7VIK10/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1477060451&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=waterproof+phone+case&psc=1

It's working out great. However, I didn't want to risk my way-too-expensive phone even though I tested the pouch for Water tightness. So I got a refurb iPod Touch from the Apple refurb store. So I can have fresh music for my Water laps and my workouts.

I was just thinking the other day that I miss being able to pig out on junk food. But junk food doesn't have the same appeal for me it used to.

I'm only 2 months out, so some people will probably jump on me for this, but I am trying to not pathologize food at any level, so if I'm craving something now that I'm released to a full diet, I eat it. Usually just a bite, because I realize it doesn't taste nearly as good as I thought it would. Hubby and kiddo were eating double stuffed oreos last night. I used to LOVE them. I asked for one, and ate it. It totally wasn't worth it. I wanted a chocolate shake the other day when they were heading out to get food, so I had them bring me a small one. 2 or 3 sips in and my sleeve started balking at the richness, sugar, something. I handed it off to the kiddo and won't be doing that again anytime soon. Bottom line, nothing that I used to binge on tastes good enough to mess with. So part of my brain still misses those things, but my body is obviously done with it.

I'm going to miss some of my favorite shirts. I've already had to give away several. I have a couple that are high enough quality I'll have them altered. The rest, I'll just go find new favorite shirts. LOL.

I'm actually looking forward to being cold all the time. I've been the one that sweats constantly for so many years, I'm looking forward to being able to wear nice sweaters and jackets.

I will probably miss my boobs, since there's little chance they'll stay the same size as I lose weight. But there's a ton of lingerie options that can compensate for that.

No, I think I'm good with the weight loss, I'm not going to miss being obese.

Bufflehead- thanks for the advice and support. You mentioned some really good points about not talking about weight loss surgery. I'll definitely keep those points in mind. I'll just tell them I am interested in weight loss not building muscle. I'll check into at home DVDs for those snowy days at home.

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I wasn't going to start a strength training program until after I'd built my cardio up. But the trainer made a good point to me that if you don't do some strength training, you can actually lose muscle only doing cardio. You don't have to go for bulky muscles to do strength training. Most people don't, actually. But muscle mass is part of what helps you lose weight by increasing your metabolism even when you're not working out. So it's important. He convinced me to start both strength training and cardio together.

Oh, and one more thing... even if you don't hire a trainer, the gym people will show you how to use equipment you're not familiar with, you just have to ask. Most gyms have people there who are super nice and want to help you succeed. Don't be afraid of them!

You are just going to check it out. If you hate it, you don't have to do it.

I promise you the people there will care more about what they are doing than what you are doing. And if they are judging anyone, it's people who don't go to the gym at all.

Couple of pieces of advice -- don't tell the gym people you had weight loss surgery. Most of them won't get it and won't appreciate it. Don't take any nutrition advice from gym employees or gym randos. They aren't dietitians and have all sorts of weird bro "science" about food that is not in accordance with post-wls eating.

Finally, if you don't like the gym, you do have more options. I do lots of my exercises at home -- I cleared a space in front of the tv and do exercise DVD's like Cathe Friedrich's low impact HIIT and Kelly Coffee-Meyers Circuit Training series.

Ditto this. I joined a local gym because I need a pool, and ended up deciding to go ahead and get a personal trainer package as well. Luckily the trainer I'm actually working with ongoing is cool with the WLS but the VP of the trainers was rude and condescending to me about the surgery. He also is trying to push nutrition stuff on me that a) he's not trained to give, and conflicts with my medical conditions and my surgeon's instructions.

If you have the financial ability, I highly recommend working with a trainer. They can help you get used to the gym equipment and make sure you're using it correctly, and help you balance your exercises. But remember if you don't click with your trainer, you can ask for another (at least that's how it works here).

If you don't have access to a trainer, there are tons of workout sites and probably YouTube videos to show you what equipment to use to put together a good general strength and cardio workout.

My surgeon said that a lot of her patients can't tolerate eggs until after they are on solid food for a while. Even though they're "soft" some people just don't tolerate them well during the soft/puree phase. She suggested if I had issues (which I did) to try again later (which I have, and everything's fine now).

@@theantichick Just want to say that I think you're a great source of info AND a great person as well

Awww. ::

My trainer wants me up around 120g of Protein - I'm 5'9" and currently at 256 lbs. Seems a little high, my daughter is in a sports nutrition class, and her formula says somewhere in the 90 - 100 g range.

1st off, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with all of this, and without your surgeon's team for support! You really have an uphill battle!!

Prednisone will work against you - it will cause cravings and weight gain all on its own. My rheumatologist (I have RA/PsA) won't give me prednisone unless I'm in a huge flare. If your rheumy hasn't started working you towards other anti-inflammatories, find a new rheumy. Methotrexate didn't work for me (and then I had an allergic reaction) but sulfasalazine is helping quite a bit, and we're considering plaquenil. We'll move to biologics before we'll do prednisone again unless I get a horrendous flare. I know how awesome prednisone is, I just got through telling my PCP that I wish it was safe to take long-term because I feel completely human on 10-20mg a day. But the side effects long term are awful, and it will absolutely work against you with weight loss.

I can't do ultra-low carb like many of the people here, but I work to keep my carbs moderately low (I usually get 70-80g a day) and make sure I'm eating complex carbs like whole grains and Beans and not eating simple sugars. I focus mainly on getting my Protein and Water in, though some days it's very hard and I fall short but I keep working to do better the next day. If I get all my Protein and fluids in, I often don't have room for a lot of carbs.

I am so out of shape, have a reconstructed knee (not artificial, but they had to repair/replace cartilage and re-structure the joint), and the best thing I have found for exercise is to get in the pool. I found a close gym with an indoor pool. I can't even kick laps yet, but just get in and walk. The cooler Water keeps the inflammation down, and the buoyancy keeps from overloading my joints. When I had my knee reconstructed in 2008, I couldn't afford a gym, but found that my city had an indoor pool at the senior citizen's center, and was able to go water walk there. So I highly recommend finding a pool you can use to get some exercise in and get those joints moving.

I don't know what your options are for finding a doc since you don't have your original one. If you can't find a bariatric surgeon who will work with you, try and find a good PCP who is educated about WLS or maybe a gastroenterologist. If you can't find one to follow up with, there are a lot of resources online. Which isn't the best option, but it's better than having no support. I have been very impressed with the videos by Dr. Weiner https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qN8k1ix0DoCLM6VhDvz8w for example. Several bariatric centers publish their post-surgical programs. I highly recommend that you get on one and work really hard to follow it. Even though I can't follow the ultra low-carb programs that most here are using, I'm working really hard to change my eating patterns and my relationship with food permanently so that my tool will work.

Best of luck to you!

I just saw my doc for meds refills (and got off my BP meds, yay!!) I mentioned the ongoing issue with Constipation, which has been getting worse the last couple of weeks. She gave me a "prescription" for "Fiber applesauce" which she says works like magic for most of her patients. She doesn't like me having to take stool softeners and laxatives as often as I'm having to do it right now.

I'm not watching carbs, those who are may find this too high to use, but I thought I'd share. And you're only taking 2T of it, so the carbs may not be bad, dunno.

1 C. applesauce

1 C. unprocessed bran

1/2 C. prune juice

Mix and refrigerate, take 2 Tbsp daily WITH 8 oz of Water.

I can see where it would work. I stopped and got the ingredients on the way home, will report back on how it tastes and how it works.

Thank you so much for your very comprehensive reply.

I'm worried more about the changes to bowel habits. I've never really had problems with Constipation. Honestly, to be blunt, I was concerned that the ejaculated might cause diarrhea. That would certainly ruin the mood.

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It wouldn't "cause" it per se. Stool consistency is a function of how your system is (or is not) removing Water from the matter that is passing through the intestines. If you have a virus or eat something your system wants to get rid of, more Fluid is left in the matter and the intestines are stimulated to move the matter through faster (to "dump" the system) and results in loose stools or diarrhea. If you have IBS tending to diarrhea then your system moves things through faster than normal and doesn't take much Water out of it in general, and it gets worse with some triggers.

The main thing ejaculate does is places an amount of liquid in the sigmoid/rectal area which will come out like a suppository or enema solution would. It's possible having that Fluid there (but probably more the stimulation from the act) that would encourage the system to move faster and thus result in some looser stools after the fact, but it won't be from the ejaculate itself. And unless you're already having issues with very watery stools and/or incontinence, I wouldn't think that it would cause an immediate problem during the activity.

@theantichickh yep. Well said I try to be open but I still get embarrassed occasionally. The old APE (American Puritan Ethic) rears its ugly head in my thoughts and I'll turn beat red

I had to get over that when I was training to be certified as a comprehensive sex educator with an amazing program developed by my church (Unitarian Universalist) and the UCC. You have to learn to use any and all slang terms for body parts and answer open questions from the kids without blushing and stammering. And you'd be amazed what 4th grade boys will ask. LOL.

WTF is this? Do people really act like this on the forum?? Is the OP trying to shame all of us? WTF? I just had my sleeve done and thought this was a safe place.

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Trolls appear on all internet message boards. However, I haven't had this much fun watching a group trash the troll in years... since the AOL days, honestly. (Children today just don't know the struggle of the modem tones and the AOL Running Man... SMDH).

(RN and comprehensive sex educator hats on)

There is nothing structurally different at any point in the intestines for a sleeved patient. For the lower intestines including the rectum, sigmoid, and descending colon (the parts that could potentially be involved), there is no structural difference for a RNY patient either. I don't know much about duodenal switch, but I wouldn't imagine that they've rearranged anything that far down the intestines.

So structurally, there's nothing changed that would affect the act.

However, there are bowel habit changes that may need to be considered. Many people have Constipation which of course can result in retained stool that you might want to address beforehand due to hygiene or comfort issues. Constipation also has the complication of creating or aggravating hemorrhoids which can cause pain and bleeding with anal intercourse. Other people have varying degrees of diarrhea post surgery, and sometimes with some stool incontinence (hence the warning "never trust a fart"). So this could create a hygiene issue which again you might want to address beforehand.

While I know the topic may be shocking to many, I believe it's important for adults to be able to discuss sexual matters and their bodies without embarrassment. Our societal discomfort with the subject of sex is a holdover from our puritan roots, and I believe it should be reversed.

A good trainer will help you immeasurably and push you just enough, a bad one will just discourage you and make you want to quit. Not all of them know where the line is with each client, it's a skill they have to develop. In terms of nutrition, the good ones know that it isn't "one size fits all." Particularly for bariatric patients! To insinuate that all we needed to do was control our portions and we didn't need surgery for that...this is usually coming from guys who have never been more than 20 pounds overweight in their lives, and don't understand the metabolic adaptations that obese people have developed that fight against weight loss, screw up our hunger and fullness signals, etc...etc... Nor do they, a lot of times, have any awareness that certain things we are simply too heavy to even DO, without risking injury.

It sounds like ultimately, you found a good one. So that's awesome, because it'll help keep you on the right track. The nutrition part, your nutritionist has handled and you aren't going to need to do a lot to it until you start to creep up on your goal. That's when you'll have to start tweaking macros and see what works to get that last stubborn fat off. Bodybuilders are actually pretty good at that, they're very familiar with the bulking/cutting cycle and how to tweak your intake so you are cutting as much fat as possible, while sacrificing as little muscle as possible. I'm also a big advocate of weight training, because the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you'll burn all day, whether exercising or at rest. But nobody should be recommending weight training at six weeks post-surgery, it's too early. Three months maybe, and not aggressively. Just to try to maintain the muscle mass you do have, to keep that burn going every day. Because with extreme calorie deficits, you will lose muscle as well as fat, and that hurts your calorie burning over time.

So there's some truth in what the meatheads were saying, but they just don't have the whole picture. If someone's never been obese, I don't want to hear them tell me "All you need to do is..." Because they've never been there.

We're not doing any serious weight training at this stage. Just starting some light weights/machines to encourage keeping muscle. I wasn't going to start doing any strength training right off the bat because I'm in such bad shape and really need to work on cardio, but the head trainer made a good argument for not JUST doing cardio because we need to keep muscle mass. So they're having me do modified planks, some upper body machines (lat pull downs) and very light free weights (I think the rows were with 3lb weights). In addition to cardio workouts where I'm starting off very easy and working up slow.

My auto-immune complicates the whole show because I have to push a little or I won't make progress, but if I push to far I get a flare that keeps me from exercising for days. My regular trainer hasn't worked with anyone with auto-immune before, but he's curious and open minded about it, and since I'm a nurse, I love educating people. He and I are going to work together to find that fine line we have to hit for me to make slow but steady progress.

Thank you! And yes. Your VP guy sounds like a real piece of work. Bummed about my PB I was thinking that was now going to be a good snack. Protein, very soft and filling. Dang.

Sorry, that was sarcasm. You can absolutely count PB. Trainers get stuffy about it because it's high in fat.

I think that it might not be obvious to people reading this thread that it's in the "Rants and Raves" section. I know sometimes on my phone I don't see what section the thread is from.

Can I just ask, " What in the world is wrong with Tilapia?" I love Tilapia. And since when doesn't Peanut Butter count?

Tilapia is not the most healthy fish. You want high levels of Omega 3 without much Omega 6 or 9. Tilapia doesn't have particularly high levels of Omega 3 and higher than desirable levels of Omega 6 due to most tilapia being farm raised. There's also questions of potential contaminants in farm raised fish. But I still think it's better than red meat.

And yeah, can't count PB.

Like I said, the VP guy can bite me.

Digital food scale, immersion blender, Bubba Keg and a heating pad for me.

Ditto this.

Heating pad was HUGE for me. I have an old Thermophore that is awesome.

I'm in Arlington too and would love to see a support group.

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