WitchySar

Well drat. I had a question I wanted to ask and I rarely get on here. Kinda sucks to limit access so people can't get the info they are here for. Guess I'll go look elsewhere. Thanks.

I had my sleeve almost 2 years ago but I can't post in the Vet forum. I also can't find any info on how to gain access other than where it says you have to be 18+ months out, which I am. How do I get permission to post there?

I think how a person views fat people after they've lost weight likely depends a lot on why they lost the weight, and how they viewed themselves prior to that. A lot of people hate themselves when they're fat. They don't take care of themselves, they let their health get worse, they have no confidence, etc. If you start from that point then I would imagine there's a higher chance that after you lose weight you will view other fat people in a negative light because you viewed yourself in a negative way. For those who were honestly happy while fat I imagine it would be different. If you are happy (and especially if you are also healthy - yes it's possible) while fat then you will probably not have any negative feelings toward other fat people once you are no longer in that category. It's all about reflection. How we view others more often that not has a LOT to do with how we actually view ourselves. Will this be true for everyone? No, of course not. But in general this is how I imagine it would go.

Did they give you an indication of how long it normally takes your insurance to respond?

Physical therapy? That's the first time I've heard of that requirement.

I'm lucky to be in a small coven that keeps track of when things are. lol I'm rather lazy otherwise too.

*high fives* Nice to meet you! I'm not Wiccan either. I am technically a Kemetic Druid Buddhist, so I tend to just say I'm eclectic. My patron Goddess is Bast. *Another high five for being a huge geek too* Kinda guessed as much from your name.

That's strange, I have Medicaid and didn't have to submit anything about exercise at all. I was denied initially though because they didn't like my primary's note. It was too comprehensive apparently. She made it shorter and was approved the next day. Insurance will do anything they can to find reasons to deny because then they don't have to pay. Don't give up!

I have bipolar (some discussion as to whether or not it's 1 or 2) and had the sleeve. My surgeon didn't want me to get the bypass or switch though because of risk of malabsorption of the meds. He did also say that patients with bipolar can sometimes experience increased swings after the surgery because of the hormone flush (even people with no mental illness also experience ups and downs because of the hormones) so he just wanted to know I'd be well monitored by my psychiatrist. In his experience patients who weren't controlled on meds and monitored could have a harder time losing weight because of the likelihood of emotional and binge eating. But again, that's a concern with more than just bipolar. So as long as you're controlled on your meds and your psych is on board to perhaps check in with you a bit more often for the few several months then there shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the info and advice. I figure she's probably just regurgitating something she was told or perhaps just didn't explain herself well (regarding the comment about injuring myself). I will start trying to find a healthy carb to add into my diet on days I work out. Currently I'm working out about 5-6 days a week but not every day with the heavier weights, so I'll use the carbs for the heavy weight days first and see how that goes. As for losing weight I'm more concerned with getting healthy and not so concerned with the number on a scale. My *goal* is 175 lbs anyway which is technically still high for my height but I already have a good amount of muscle mass so my surgeon thinks it's a fair goal. If I end up only getting to 200 (or whatever) that's fine with me too. I'd rather have muscle than worry about the number.

Okay, so that's one vote for carbs. lol I'm nervous because I have best results on a very low carb diet, have for years, and my nutritionist definitely supports low carb but I get the impression she doesn't work with a lot of people who want to get into lifting and such... she has mentioned how she has trouble convincing most of her patients to even go for a walk around the block. Alright, any particular carbs you suggest? Do you support carb loading before or carb back loading? My daughter (who is training in body building) swears by chocolate milk after a workout but that's so much sugar... I don't know about that.

I have enjoyed weight training for a while now and am going to start moving toward training to be a powerlifter. I haven't even started the shift yet and I'm already in a debate with my trainer about my nutrition needs. My trainer is a competitive powerlifter but she's also naturally really thin and I don't think she understands my nutritional needs and how they vary from a non-bariatric patient. She is stressing the need to carb load and/or carb back loading. She swears that without it I could injure myself by trying to force my muscles to use different forms of energy and at the least will never achieve great powerlifting goals without it. Is this true? Even if I did eat more carbs before or after a training session I still have portion restriction so I don't know if I'd get the amount of energy she's wanting me to. So I guess what I'm asking is should I increase my carbs before and/or after a powerlifting training session? With my portion restriction anyway it's not like I'm going to be downing a huge bowl of Pasta or Cereal. So... pros, cons... required vs suggested vs pointless?

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this. The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though. Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.