Little Green

I've told tons of people. My parents, siblings, close friends, spouse's parents, people at school who needed to know for academic reasons, etc. I haven't said anything on social media so those who I don't see in person don't know yet (I will probably say something the day or two before surgery). I've had mostly positive reactions, with a few mixed reactions as well. My MIL said, "Are you sure?" First thing out of her mouth. But she's gotten much more supportive since then. My best friend was concerned about my safety and the risks of surgery. We spent a while talking about the surgery and recovery time and she felt better after that. I only had one reaction that really upset me, which was another close friend who responded with, "What do your parents think about it?" and then changed the subject. This is my best friend from childhood so I definitely was not expecting that kind of reaction. She was the first person I told so I got scared from telling anyone else and didn't mention it again for several months. She's been very supportive recently, though. Maybe she just needed time to process it. I do have to say that none of my family members or close friends is obese (my parents are overweight, though). So I haven't had to deal with the potentially jealous or defensive reactions. I do have one obese friend whom I have specifically not told yet... in the past she has made comments making fun of skinny people, to make herself feel better I think. I think she sees us as "in this together" and also may be thankful that I am bigger than her so she doesn't have to be the biggest one in the room, if that makes sense? Of everyone I think she's the most likely to react negatively, so I've been waiting until the right time to mention it. So... all of that said. I think if you want to tell people you should, but bear in mind their own insecurities about weight. It's likely that their reaction has more to do with them than with you. The more you know about your surgery, the better the reactions will probably be. You can answer questions and show them you've researched for quite some time and you're not just looking for a magic bullet. I'm personally not a fan of keeping it secret, I think it perpetuates the stigma against WLS, but it's a personal decision and depends on how you feel about advocating for yourself if someone should speak against you or the surgery. So I really don't blame anyone who chooses not to tell.

Thank you, all! I really appreciate all the support and discussion we have here at BP. Love hearing others' experiences and talking things through. Let's do this!

I hadn't done medically supervised weight loss, either. On my intake form they asked which diets I'd tried and for how long, so I just listed them and it wasn't a problem. I completed the 6-month diet visits required by my insurance and got approved with no issue. Good luck!

*waves* Yes, me! Not sure exactly which date yet but some time in the first half of the month. I'm starting to get nervous and scared... eek!

Sounds like you're in the other 60%!

Usually that gets better the more you eat them, so you might be stuck in a cycle where you don't want to eat them because of the gas but you can't get over the gas because you don't eat them much. I've heard that soaking dry beans overnight before cooking the next day can help reduce the compounds that cause gas. I also saw a video about "Beans, Gas, & You" on YouTube LOL but I haven't watched it yet. It's from the lilykoihawaii channel if you want to look it up!

And I just read that up to 17% of sleeve patients who develop GERD also develop Barrett's esophagus, which is considered a precancerous condition. There are risks for every surgery.

Congratulations!!! Woohoo!

(Cross-posted from the Vegetarian forum due to low traffic there.) The more I've been learning about fruit the more I want to make it a part of pretty much every meal, as well as having regular servings of whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, etc. I'm having gastric bypass so there's a greater risk of dumping syndrome. I'm wondering if these healthy but carb-y foods also cause dumping, or if it's mostly just refined sugars and high-fat foods. I'm particularly interested in your particular experiences rather than what we might assume should/shouldn't cause dumping. Thanks in advance for any advice!

@Newme17, girl you are the bomb dot com. You too, @Apple1. I've been reading through this thread for several days (lots of the "somebody liked a post..." notifications you've been getting are from me! LOL) and I'm finally to the end! I'm so thrilled to find some other bariatric patients eating plant-based. Thank you for sharing your recipes and your passion/knowledge!!! Love it! I'm reading Proteinaholic now based on your recommendation (as well as reading through that thread so be prepared for more notifications! ). I haven't searched through the entire forum yet but if y'all haven't read How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger, you gotta get on it STAT. It is so thorough, so well-researched and well-cited, and so compelling. It has changed me and my husband to be plant-based and my therapist has ordered it as well. You can also check out his videos on YouTube (NutritionFacts.org) if you can't get the book just yet. (But the book is still the best!) I'm about six weeks pre-op at this point and planning to eat fully plant-based between now and my liquid diet. Due to the restriction in food volume intake I know I will almost certainly have to supplement with dairy products to hit at least 50g protein, but I plan to make as much of my protein plant-based as possible. Definitely going to be a lot of pureed beans and bean chilis until I can eat more!

We might be twins! I'm aiming for the 5th-7th of Feb.

GOOD LUCK!! I cannot wait to hear how you do. Congrats on making it through the liquid diet. You're gonna rock it! All of you!

I have the Alta HR which is the slender one. I like it a lot, but I think if I could do it again I'd get the wider Charge 2. My husband and SIL have that one and I like the display better. I love having the HR feature and specialized sleep data. It's so easy to tell if you're training in the right range. The one thing I would say is make sure it's tight when you exercise, sweat interferes with the HR sensors.

Yikes!!! That is like week 2 bariatric surgery level calories lol. It may be difficult to tell if that is from the fasting or from weird hormonal things happening because of extreme restriction. I wonder what it would feel like to do the all day fast and then have an 1800 calorie (healthy obvs) dinner.

Thanks, everyone! I bought some vitamins last night! Centrum adult chewables, lemon-flavored B12 sublinguals, I already take 5000 IU D3 so I'll keep using those, 65 mg iron, and calcium citrate + D3. Those are the five required by my bariatric surgeon. I bought the iron even though I don't technically menstruate (the booklet said "for menstruating women only") - between PCOS and my Mirena IUD, I don't get periods pretty much ever, but I'm assuming with weight loss my cycles will regulate, so I bought the iron just in case. Even then, the Mirena may still stop my period, though... LOL, I literally have no idea what my cycle is doing, ever. But better to be prepared I guess! I like the Premier Protein chocolate shake but I have not tried any others yet. We found a protein broth at Costco but not sure how many calories. On my liquid diet the broth has to have 10 calories or less. I wish there was a way to find samples instead of having to buy a big pack of stuff you aren't sure you'll like.

All right... don't have an exact date yet but I'll be having surgery some time in the first two weeks of Feb. So I am 7-8 weeks away. What were you doing at this point in your surgery timeline? I've been holding off on buying a whole lot of stuff because I wanted to be sure about what to spend my money on, and waiting would let me research and plan. Now I feel like I have the green light to make purchases but instead of going shopping I'm feeling overwhelmed, like when I first started researching surgery! Lol. This is such an interesting adventure and the emotions are all over the place. So, what were you up to 2 months before surgery? Were you all ready and stocked up, or not even thinking about it yet? Tell me everything.

I think that would only be a concern if you drop below the benchmark of BMI 35. Many people who are undergoing bariatric surgery, like myself, have a BMI of 45 or 50 or 55 and it would take 100 lbs or more of weight loss to get close to BMI 35. We don't know the OP's weight so we can't say for sure. The less you weigh when you hit the table the day of surgery, the safer your surgery will be.

I strongly doubt it. I shared some similar concerns with my surgeon and she said they like to see weight maintenance or loss from the initial visit, and that month-to-month fluctuations aren't usually considered in the decision. After all, weight can be affected by any little thing. Traveling makes people retain water, maybe you didn't poop that morning, etc. Of course all insurances are different so maybe you can call and get some peace of mind, but I truly don't think it will matter. 35 pounds is amazing!!!!

I understand your pain, keep in mind some of us have to do months-long supervised diet visits for insurance! I even had to start my visits over because I missed one in May LOL, awful... I'll be having surgery in early Feb, about 11 months after my first visit with the surgeon. 3 months sounds like a dream!

How did you fare tonight, @kaydo?

Yay for an interesting and lively discussion/debate, y'all! I'm inclined to agree with @loey13 based on my reading and countless exhortations to eat breakfast from dietitians and my therapist (an eating disorder specialist). I think that it's possible we could all agree on the following statement: If you skip breakfast, you may develop more hunger, leading you to eat more throughout the day, which could lead to weight gain. Thoughts? There are obviously exceptions to every rule so hopefully that is a reading of the study's conclusion that could apply to most people generally.

Nice. Feels good to know I'm waiting on my spa day Also a huge +1 to everyone who has shouted out Dr. Weiner's videos. His videos are the first resource that made me feel I could actually permanently change my eating habits and actually enjoy it and gain the great health that comes with eating a diet largely based on plants. For a long time I assumed I'd have to be keto after surgery and I have never enjoyed that type of eating. In addition to all that, he breaks everything down to the nitty gritty, science-wise, so you can really understand and soak up the information. Those videos are wonderful!