Phobia42

Hey all, I had my surgery about 4 months ago, and while things overall are going well, my loss has slowed significantly. I know this is to be expected, but it's been over a month and I've also noticed my habits slipping a bit more than I'm comfortable with. Before my surgery, I had to follow a two week liver shrinking diet, which was basically a Protein Shake for Breakfast and lunch, and a reasonable (400-500 calorie) dinner, plus unlimited "free" Snacks (sugar-free Jell-O, pickles, etc.) It wasn't as hard as I expected. and I achieved amazing results (17 pounds lost in 2 weeks). I have read that one method for breaking a plateau after surgery is to go back on that diet for 1-2 weeks. I am also considering a 10-day "pouch reset" afterwards (basically simulating the 15 weeks post-surgery) to slowly work back to normal foods. Anyone had any luck with something like that, or know of any good reason it's a bad idea? I already plan to reach out to my surgeon to ask, but would appreciate all your insights as well. Thanks!

I'm 2 weeks out from my gastric sleeve, so am obviously going through all the cravings and panic moments of never being able to eat normally again. I've read a lot of similar posts on here, but everyone seems to interpret "eat normally again" to mean going back to eating the way I did before surgery. What I mean is that when I calculate what a normal, healthy, active person at my goal weight should be eating each day to maintain that weight, it's around 2,400 calories a day (I'm a 6' male with a bigger frame). The impression I've gotten from my surgeon and nutritionist is that I'll likely be averaging 1,000 - 1,200 calories a day for the rest of my life. The surgery doesn't change the way your body uses energy, so the only way I imagine that working is if your metabolism slowed waaaayyy down, and that doesn't seem healthy to me. Does anyone have any experience, after a few years and achieving their goal weight, eating like a normal, healthy person again? Thanks!

I'm in the middle of my pureed stage, and I found two amazing recipes that have made this my favorite stage so far. Figured I'd share them with everyone. First, if you like spicy: Buffalo Chicken Dip Ingredients 2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breasts 1/2 packages (4 ounce) fat free cream cheese, softened- 1/4 cup frank's redhot original cayenne pepper sauce 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat free ranch dressing 1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat-free Greek yogurt OR Fat Free Sour Cream Directions - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. - Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank's RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. - Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy! To make this dish FAST, skip the oven altogether. Prepare dip according to the directions, but in a microwave-safe dish. Then microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes (stopping and stirring halfway through cooking), or until hot. Each 1/4 cup serving has 9 protein, 3 carbs, 2 fat, and it tastes amazing (I normally don't believe people when they say "it's healthy, but it's just as good as....." but this really is). When I get to solid foods, I plan to continue making this and have it as a dip with carrots, celery, etc. Also, if you're a pasta fanatic like me, I take about 1/3 - 1/2 pound of 99% fat free ground turkey and brown it in a skillet. Put in a blender with maybe a cup of marinara sauce. You can also mix in some non-fat ricotta cheese if you like. Heat in the skillet (it's basically a meat spaghetti sauce without the pasta). I also season to taste with garlic salt, rosemary, and thyme for extra flavor. I heat it up and put Parmesan cheese on top when I eat it. If you're also cooking for a family, I imagine this would go great with pasta for them, without for us. Hope this helps!

I'm in the middle of my pureed stage, and I found two amazing recipes that have made this my favorite stage so far. First, if you like spicy: Buffalo Chicken Dip Ingredients 2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breasts 1/2 packages (4 ounce) fat free cream cheese, softened- 1/4 cup frank's redhot original cayenne pepper sauce 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat free ranch dressing 1/8 (2 Tbsp) cup fat-free Greek yogurt OR Fat Free Sour Cream Directions - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. - Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank's RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. - Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy! To make this dish FAST, skip the oven altogether. Prepare dip according to the directions, but in a microwave-safe dish. Then microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes (stopping and stirring halfway through cooking), or until hot. Each 1/4 cup serving has 9 protein, 3 carbs, 2 fat, and it tastes amazing (I normally don't believe people when they say "it's healthy, but it's just as good as....." but this really is). Also, if you're a pasta fanatic like me, I take about 1/3 - 1/2 pound of 99% fat free turkey and brown it in a skillet. Put in a blender with maybe a cup of Marinara sauce. You can also mix in some non-fat ricotta cheese if you like. Heat in the skillet (it's basically a meat spaghetti sauce without the pasta). I heat it up and put Parmesan cheese on top when I eat it. Hope this helps!

So this may be an unusual one, but I wanted to get an electric hand-mixer to help me make things like Jell-O and Pudding (nearly liquid mixing, no heavy stuff). I bought a 2-speed one that included a whisk attachment, and the lowest speed is way too fast and splashes all over the place. Has anyone come across one of these things where the lowest speed would be good for something like this without making a mess? Thanks.

I'm going to be starting the pureed stage on Monday, and I came across a great-sounding (supposedly famous) recipe for a Ricotta bake: - 8 oz of ricotta - 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan - 1 large egg - a bit of garlic powder and Italian seasoning - 1/2 cup marinara sauce - 1/2 cup mozzarella Mix ricotta, parm, egg and seasonings, put in an oven dish, pour marinara on top, and top with the mozzarella. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes, My question is has anyone tried adding finely ground beef to this to increase the protein content? I was thinking I could even blend it with the marinara sauce. If you have, how much did you add?

I know this post was from a while back, but I'd really like to get this recipe, but the link doesn't work anymore. Any chance you remember it?

Thanks for the suggestion, but would really prefer something electric.

Do you have a model if they still make it?

Yeah, this is what I got: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bella-Immersion-Blender-Red/49460237 It's 2 speeds, but the lowest speed is still way too fast. I only half-push the button and do it in pulses and it still splashes everywhere.

Hey everyone, I'm still only in week three, but I like to feel prepared for things that could come my way. I've heard about the ever-dreaded stalls that people hit, and am trying to mentally prepare for them. Nearly every bariatric-centered article I've read on how to break a stall gives the same advice, exercise more, drink more water, check your diet to see if you're "cheating" too much, etc. However, based on what I know about traditional weight loss lore, very few of these articles recommend trying to eat MORE calories to try to break the stall (the science being that your body may think it's starving and might be using other methods to cope with it, rather than burning your fat stores for energy). Still has to be the right foods, but just more of them. Has anyone had any experience or luck breaking a stall by upping their calorie intake by 100-300 calories per day?

For big jobs like smoothies, I personally like my VitaMix. They are pretty expensive (around $400 - $500), but they are meant to last 10+ years. I find about once or twice a year, CostCo has a display booth set up for them and offers about $100 off the normal price, that's how I got mine. I haven't looked at Bed, Bath & Beyond yet, but if they carry them, the 20% coupon would probably help quite a bit, please basically lifetime return if you hold onto the receipt. I've made blended drinks with ice in them before, and it turns it down into slush. Also made sorbet out of completely frozen strawberries and it works great. Only takes about 30 seconds to clean them as well (run them on high with a little hot, soapy water per the instructions). I also bought a $20 Farberware personal blender (the kind where the blade screws onto the cup directly). It has been great for making protein shakes. I also use it for pureeing softer foods (like I turned Cream of Mushroom soup into liquid so there were no mushroom pieces to be found while I was in the pre-pureed phase).

That's good advice. I'm not just looking at the scale, because I know how misleading that can be. I bought a bio-electrical impedance machine to track my actual fat % and am also taking measurements. I've already noticed that 50% of my weight loss since I started has been from muscle loss, but again, I know it's early and I'm still healing, so I'm not worrying about that. But once I'm allowed to start weight training, and am on to a basically regular diet, I'll want most of my lost weight to come from fat, otherwise I'll fiddle around with things like my calories.

Thanks for the replies, they have been helpful. Let me also just assure everyone that this is something I'm not concerned about now. I am strictly following my surgeon's diet and exercise plan for the next 3+ months, and the scale will do whatever it is going to do. I am just concerned about lowering my metabolism too much in the long run. I'm also worried about some of the stories of people 10 months out who hit a stall for 3 months. I'm not a fan of "just drop the calories more or increase the exercise and you'll eventually break it" mentality because I believe if that does break the stall, it's because your metabolism dropped to accommodate the lower calories. I'm of the mindset that taking your body out of panic / starvation response is a good way to break a stall, and wanted to see if anyone else had luck with that approach.

I'm 2 1/2 weeks out from surgery, and want to plan ahead on minimizing scarring. My research seems to show that Silicone Gel Sheets are one of the more effective methods. I'm waiting until the last of my scabs fall off to begin using them. Anyone have experience with these? How long did you wear them, and were you happy with the results? Thanks!

No, what you said was well written and I understand exactly what you mean. I think you're right and it works a lot like that. Even if I don't wind up committing to enough weight training to keep on significant lean muscle, I'm hoping to eventually get my metabolism to a point where I can maintain at the same calorie level as anyone else who is active, but not necessarily dedicated to constant weight training. To be honest, I'm only 3 weeks out, so a lot of my food addictions and cravings are still in full force. I wouldn't be surprised if this changed after my year of better habits and significant weight loss, but as of right now, my goal is to eventually return to a more normal life. I want to be able to have a slice or pizza, but just not 3. I want to have some pasta, but not half the box. I'm shooting for eventually being able to still enjoy the things I used to, but in much more moderation, and much less frequently (with good, healthy habits most of the time). I just want my metabolism to be in such a state that one slice of pizza doesn't comprise 1/2 the total calories I'm going to be eating for the whole day. We'll see how I feel as time goes on. Thanks.

Yeah, I've know everyone's different, and ultimately I'll just have to wait and see. The thing I'm struggling to get my head around is that I'm somewhat knowledgeable about nutrition and physiology, and I still can't understand why someone undergoing the surgery, who achieves a certain weight, would be able to function on a lower calorie count than an identical person who didn't do the surgery, unless their metabolism was slower. The only thing I can think of is if there is some complex hormonal reason that the metabolism can no longer be raised beyond a certain point, causing those additional calories to get stored, instead of the metabolism raising to use them. My nutritionist hasn't been very helpful on providing insights in this area though. I've also heard a few stories (although they might be the rare cases) of people who raised their calories, put on weight, but kept it up and eventually the weight came back off at the new calorie number. I might experiment when I get there, but that's a faaarrr way off.

My doctor didn't do any kind of official bmr/rmr testing with me, I've only done it through calculations I've found on the internet. Is there an official method to determine this number for an individual? If so, what's involved? I'd love to monitor that so I know my body isn't slowing down too much. I've always struggled with my energy levels, and the last thing I want is for my metabolism to get to used to "provide only enough energy to keep you alive" mode. Thanks for all the great responses!