mc2017

You are correct that protein is in all food and there are many high protein vegan foods, but what I was trying to convey is that I do not track or prioritize protein. I could not tell you how many grams of protein I eat in a day. What I prioritize is eating whole plant foods that have not been processed or have added oils or sugars. And you are correct that our bodies need fat and I do not avoid fat but added oils like olive oil and canola oil are much like sugar. They are highly processed foods that have all of the other properties like fiber and nutrients stripped from them so I get my fat from foods like nuts, avocados, and nut butters. And you are correct that there is vegan junk food like Oreos and Swedish Fish but my diet is 90% of the time whole foods so i eat fruits, vegetables, beans, rice, potatoes, for all of my meals and with a few exceptions I will eat some vegan junk foods but even that is more whole food than not like air popped popcorn. And for me diets like Atkins or Keto do help people lose weight but I don't just care about weight loss I care about health and longevity and the evidence is pretty compelling that people that eat mostly plants live the longest, are the healthiest and are the thinnest when compared to people that eat other diets including vegetarian, paleo, keto and others. And yes vegans do need to supplement B12 which is something I do but I don't view that as a mark against veganism especially when you consider that many people that eat meat are also b12 deficient. But this is the way I have chosen to eat and so far my weight loss has been rapid and consistent and I have far exceeded the projected loss rate and I continue to lose. So it seems the human body is adaptable and there are many ways to eat but for me I have found what works best for me.

Hey, I went vegan around the 6 month mark but I was vegetarian from the 3 month mark onward. For me I found the protein protein protein mantra drilled into WLS patients heads didn't make sense. I then started doing a ton of research and found that much of how we are told to eat is based on out dated beliefs formed when wls was very new but now decades of research has shown that after around 6 months there is no need for us to eat large amounts of protein so once I learned that I went vegan. And so far things are great. I eat a varied plant based diet and my health has gotten so much better. I would advise that if you want to go vegan to look the "Whole Food Plant Based" way of veganism. It's all about eating plants like rice, beans, potatoes, green leafy vegetables, fruits with no limits but not eating added oils and sugars. For me this way of eating is so freeing and great.

Since I last posted I have officially hit 10 months post op on July 3rd. I started at my high weight of 308 pounds two weeks before surgery and I am currently 173.8 pounds. So many things have changed since my last update. I have gone vegan and so many aspects of my health has improved beyond what the WLS has done for me. So that is amazing. But also I might have an ulcer so I am scheduled for an endoscopy later this month. So things have been up and down but hopefully everything comes back fine. However, back to a lighter note my first picture is me right before surgery and the second is me from two days ago. The changes have been dramatic but so worth it. I am hoping to lose another 20 pounds and I hope to make it to the 150's by my one year mark.

Yeah, I am a type one diabetic so there is no curing my disease but I have improved almost all aspects of my diabetes since the surgery, I take way less insulin and my sugars are the best they have ever been. So just for that the surgery has been worth it.

Hi lovelots, I had gastric bypass, and i think I made the right decision. I have had ups and down but overall things have worked as they should and I have made huge changes to my diet that has allowed me to improve my health overall and not just lose weight.

Hey Guys, I also started at over 300 pounds. My highest known weight was 308 pounds and that was two weeks before surgery. Day of surgery I was 295 and I am now 190 on the dot. i had surgery on 09/03/2018 so I am a little over 8 months out. I hope to get to 150 before my 1 year anniversary! The first pic is me at 295 a few days before surgery and the second was taken a couple days ago.

I am 7.5 months out from gastric bypass and i have lost 117 pounds. Things are going well so far and I am happy I made this decision!

Hey Guys, I am not super active in this site but I have been lurking for a long time now and I just wanted to give a very positive update about my progress since getting Gastric Bypass nearly 6 months ago on 09/03/2018 in Tijuana, Mexico at Hospital Angeles. I started my journey at my highest weight of 308-310 pounds two weeks before I started my pre-op diet. Since then I have dropped 100 pounds and I still have 5 days until my 6 months anniversary. I am so happy I made the decision to get gastric bypass. I am a type one diabetic and I knew that this surgery would help me not only lose weight but also prolong my life and allow me to do things that I thought never possible. I have had scary moments especially in the month right after surgery but looking back that was all worth it because I feel so much better and I know I will make it all the way to goal! I want to thank everyone on this site for all the knowledge and insight being here has given me. I don't think I would have pulled the trigger without the help of all of you guys.

Hi @froufrou I don't work out intensely, I have a dog that I share with my boyfriend and I walk him for between 30 mins to a 1-hour 4-5 times a week. Other than that I am not super active. I live in a city and I don't have a car so I walk a lot too. Really my weight has come off with not a lot of effort. I try not to obsess over small stalls and I think that helps me understand that the process is a marathon and not a race. I hope that helps.

Hi guys this is my first post and I have a few questions for those that have Cigna about the approval process. I currently have UHC, however, I will be starting a new job in January and they offer Cigna. I am currently finishing up the six months of dietician visits required by UHC and I have just one month left before I would be able to submit for insurance approval. However, now that I will have Cigna through my new employer I have been researching their requirements. From what I have seen all In need is 4 months of appointments however my fear is twofold: 1. I never discussed exercise with my dietician and I see that is one of Cigna's requirements, how strict are they about this in your experience. I plan on discussing it at my next appointment so I will have it on my records but that would be only one month so would that be grounds for denial. 2. I have gained weight since starting this process. I have gained about 15lbs from the time I started to now. I am now working on my emotional eating and am making progress but I don't know if a pattern of weight gain will be grounds for denial from Cigna. Do any of you know? Thanks for all your insights!

Hi guys, I have been following this thread for a while and now I feel I should contribute. My highest weight was 308 pounds. That was right before my 2 week pre op diet. I got down to 295 day or surgery which was 09/03/2018 and as of two months post op on 11/05/2018 I have lost a total of 50 pounds and am down to 258. I am super excited I have so far lost a third of what I want to lose and am on my way to making it to goal. Also I had the RNY surgery.

Hi Guys, I am about 7 weeks out from gastric bypass surgery and I have some questions regarding how much I should be able to eat. I have been cleared to eat normal food since week 4 and since then I have been sticking to three meals a day of high protein homemade meals like chili, tilapia baked in salsa, an egg baked in lentil stew, or chicken cooked in crushed tomatoes. I had my surgery in Mexico so my aftercare from my surgeon has been essentially nonexistent even when I called early on with some issues I was having. Additionally, my health insurance here will not cover any weight loss attempts whether it's surgical or non-surgical so I can't afford to see a bariatric surgeon or nutritionist so I am relying on you guy's experience to guide me in terms of what a normal volume of food is at 7 weeks post-op I weight out all of my food and food prep so I know exactly what and how much I am eating at any one time. I am worried that at 7 weeks post-op I can eat anywhere from 4 oz to 6 oz of dense protein mixed with a sauce at a time. This is almost always at dinner time. So my usual breakfast is one container of Siggi's yogurt which is 5.3 ounces. That usually takes me an hour to finish. I feel no restriction when I eat the yoghurt but I feel no need to eat until lunch after having it. My lunches are usually chilli or chicken in some sort of tomato sauce. There I can consume between 2 oz to 5 oz of food. How much I can handle before I feel full varies day to day. Now the biggest issue comes at dinner. I can and have in the last week eaten up to 6 ounces of dense protein and sauce in one sitting within 30 mins. Now usually there will be 4 oz of dense protein 1 ounce of beans or other vegetables and then the remaining ounces will be sauce. Now I make sure to not drink water 30 mins before, during, or after my meals so I know the issue isn't that. And I am eating dense protein like ground beef, fish, or chicken so I should feel more restriction. I read posts from other people and they talk about how they can barely handle 1 ounce of meat at 7 weeks out. But it seems I have an iron stomach. I haven't eaten a thing so far that bothers my stomach or gives me any pain. So I am wondering if the issue is the fact that I am eating my protein with sauce? I have tried dry chicken and even with that I could eat 3 oz at only 4 weeks out with few problems. This seems like way too much food. I know stews like chili are considered sliders but the fact that I can consume 3 oz of dry chicken seems like way too much. Maybe I should limit the amount of sauce I use with my food. Mind you I make my sauces from scratch using canned tomatoes or so I am not using high carb premade sauces. What thoughts do you guys have? What has your experience been? Is my capacity way out of line? Am I pushing things too far? I am really starting to worry that my surgeon may have made my pouch super big and that will hinder my weight loss. To date I have lost 27 pounds since surgery and 42 since my 2 week pre-op diet. Sorry if this super long post it's been weighing on my mind.

Hey guys, Thank you for all your advice, what really hit is the how all you say that just because I can doesn't mean I need to. So I started this morning modifying how I eat I have added one snack a day and one protein drink to my regimen because I realised that if I am going to drop the volume I eat I will need to up the frequency in order to get necessary protein and calories. I will say so far it seems to be working. I was fearful I would feel hungry on a smaller amount more often but so far I feel good. And most of all I need to remember that with time my restriction will loosen and I will need to rely on the habits I am setting now to maintain. So I am still measuring my food by weight but I have lowered every meal to two ounces and the one snack I had today was 1.5 ounces and I feel totally satiated.

Yeah it makes things difficult, today was a better day. I stuck with the diet despite two low blood sugar events, but I have an insulin pump so I turned it off as a means to avoid eating anything. That trick works as long as my sugar isnt too low . I am going to get a continuous glucose monitor soon which will measure my sugar all day long and will notify me when I go low which will help immensely.

Hi @MissPoodle my pre-op diet is as many proteins shakes as I want and one meal a day that is high in protein and non-starchy vegetables. So it is pretty stringent but not as bad as some of the others I have seen around here. It's almsot the end of day one of the diet for me and things were easy until my blood sugar got really low about 2 hours ago. I had to have some glucose tablets to get my blood sugar back up because I am a type 1 diabetic. So I am hoping to start tomorrow on a better footing so I dont break the diet with low blood sugars.

Thanks you guys, I will be starting my two-week pre-op diet on Monday and I have stocked up and am ready to go. I initially thought that it would be impossible to subsist on only liquids especially for the first couple days but I had to fast for a physical I had a couple days ago and it wasnt that bad especially when I kept myself busy. Now I don't know how day 2-14 will go but I think I will make it lol.

MMMMMMEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I have been following these monthly bypass buddies convos for the past year and finally, it is my time to contribute! My surgery will be Sept. 3rd at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana with Dr. Corvala. I am both excited and scared but I am so ready for this!

Hi Lilysmom, Thanks so much for giving a thorough account of your surgery and experience with Dr Corvala. I am so happy that everything went as planned and you are safely on your way back home! I noticed you said that you were in Mexico for four days, how many of those days were in the hospital? What the process to discharge you and how many leak tests did they do before you flew back? I hope you are healing well and I look forward to your response.

Thank you for responding to me so quickly. Your reply has lessened my fears. I have been talking to my friends and family and they all keep warning me about scams so I think I got a bit paranoid after I paid the deposit even though I have done an extensive amount of research. My surgery is scheduled for Sept. 3rd, so labor day so I still have a few months to go. I am getting the gastric bypass. How about you, when is your surgery.

Ok, because I paid a 10% deposit over the phone but I hadn't reserved my flights so I was told once I have all of my reservations booked I should get back to the coordinator and they will send me all the info for what will happen when I land in San Diego. I feel like the process was fine but I wonder if other people had this experience. Also I was told that after getting discharged from the hospital I would have to book a hotel room and pay for separate from the cost of surgery/ the hospital stay if I choose to stay in San Diego after I get discharged. Is this normal was this your experience booking with Dr Corvala?

Hi guys, For those that have chosen Dr. Corvala what was the process for you to pay the deposit. Was it over the phone or did you use a online platform? Thanks!

Thanks for replying to my question Texas Mommy, I have started my new job and I have reviewed the insurance policies in full and none of them cover bariatric surgery in any capacity so it seems I will be going the self pay route but thank you so much for giving me some insight.