AZhiker

Love your attitude and determination! You soooo have this!

I had to wait 8 weeks before any veggies were allowed! And I have an organic vegetable garden! It was killing me! Soooo...... I got my greens (lots of different kinds), put them in the blender/Ninja with some water and made a green slurry that I strained and then ran through coffee filter paper. I added my "green water" to everything - my water bottle, my smoothies, my soups. My doc was mad at first when she saw my water bottle, but I showed her that it was a CLEAR liquid which was allowed, and then she agreed I could drink it. (Lot better for me than Crystal Lite or artificially flavored/colored/sweetened drinks.) So that is what I did. I felt like I got my healthy phytonutrients and all the good vitamins, but without the fiber that was forbidden. Brocolli, for some reason, still upsets my tum a bit. Well cooked or shredded Brussels sprouts are OK. Even at 10 months out, I have to chew salad very slowly and very well.

I like to stay away from it for 3 reasons - 1) it is a processed product which I am avoiding, 2) the brain can interpret any kind of sweetener as caloric intake and cause increases in insulin, and 3) I m trying to retrain my taste buds. A few raisins or some banana add quite enough sweetening for me and I don't want sugar cravings to start up. I do have some dark chocolate once in a while, but it is a treat in its own right - not a sweetener for something else.

In my case, it appears to have triggered the esosinophilic esophagitis, so if the whey is indeed the culprit, avoiding it is a no brainer for me.

I am presently using organic soy milk, as it has a lot more protein than almond or cashew milk. Soy products (milk, yogurt, tofu, tempeh) do not seem to bother me. Which plant based protein powders have you found to be palatable in smoothies and yogurt? I've tried several, but all have stevia. OWYN brand has cane sugar, but seems to be the most pure of all of them, but I haven't tried it yet.

Wow. Who knew? And all of us depend on those protein shakes/powder for a long time.

Refried beans, thinned with broth, if needed, and cottage cheese were my go to proteins at that point. Egg drop soup was a winner, too. Chicken and meat took a few more months. And yes, you have to chew one bite and wait at least a full minute before taking another one.

You are both so kind and encouraging. Thanks. I WILL get on top of this! The best news today is that my sleep doctore does not think I need my CPAP anymore. I will have a sleep study next week to verify. Woo Hoo!!!!

That will definitely be the challenge. I went on a strenuous hike Saturday - lost of steep terrain, both up and down, 4 1/2 hours, approximately 1800 cal burned. I am starting to hike/train for a rim-to-rim in one day Grand Canyon hike (24 miles) that is 1 mile down and then 1 mile up. The training hikes alone will burn so many thousands of calories, I can't imagine eating enough, so I think for me, I will have 500 cal days, 1200 cal days, and then 2000-2500 cal days (hiking days). I hope the book will help give some tips for this. I think I will also end up on an elimination diet for a while if this EE comes back positive. (No wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, fish/shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts). Then add 1 at a time back. Only the soy, peanuts, and tree nuts will be hard, as I have already eliminated the others, for the most part. Salad, soup, seeds, grains, and veggies, with pea protein powder. Yum Yum. Do-able. I found oat milk yogurt the other day that is pretty good! Never knew it existed, and amazingly, more fiber, less carbs, and just as much protein as soy yogurt, with live cultures! Who knew?

Thanks. Just ordered it.

Just praying I don't need my GB out.

This ulcer thing really screws up my 16:8 IF. But..... there is always plan B. I can do ADF with 500 cal, spread throughout the day. At least until this ulcer heals.

I think it is to avoid any irritation that could delay healing or cause ulceration. I switched to decaf as well, but then just went to herbal teas, as the decaf tasted like dirty water after surgery. Avoid acid (even in decaf) is a good idea.

Well, I started out fasting, but had so much pain and nausea on an empty stomach that I had to eat. This has been a problem for the past couple of months. Had my endo today and turns out I have an ulcer!!!! That explains the symptoms, but sure is discouraging as I have been doing everything possible to avoid an ulcer. So PPI meds for for 3 months. Doc also wants a swallow study and ultrasound of my gall bladder. No sign of Barretts (!!!!) and no polyps (!!!!) but looks like maybe eosinophilic esophagitis (EE), as well as the ulcer. I will know when biopsy comes back. Doc said the EE could be from whey/lactose, causing an allergic reaction in the esophagus. I have noticed increasing discomfort (gas, bloating) with dairy, so I am unofficially lactose intolerant at this point, although I have been trying to finish up my whey based protein powder. I have been using soy products (milk, yogurt, tofu, tempeh) instead of dairy, but this can possibly also aggravate EE. So with no gluten, no dairy, low fat, low carb, and possibly no soy, I guess that leaves me with salad and beans. I sure am glad I am building my new life around things other than food! I also set up an appointment with a medical doctor who specializes in holistic, nutritional/lifestyle health. He promotes whole food plant based eating and exercise, both of which I am trying to incorporate into my lifestyle. After I get my 1 year labs back, and get all the bari tests done, I will see him and try to build a healthy and nutritionally sound plan that will support my exercise goals and prevent any nutritional deficiencies.

We all have slip ups. Just use it as a learning experience. Don't push the boundaries - it usually does not go well.

1) Work on addictions BEFORE surgery - get rid of the caffeine, alcohol, carbs, and sugar so you don't go through withdrawal while you are recovering. 2) Develop some mantras to get you through challenging times. "I AM NOT GOING BACK!" "I can't have this now, but I will have it again -later." "It's just not worth it." 3) Listen to your body to tell you if you need to go slower with your diet advancement. The surgeon can give you guidelines, but your body may not be ready yet for certain foods. Don't be afraid to take it real slow and easy. 4) Don't compare your progress to anyone else and think your journey has to be the same as theirs. 5) Start exercising right away - walking, walking , walking. Start building this into your new lifestyle from the start. Advance to other exercise forms as you heal. 6) ABOVE ALL - keep a positive mindset. This is hard, but it is the start of a whole new life for you. Use each challenge to reframe your thinking from a negative to a positive. The early weeks are hard, but they really will pass and you get to chose if it is a positive experience or a negative one. It sounds like you are going to do great!

Are you keeping track of your daily calories and macros? If so, this may be a good time for a visit to your nutritionist. It's very hard at your stage (2.4 years out) to make comparisons to anyone else except yourself. By this time your body has settled into pattern that perhaps needs a little tweaking. Your requirements may be very different from someone who is losing at a different rate because their surgery is more recent, their activity level is different, their basic metabolism is different, their degree of malabsorption is different, etc. Things change over time and a good analysis by a trained professional may be the best help you can get for getting through the home stretch and to the finish line.

Look through the maintenance forum posts and look at the tickers at the bottom of the posts. You will be able to see the starting and ending BMIs very easily, and you will find that there are many, many folks here who ended up with normal BMIs after surgery.

I'm in. I have an endoscopy early tuesday, so I'll do a 24 hour with you. I'll probably have a smoothie early Monday morning and then just water until the procedure on Tuesday. I don't have to fast for the EGD, but it is a good excuse! I am hoping they will not find any gastritis, esophagitis or recurrence of Barrett's (had a Barrett's polyp removed early this year.)

Just wondering why you are starting the liquid diet if you don't have a surgery date yet. Until you get a date, you can still prepare by eliminating foods you cannot/should not have after surgery, such as sugar, refined carbs, soda, caffeine, and alcohol. Cleaning up the general diet even before the official pre-op diet is very helpful so you don't go through withdrawal while dealing with the hard parts of liquid diet and recovery.

I also had bad GERD and Barrett's esophagus, so having bypass was a no brainer. I thought a lot about the sugar, but just decided that sugar was a small thing to give up in light of a healthy new life. Since being off sugar, I have had NO joint pain at all, which is amazing. Admittedly, I still have a tiny bit of sugar here and there - like 82% cacao covered almonds as a small treat. Or a tiny bit of pumpkin pie, but always with protein first to slow things down. But I don't desire the sugar any more and it really is no big deal. I am building a healthy lifestyle, and sugar just doesn't fit into that. I am also afraid of dumping, and so the bypass is indeed a deterrent to eating sugar. I am very glad I had bypass - no regrets at all. I see that others with the sleeve often seem to have a revision to bypass later down the road. I don't want to go through this again, so I'm glad it's done, once and for all.

I had thick hair before surgery, but also opted for the pixie cut. The hair loss (I think I lost about half) was not nearly as noticeable as it would have been with long hair, and now that it is starting to grow back a little, it blends in nicely.

I will also add some frozen prickly pear juice, or a small tangerine, or even some canned beets.

If you are trying to get $900 covered by the end of the year, an MRI would do it. Do you have a history of migraines or a bad knee that needs an MRI?