The Greater Fool

Outstanding accomplishment! Good luck, Tek

WLS is forever. What we thought would be normal pre-op is most often very different from what normal turns out to be like post-op. Good luck, Tek

My surgeon had no rules against any medications. All medications have side effects, both good and bad. It's up to you and your medical team to evaluate your needs against the risks of the downside against the benefits of the up side. Then, if you choose to take the medication you monitor for the downside and take appropriate action when necessary. Sometimes the definite benefit outweighs a possible negative side effect. Good luck, Tek

Good job. Throw the scale away. Good luck, Tek

Your plan is not that different from my plan. 3 meals of 3-4oz protein + 1oz veggies, no snacks, no protein drinks. The idea is learning to eat like a healthy person. It took me several months to be able to complete a meal somewhat regularly. Unfortunately for your Surgeon, the math doesn't really work out. There is no way you will get to 80g of protein on this plan, nor do you need that much. 60oz is more than enough for a healthy person. Depending on your size even less may be OK. Regardless, just do the best you can. You can only fill a cup so much. You will manage. All these years later, this is still my eating plan. It just comes naturally now. Still don't manage to eat everything much of the time. Good luck, Tek

It may be quite beneficial to talk with a therapist to help you deal with your emotions and learn new coping mechanisms other than food. Good luck, Tek

I experimented with Gu. Sitting at home it seemed ok. I tried it on a 10 mile run and there again was no problem. When I tried it on a 20 mile run I dumped like a Tonka truck. I abandoned the idea. It probably wouldn't have been a problem for someone who doesn't dump on sugar, or even someone not so sensitive. In the years since my time running they have come out with several other products that don't have sugar that may be workable. I could probably get away with an orange slice that they were in the habit of handing out back when, but since I didn't train with them I didn't take them. Banana's weren't a thing handed out at the races I was in. I probably wouldn't have taken them, again, because I didn't try them during training runs. But, again, the world has changed since my running days. There are lots of possibilities now. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations on preparing for a marathon. I hope you have a plan on training and the ramp-up to the actual marathon. I never really ate anything during long runs. I focused on pre- and post- run stuff. Running and eating didn't mix for me. Good luck, Tek

What are these 'calories' of which you speak? Good luck, Tek

Even 20 years ago they were still working out the fine tuning of the RNY. I dump on sugars and fats. I wanted dumping and 20 years ago it was about 50/50 that it would happen. So, not only do have have general restriction but I am also forced to limit sugars and fats. Even though dumping is considered a "complication" I count it as a win. Yeah, meds can be an issue. Most time-released meds are problematic though some seem OK. I imagine it makes a difference what time-release mechanism is and where in the digestive process the meds are absorbed. Additionally, at least for me, are for meds where I can feel an effect the effective period is not as long as expected. Something with an 8 hour period of effect lasts 4 hours, sometimes 6 hours, never 8. As I've stated here previously, I manage to eat a complete meal about 50% of the time. When my stomach says to stop I've learned it's just best to stop. When I am not feeling well or I'm fatigued my digestive system just shuts down. I've always been this way since I was a kid, but surgery just made the situation one that spirals out of control quicker. This makes meds likewise worse. I've learned to cope with these issues, just chalking them up to part of the joy of being me. I'll takes these worries over being 500+ pounds overweight in a heartbeat. Were it not for surgery I likely would be completely disabled or long dead. I still never regretted having surgery for an instant. Good luck, Tek

Most post-op diet plans I see here seem like standard weight loss diets. Some of them seem quite draconian. My surgeon's philosophy was different. From the very beginning he stressed that I was learning a new way of eating. This was a new way for me, but most rational people would view as "healthy" and nothing much out of the ordinary. This would be for the rest of my life. As I said in my previous post, I didn't count things in my plan beyond basic meal planning: Protein first then some veggies. I started at what most here would call a "maintenance diet." In the first 6 weeks, it was no different than my most recent 6 weeks, other than the food was pureed. When I reached goal, nothing changed. I had no desire nor inclination to live the rest of my life dieting. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations on your continued success. Wasn't open fun? I thought it was a laugh riot. Good luck, Tek

I never counted calories or carbs or much of anything else. Well, that's not true. I counted meals: 3. Each of which were 3oz protein + 1oz veggies. Most every plan has as the first rule: Focus on protein first. It's the rest that seems to vary. I often think that following your surgeon's plan is more important than what is in the plan. It's about learning to eat again with some form of discipline. In the early months you get the positive reinforcement of losing weight, which makes continuing the plan easier. Let's face it, doing it our way didn't work. Do it your medical teams' way. Good luck, Tek

To be honest, saggy skin was an issue I would love to deal with. Much better than all that saggy skin being filled with fat. Good luck, Tek

I was actually playing with your last line "What say you experienced newly skinny chicks?" If I took it seriously or thought my reply would be taken seriously I wouldn't have bothered. I apologize if I hit sensitive points. Can you please point out where I claimed anyone was a bad person for making any choice they made and I'll be happy to apologize for doing so. I wasn't criticizing your or anyone else's choices. I was expressing my choices. I appreciate your permission to share my thoughts, etc. I also appreciate your welcome to the website. Good luck, Tek

Since I'm not a skinny chick, rather a skinny...what?... di... no, let's go with guy. Skinny guy. As I was saying, since I'm not a skinny chick I can't really contribute here. For instance, I'm not going to say that by the time I reached a stable weight I also had way to many clothes with the tags still in tact. It was frightening. I tried to not over buy, but that really wasn't in the cards. Being able to be walk through a store and buy something right there was a new experience. I couldn't help myself. Another thing I might have added is that knowing that people in need really need plus sized clothing, and men's plus sized dress clothes were really needed. It allowed men straight off the street to go on interviews and such. So, I donated everything to charities that focused on getting people back on their feet. Bags and bags of clothes. In fact, I could rationalize over-buying as a way of helping people in need. My vanity became a virtue! Well, it's your loss that I won't be contributing here. Good luck, Tek

You aren't required to eat breakfast food for breakfast. Good luck, Tek

Every meal for me is a roll of the dice: Sometimes I win; sometimes I lose. I complete my meals perhaps 50% of the time. The percentage varies based on how things seem to be going at the time, though it probably stays within 40% to 60%. I'm doing well with where I am 20 years later. Good luck, Tek

When it comes to your medical team honesty and openness are extremely important, perhaps critically important. What we may believe are small or unimportant things may not actually be so. My personal belief is that I'm going to share anything and everything of which I can think. They are the experts and it's up to them to use or discard information as they see fit. Pragmatically, they have your $18,000 in hand. The last thing they want to do is give that $18,000 back to you. They have already planned how they are going to spend their money. Similar to you I was a binge eater and drinker, though my diagnosis is severe OCD. My feelings were that if one is good, one dozen is better. I was honest talking about it with the shrink and the surgeon. All of us got to being obese, or as in my case, super-morbidly obese, by eating and drinking habits that were nowhere even in the neighborhood of normal eating. Not being honest about how we got to where we are would indicate that we are still in the throws of an eating/drinking problem we haven't even acknowledged [yet]. Good luck, Tek

Yes, they are too small to create much of an issue. Just to be clear, this is an opinion. Anyone who disagrees is obviously wrong Good luck, Tek

Congratulations Kat. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations Kay. As you've learned, the scale is not necessary to appreciate what you've lost. And gained. I was too large (by far) to fit on a home scale, so weighing at home simply was not possible. So, all my milestones were not on the scale. As it turned out, even at my monthly appointments when I could weigh in my surgeon was not interested in my weight loss. His questions were about my health, my happiness, and my well being. He never brought up weight loss unless I did it. Good luck, Tek

Back when I had surgery SADI wasn't really a thing yet so I never researched it. Of course, neither was VSG. My research lead me to ultimately choose RNY. Because of my size it was an open surgery which made early recovery very painful. I'm one of the lucky ones that dump both on sugars and fats. Back when I had surgery it was more of a 50/50 chance I would dump. I hoped I would dump so that I'd have another tool to keep me from the wrong foods. It took an amazingly few dumping episodes to learn to avoid sugars and fats. All these years later it's all just part of the joy of being me. I managed to lose my excess weight, a bit over 500 pounds, and keep it off. It's now pretty natural eating to my surgeon's program, I don't really even think about it. It's all just normal. There are success stories with virtually every type of surgery. Build good habits during the honeymoon phase and they will serve you when your surgery is but a distant memory. Good luck, Tek

3oz protein, 1oz veggies 3 times per day. I eat until I get full or complete the meal, whichever comes first. I complete the meal perhaps 50% of the time. I am able to eat with friends and the fact that I don't eat much rarely comes up. Though since surgery I'd rather go do something than eat something. Good luck, Tek

I had gastric bypass. The following has been repeated here enough to be... well... repeated enough here. But since no one researches old posts, here I am... My plan is 3-4 oz protein, 1oz veggies (or other) 3 times per day... Or as much as I can manage before I become full. I never counted calories or much that isn't described in the first sentence of this paragraph. This was my plan Day 1 through current (20+ years post op.) Currently, I'd say I reach 3-4 oz protein 1oz veggies for perhaps 50-60% of meals. The rest are meals where I can't come near my meal goal, I just stop when I max out for the meal. Perhaps 1% of the time, when the meal is exceptionally good and hits all that is good of an exceptional meal, that I might (very much might, because is is uncomfortable) push the envelope. The fact that I don't challenge my limits is why I believe my restriction is in the same place as it was about 3 months post-op. I can't eat much more per meal than I have since I have been 3 months post-op because I have rarely ever pushed the limit. My belief is the more one pushes the limits the larger those limits become. I simply do not push the limits, so I believe they remain narrow. Whether the limits actually exist as I said are perhaps a matter of belief doesn't really matter. My belief has kept me near my goal weight. So what I eat now is not a whole lot different than during the post-op period when I was learning how to eat again. I don't push my limits.