SpartanMaker

Just avoid something with lots of calcium like milk because that could impact your ability to absorb the iron in the multivitamin. Both SG and RNYGB patients are at increased risk of issues absorbing both iron and calcium, so it's best to take every precaution.

Sorry, but I think all the chewables are nasty tasting due to the iron content. One option might be opening the capsules and adding it to food. I know some people that struggle with large capsules do this and it works for them. Another thing you could try would be the multivitamin soft chews (kind of like a starburst in consistency). I think they're not great tasting either, but personally feel they're a little better than the regular chewables.

Are you able to swallow larger capsules? I think the majority of folks on here just use capsules because most of the chewables taste nasty.

Sorry you're struggling so much! Based on what you're describing, neither weight loss surgery, nor GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic/Wegovy/Rybelsus would do anything for you. Both WLS and these meds work by helping patients reduce caloric intake. You've already said that doing so didn't work for you, so I see little point in either approach. Here's the deal. While this is a slight over simplification, you can't overcome basic physics even if there's some sort of hormonal imbalance. If you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight. If you eat more than you burn, you'll gain weight. There's no way around that. This makes me think you may be asking the wrong question? I think instead of asking how can I reduce my food intake further, the question you should be asking is why is my metabolism so low and what can I do to increase how much I'm burning? Based on what you've described, there really are only two explanations: Either you are eating a lot more than you think you are (it's common for people to dramatically overestimate caloric intake), or your metabolism is unnaturally low. My first recommendation would be to have a baseline metabolism check done. This is sometimes called resting metabolic rate (RMR), resting energy expenditure (REE), or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Do some Google searches and you should find a place near you that can test this. Even if you do nothing else, knowing how many calories you burn at rest will help you understand what you should do to get to a normal weight. Next, I'm going to guess that your previous fitness attempts were focused primarily on steady-state cardio. While that's great for heart health, it's not what I think you need. I would strongly recommend finding a reputable trainer that can help you add muscle mass through proper diet and exercise. Simply put, the more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism. In your case, where you've likely severely negatively impacted your metabolism through a starvation diet/anorexia, you may have to "reset" things with this type of training regimine. One final point: stop obsessing with the number on the scale. This is a poor analog for how fit you are. Your body weight is comprised of lots of things other than fat (muscle, bone, water, organ weight, etc.), so you could actually be really fit at 180, or carrying too much fat at 160. For example, you made a point of saying that after months of working out in a gym, you ended up weighing more than before you started. That's actually somewhat common and not necessarily a bad thing. That extra 6 pounds may have just be fluid retention, or muscle (likely some of both), so the number on the scale was not a good way of tracking your overall health. This is one of the reasons we strongly recommend also periodically checking your body measurements, as well as potentially checking body composition. You can buy a BIA scale to check that, or there are plenty of commercial places that will do it for you. Best of luck.

@Arabesque and @liveaboard15 already mentioned the issue with calcium interfering with iron absorption, but I wanted to make sure you knew that even dietary calcium like milk or yogurt will cause this. I think sometimes people forget about what they're eating and just think about supplemental calcium like chews.

I found this to be true for me, as well. One other thing that has helped a lot is finding the "right" drink. As far as cool drinks go, I was struggling really badly for a while, but found that drinking iced tea actually helped a lot. I tried plain water and water flavorings, but just could not get them down fast enough. For some reason, the tea (I drink decaf), really helped me. YMMV, but it wouldn't hurt to try other beverages and see if something else is easier on your tummy?

Glad you found it useful! If you try it, don't forget to share your results here. I'm sure lots of others would be interested to know how it goes for you.

This is an interesting question. I've read quite a lot of the scientific literature on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and I think it can be summarized as follows: IF has similar and many times better results vs. daily calorie restriction if the goal is weight loss. A lot of this additional benefit is due to the inherent ketogenic nature of IF. Compliance with IF is typically better than daily calorie restriction. If weight loss is the goal, IF can fail spectacularly if the subject overeats when not fasting. This is problematic for some people because they feel like IF gives them an excuse to eat badly on refeed days/times. IF really only works if you eat "normally" when not actually fasting. While there are numerous studies showing improved biomarkers with IF, almost all of those were done with either animals, or with overweight subjects. When compared to daily calorie restriction, many, if not most of the benefits are explained simply by underfeeding, not by IF specifically. (I should note here that IF can be extremely beneficial for certain specific medical conditions. I'm excluding a discussion on that subject and assuming we're talking about otherwise healthy adults.) Taken as a whole, the conclusion I've personally come to is that IF can be beneficial for the right people, but it's not for everyone. Which leads me to your question: Is Intermittent Fasting good for maintenance after WLS? Assuming by "maintenance" you mean you'd be at or under a normal body weight, I'm not sure how beneficial IF would be? After all, IF is typically talked about as a diet or weight loss strategy. My point being that if instead, you are worried about or are actually seeing weight regain in "maintenance" then IF may work for you. Keep in mind however that IF & daily caloric restriction should both technically work. The question I can't answer is which is best for you. Only you know which eating pattern you can best comply with. Also, there are genetic and epigenetic factors at play here as well. Some people just do better with different eating patterns. The best advice may just be to try IF and see how you like it. Don't forget there are lots of different IF eating patterns and while 16/8 may work great for one person, someone else may need 5:2 or even alternate day to be successful. If gaining weight is not an issue and you're looking more for the potential health benefits, I'll point out again that most of the scientific literature seems to support that both IF and underfeeding in general have the same benefits. This means it really comes down to you again. Can you avoid overeating when refeeding? Do you struggle with compliance on a "normal" diet? Your answers will determine your success with IF.

Things to keep warm! I don't know about you, but I'm always cold. Any thing like socks, fuzzy slippers, gloves, & a small heating pad would be most welcome. Also teas, Millie's Sipping Broth & Bariatric Pal Hot Chocolate (because it's actually quite good!). Other ideas at least for me would be fitness related items. Some smaller stocking sized ideas: massage ball, foot roller, workout dice and/or cards, new water bottle, Jump rope & ear buds. Other things that come to mind: Shower steamers or other aromatherapy products, hand, foot and/or body lotion, massage lotion (with requisite massages!), kitchen gadgets, jewelry & gift cards to places you like. I'm sure I could come up with more, but those were top of mind.

With a few minor differences, I probably could have written your post. In addition to the back pain from multiple herniated disks, I was having sciatica so bad that I needed a walker to even walk at all. This was a chronic condition that I lived with for over 30 years. It tended to get a bit better for a while, but I could go downhill really fast. When it was at its worst, I retreated into the bottle to make it through the day. I agree with @The Greater Fool that if you have not worked with a Pain Management Specialist, it's worth a try. That said, they tend to focus on medical treatments (such as different pain medications, epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, joint injections, radiofrequency ablation, etc.). Those may help you, but didn't do all that much for me. Before anyone asks, I tried 3 different pain management docs and over 25 different treatments and never got any lasting relief. I don't say that to be discouraging! I mention it because I held out high hopes for pain management to be the "fix" for my pain. When it wasn't, I retreated even more into the bottle. I'd hate to see you have the same experience. Because of that, in addition to pain management, I would encourage you to look into physical therapy, especially physical aquatic therapy, which should be available in most major population centers. I found this really made a big difference in my sciatica frequency, even if it didn't exactly eliminate the pain. Other things to try include massage therapy (which I recommend via a physical therapy office, not a massage therapist as they will have more experience working with chronic pain patients), acupuncture & chiropractic care. Finally, don't neglect psychological therapy. Among other techniques, "Cognitive Behavior Therapy" can really help. Many people don't realize that pain is simply a sensation. It's our brains that actually determine how we respond to that sensation and CBT can help tremendously. Bottom line, don't give up! There is no one-size-fits-all treatment, so you have to be your own advocate and continue to try things until you find what works for you. I'm living proof it can be done.

Yes, I have this problem. To the others that replied, it's not a sensation of vertigo, it's a lot more subtle than that. I especially notice this when I'm walking and find myself occasionally walking like I'm intoxicated, where I start to veer to one side or the other. I never feel a spinning sensation or like I'm going to pass out (as I sometimes do when I stand up too quickly). It also does not happen constantly, it's more like every couple of minutes. I don't know what's causing it, but I have some theories: Gait issues: I think we sometimes dismiss how much weight loss can impact one's center of gravity and thus our normal gait. Orthostatic hypotension: As mentioned, I have been suffering from occasional issues with orthostatic hypotension lately, so it's possible that this is related in some way. It may just me a very slight lowering of my blood pressure while walking as opposed to the big drops that sometimes happen when I get up too quickly. This one is a bit of a stretch, but it's possible the loss of fat cells surrounding the tensor tympani muscles could have caused some issues with muscle laxity, leading to balance issues. Since I do already suffer from severe hearing loss and tinnitus, there maybe a greater possibility of this one for me? I am planning to talk to my cardiologist ASAP as I want to lower or eliminate my carvedilol. I already eliminated 2 other HBP meds, but I think it's time for this one to go as well.

Nothing really wrong with a stepper, but it's a one-dimensional machine. Personally, I'd recommend a treadmill with an incline function (or just walking/running outside). Aside from the overall health benefits of walking on flat land / no incline, if you want to activate your glutes in particular, a steep incline will actually do that better than the stepper.

I'll be honest. I cringed when I read this. I become concerned when I see people using ankle weights to do cardo. There are a number of reasons I would recommend avoiding this: They change your gait mechanics, which can make you more prone to injury. For any impact movements like walking or running, you are increasing the impact on your joints, again making you more likely to injure yourself. These are not a substitute for weight training. You are mostly moving them along a horizontal plane, so they do very little to actually strengthen your muscles. (It's a bit of an oversimplification, but you'd likely need to move them along a vertical plane for that and you'd need to use a lot more weight.) While studies on this are a bit inconclusive, some studies suggest that there is very little to no actual benefit when used for cardiovascular exercises like running, walking or biking. The reason is that while it does increase the effort required, it tends to make you move slower to compensate. In other words, you'd burn roughly the same number of calories just by picking up the pace. (And by doing that you wouldn't have the increased injury risk.) You do you, but I think you'll find most reputable trainers, exercise physiologists and physical therapists would also advise avoiding them. The other thing that I saw here that concerned me is the risk of overtraining. 2.5 hours of exercise in one day may be too much for you if you're not used to this? Overtraining can also lead to injuries, fatigue and burnout, all of which are the enemies of consistency. The single best thing we all can do to improve our health is ensure we are consistently exercising. Consistent, slow increases in your overall exercise workload are important to long-term health and fitness.

For sure! I learned that one the hard way! The other trick I found works well is to do like you would if you were adding cornstarch to a recipe. Basically make a slurry with a tiny bit of cold water & the isopure, then stir that into your soup, broth, etc. Really helps to keep it from having lumps.

You might try different temperatures as well. Right now, I can drink hot drinks a lot faster than cold. Especially now in winter, I take advantage of this and drink a hot beverage or two every day. I may struggle more in the summer since I don't really like hot drinks when it's hot outside. That said, hopefully by then I don't find it nearly as hard to drink cool beverages quickly.

In 2020 I had open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve as well as a single vessel bypass. I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve and due to significant stenosis (very common with bicuspid valves), I was barely pumping any blood to my body. As far as meds, I'm now off most of my BP meds, but likely will be on Atorvastatin and Carvedilol the rest of my life.

Make sure you check it when you're actually having a dizzy spell. It may be dropping temporarily and then going back up. Also pay attention to your pulse rate when this happens. If it's really low (below 60), that too can cause fatigue and lightheadedness. Some other common reasons post WLS: Dehydration Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Anemia If it's happening a lot, it's definitely worth talking to your medical team.

I just got back from a 5 day "mini-vacation" and the one thing I can say is that I way, way over prepared. I was so worried about having food I could eat that I put together multiple bento boxes (one per day), that I never touched. I also had protein bars, protein drinks, protein snacks, etc. I hardly touched any of that either. Mostly I just ate what everyone else was eating, just a lot less. I think in the end it was good for me to learn to eat "in the real world". The one thing I did struggle with was getting my liquids in. We were pretty active most of the time and I kept falling behind on my fluid intake. In retrospect, I think I actually should have focused a lot more on how to get my fluids in, and a lot less on the food part.

Do you have a way to check your blood pressure? This sounds to me like it could be low blood pressure (hypotension). It's not uncommon post WLS surgery. There are of course other possible causes of your symptoms, but I'd start here since it's easy to check.

Yoga is definitely good for flexibility and depending on the type of yoga, maybe for cardio, but it's no substitute for strength training.

Walking = awesome. Walking with dumbbells = not so awesome. This can actually cause gait or balance issues, which means you're more likely to injure yourself. Also, while it adds a tiny bit of resistance, it's not really enough to make much difference. IMO, keep walking, but lose the dumbbells. Add in a separate strength training routine 2-3 times a week. If you need some help figuring out where to start, Google "bodyweight strength training for beginners".

I was told to stop my metformin the day of surgery and was told not to restart it. My blood sugar has been 100% normal since surgery. We'll see where my A1C is when I do my 4 month follow-up, but I fully expect it to be in the normal range as well. Now I should state that I had bypass, not a sleeve. Bypass is often credited with similar results to mine in terms of reducing or eliminating diabetes symptoms VERY quickly, but I really don't know if sleeve is the same?

There's actually a entire forum dedicated to this topic. It doesn't see a ton of traffic, but there are definitely folks doing this: https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1101-vegetarian-or-vegan-eating/

Glad you're doing okay! Was becoming a bit worried about you since you went "dark" after surgery! Deciding when to go back to work can be hard. My advice would be to make sure you're consistently getting your fluids in before you start trying to work again. With work "distracting" you, it can be a lot harder to get enough fluid in.

Awesome job! Major milestones like this are so important and you worked really hard for this one!