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UUGGHHH, feeling so disgusted,. not looking for a pity party, just venting.. its been over a yr. since my surgery, and I'm STUCK @ abt a 50lb loss. I just reactivated this acct and see that I am up abt 5lbs since I joined in March,. I've unfollowed people/groups on IG & FB, not that I'm a "hater", (I salute & congratulate everyone)...I just don't see anything in common w them anymore.. (also my nutritionist recommended it to focus on me) my diet is usually: eggs & sausage,avocado for bkfst, lots of protein (mainly chicken) in salads or w sautéed veggies, etc. (have just started the "keto" diet) don't like carbs believe it or not, not that I haven't "cheated" & had sweets here or there, but I'm not a bread/pasta/pastry person (thank God for @ least that I guess) don't wanna go see my Dr anymore, I feel he's not helpful @ all, just recommending a book to follow. #wtf.. and the nutritionist was so/so.. have only met w her once. my low points are not drinking enough water & I'm CONVINCED I can eat too much @ one sitting. I even got a kitchen scale, haven't used it yet though. don't expect what I haven't put in, BUT I don't get why I've stalled so bad if I'm eating pretty well balanced & "clean".. what's the point of the surgery if we still have to follow a "diet" (and by that I do NOT mean I expect to still eat any & every thing that got me fat to begin with bc I don't) thx for listening....

This is terrible advice. Look, something isn't working obviously. What do you do when something isn't working? You figure out why, and change it. Start tracking and measuring. You can't measure where you need to be if you have no idea where you're at. What are your calories/protein/carbs per day? Do you know where they need to be in order for you to start losing again? Of not, experiment a little and find out. Tweak some stuff. I think going Keto is a very good start. I also think you should shock your body a bit and start moving more. If you're not doing anything currently, start. Even if it's walking. If you're already walking, walk more. If you're already exercising, start a different routine. HIIT training and weights is an amazing way to burn fat. Your body needs a jump start to get things moving again, and exercise usually is just the ticket. If you really want things to change, you'll find the change needed to make it happen. Good luck!!

I won't have surgery until July 2nd, but this is my plan after I'm healed. I followed a lot of people who have had weight loss surgery and they follow keto. It seems to help. Just maybe don't go crazy on the high fats it could make you sick.

Greetings! This is probably a very silly question, but would it be appropriate to practice a Keto diet once past the 2 or 3 month post surgery? My nut and advice from the surgery center recommend limiting carbs, and of course, getting at least 60 grams of protein each day. If that is the case, wouldn’t the Keto diet be the natural path forward? Any thoughts, opinions, research, etc. are appreciated!

Yes! Yes! Yasso bars are amazing. I'm 3 weeks postop and I got the fudge bars. They're the perfect size and have a good bit of protein. I also don't like halo top flavors, the salted caramel swirl is the only tolerable one I've encountered. However, I love nightfood and enlightened, both are lower calorie icecreams with good flavor selection. Enlightened even has a keto line! My two favorite flavors are enlightened cold brew and nightfood cherry eclipse but I haven't tried either postop Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

Some do it & swear by it but then you can find someone who swears by any diet and many for whom they didn’t work. No one diet works for everyone because we have different needs. In maintenance you need to find, not a diet, but a way of eating that works for you. One that is sustainable (this is life long & many diets are short term only), provides your body with what it needs & complements your life & how you want to live it. It may incorporate aspects of many styles of eating. For example I’ve included aspects of keto & Atkins, occasionally include vegetarian meals, usually fast for about 13hrs overnight, etc. I only fast 13+/- hrs because if I eat breakfast too early my tummy doesn’t like it & it sits heavily or I feel blah. And I eat the high protein of keto/Atkins because I don’t absorb protein well. So I included these aspects just to keep my body happy & functioning well. So, sure give intermittent fasting a go & see if it works for you.

I have never been more thankful for the 6 month lead up to surgery. In the past, the 6 months always caused me to give up and decide not to proceed with surgery. I was indignant about it and I let it piss me off to the point of raging against the surgery machine for 8 whole years. When I finally reconsidered, it was after my dad died. In the lead up to him dying, I put myself on the "If the people on My 600lb Life can do it, so can I liquid diet" ( not the actual name, but what I actually called it) Before I knew it, I had followed that diet for 3 whole months and at the end thought "Damn...I could be halfway to surgery." So when my dad died, I actually called the surgeon and started the process. I went on modified keto which for me was eating a 1400 calorie keto diet Monday through Friday. On the weekends, I ate what I wanted, but I stuck to 1400 calories. I also started a walking regimen which by the day of surgery I was walking 5-7 miles per day. I really made changes in that 6 months mainly because I wanted post surgery to be as easy as possible. Truth be told there were still many changes to be made post surgery. I stick to the program and I work out 5-6 days a week. I run now about 20 miles per week. I'm totally living my life now. No weight struggles. No complications. Life is about evolving. Every change you make now will have an affect on your future and you never stop changing.

Wow, that's a drag. I'm just the opposite. I'm on day 8 of pre-op and have nearly no hunger. I do pump a lot of water through me though because I learned sometimes when I feel hungry I'm actually thirsty. My only issue, and it's minor is that I am having trouble sleeping at night. I understand it isn't uncommon with Keto and high protein diets, but I wish I could get a really restful night in. All the best!

As everyone has said it is to support the healing of your tummy & not to stress & strain it. Remember all those sutures & staples holding your tummy together. Think how you would protect a large wound & sutures on your arm or leg & how long that would take to heal. Purées are thicker which is why they are the stage after liquids. They should still be runny but not watery like the liquid stage. With soft foods think slow cooked, fall of the bone tender, minced meats, braised, etc. Foods that needs some chewing but not a lot. Think how much work your tummy has to do to digest thicker & then more solid denser foods. Plans differ but they also have a lot of similarities too. Some surgeons, like mine, tailor the pre & post diets to their patient. Some have specific requirements based upon their experiences. The best advice is always to follow the one you were given. But of course you can ask your surgeon & dietician why your plan is as it is & you may be able to negotiate slight adjustments based upon your recovery & needs. Yes, some plans recommend avoiding certain foods & liquids to not aggravate your healing. After surgery, we tend to produce extra stomach acid, hence why many are prescribed PPIs for a period after surgery. Carbonated drinks, caffeine, etc. can stir up the acid in your tummy causing discomfort & reflux symptoms. We’re told to avoid foods like rice, pasta & bread because they tend to swell in your tummy, filling you quickly. Remember your focus is on getting in your protein & that can be challenging enough in the post surgical stages. These foods also have little nutritional value. Consuming nutritionally dense food is important while you can eat so little to ensure you’re getting in the vitamins, minerals, etc. your body needs. While losing many of us are advised to follow the rule to eat your protein first, then vegetables as you can, then high fibre carbs only if you are able. If you can only eat 1/4 - 1/3 cup of purée & soft food to begin like I was, why eat food that fills you without giving you the nutrients your body needs. It also gets you starting to think about your food choices & the quality of the food you are eating. I still follow a lot of this: protein first, nutritionally dense foods, etc. Foods like peas & potatoes are considered higher in sugar & in starch (which converts more quickly to sugar). They’re not included in keto diets. Not saying you’re on a keto diet but you’ll notice influences from lots of different diets & eating styles on your food recommendations while losing. The reason why we’re advised to avoid dried fruit is you tend to eat more dried fruit than you would eat them as fresh. We can easily eat several pieces of dried fruits but remember 2 dried apricots is 1 apricot, a prune is a plum. Their sweetness is concentrated too in their dried form so you are continuing to feed your desire for sugar. Same with juice. Honey is just another firm of sugar. This is an opportunity to break some of your food dependencies & cravings. For many of us lots of foods become super sweet & quite awful to eat too during these first months when our tastebuds become extra sensitive. Many are able to go back to eating small amounts of restricted foods while losing or in maintenance. Personally I still don’t eat potatoes, rice, bread or pasta. I find them too heavy & I feel blah on the odd occasion I’ve tried them since I lost my weight. But that’s me. The first months are the most challenging because the food you likely depended upon to comfort, soothe & make you happy has been taken away from you. So you think about & crave them more. But food doesn’t actually comfort you or make you happy you just think they do. Realising & understanding this is part of the head work we all have to do. This whole process is about breaking poor eating habits, poor food choices & establishing new habits, introducing new foods, etc. & discovering what works best for you. The most restrictive aspects of the diet are only for a short period of time & are to benefit your immediate health & recovery. The long term changes you will choose to make are to enable you to maintain a lower weight & live a happier, more active & healthier life long term. Sorry for the 10 000 word response.

It was like pulling teeth to get my OB/GYN to prescribe me Metformin, as she said it wasn't meant for use outside of fertility and because of my weight, she couldn't give me the treatment. However, I found a ton of medical studies, kept pestering her, and she ended up caving. She gave me a 3 month supply of Metformin (which runs out next month, so we will have to discuss getting more soon.. Hopefully it won't be so hard for me this time). I assume the Metformin is the reason for such rapid weight loss (besides going on a mostly-keto diet since starting it). However, not too much else has changed -- I haven't even had a period in over 130+ days at this point. Thank you for the recommendations!! I was dancing for 30 mins a day to get my exercise in, but that has stopped since I came back from the states. I need to get back on it. It was a lot of fun and definitely got me to work up a sweat.

Yes and if you YouTube it there is a trainer that does vegan keto so best of both worlds, generally the lower the cals and carb the quicker your body will reach a lipolysis/ketogenic state, cals will be based on BMR you'll only know for sure by analysis, but since you gained not maintained your cals were too high. Try the lower end 1000-1200 Max, lower end of carbs 20-30g daily.

I haven't hit goal yet.. 35 more lbs. My surgery weight was 231, today I'm 195 and losing gradually.. Haven't really had any stalls yet aside from PMS.. I was pretty bloated for 6 days.. but other than that I'm losing steadily. I started the Keto diet in March before my surgery. I have continued it post op.. maybe that's helping? I'm not sure.

I understand that low ebb feeling. I have lost all motivation to restart a new diet program because I know in the end it's the same things I was doing before and it just didn't work. I also tried really strict keto and exercised a ton, like ran 4K every day, biked to work, lifted super heavy weights for a woman. I also did fasting and actually enjoyed it but it just didn't stick when life got mixed up with my routine. I just can't go through it again with that fear of failure. I need something much more permanent and long-term. A tool I could fall back on when life gets too stressful. Maybe the sleeve will be like a hard stop to overeating and provide a real-time reminder that overeating does not feel good. I hope your appointment with the surgeon goes well! I also have a consultation on October 19th. I'm not sure yet if it will be me trying to convince her or her trying to convince me lol I have a lot of concerns about reflux and want to avoid any revision surgeries. Do you have a set of questions to ask the surgeon?

This site is very helpful for Keto and has a great calculator for Macros. https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/

I gave this some more thought, Assuming you are not especially fatigued at the end of the day or other days, and you get enough sleep, and your nutrient balance is correct for your post-op diet, and you are of course drinking the more than the minimum amount of water, I would say your exercise regimen is more exercise related and not diet. I wish it was as easy as "eat more carbs, lift more weights," but its far more complicated than that. Nutritionists are not athletic trainers, and neither are athletic trainers nutritionists. If hitting a wall when weightlifting if the only thing of note (no other non-normal post op feelings or notes), then I believe your issue is more directly relate to the gym than an overall carb or calorie intake. Ask the gym operator for someone to get advice from, they either know a knowledgeable trainer that works at the gym (not all trainers are knowledgeable) or a client you can ask questions to. Post-op, you have a heavier than normal protein diet, because you are on a very low calorie diet, and that makes your body want to draw a higher proportion of calories from its ready muscle. So, you should bump up your protein. Post-op unknowingly put myself on a keto diet, low, very low carb and higher fat, because I was very lean meat oriented and string cheese for snacks. I didn't hit such walls. But no one just adds 5 lbs of weights to exercises every week, or even every month. Your body needs water to process, everything. Whatever amount of water you are drinking now, add to it. I was drinking about 80oz a day, and I learned that was not enough for me once I lost alot of weight - 80oz could not support a run every other day without severe shin splints. Now, to your weight lifting. Without knowing what your regiment is, STOP! take a break. Take a 2 week break. Don't worry, your weight loss is far, far more dependent on what you eat than weightlifting. Go for walks instead. Use that time to make sure you lifting right, and lifting with the right form. If you are lifting everyday, it may not be fatigue, it could be pain. You MUST NOT mix up muscle groups back to back. For example, you should not be doing a lat pull down on a monday, and then a deltoid on a tuesday. They share the same muscle group and they are share common muscles. Triceps and biceps are similar, they should be done on the same day, so the shared muscles between those exercises can rest on the off days. You need a rest day for them. Google some suggest workout patterns. I spent 4 months in physical therapy because a "certified" trainer let me do chest press-shoulder-press-incline press everyday. I learned the hard way... not to trust a trainer. I broke my shoulders down, and threw one out fencing, and then later threw the other out trying to grab my dog. If you are lifting every other day, you might need an extra day to recovery. Recovery is super, super important. You do not build muscle mass at the gym, and never will. It happens after you leave the gym, when your muscle fibers go about repairing themselves. Perhaps, being new to lifting, and being older, you just need an extra day. Also, 6 months is TOO LONG to be doing the same thing. Do different exercises in different orders. If you are doing bicep curls, do hammer curls. If you are doing chest presses, do incline chest presses. or more ideally, mix them all up. Doing the same exercises too long will put you into a rut. Make sure you're not doing too many of the same group. Doing 3 sets each of shoulder, incline and chest press on the same day is the same as asking to be admitted for a physical therapist to fix an impinged shoulder. When you leave the gym, that is the best time to eat. Your muscles are craving fuel, and so is the rest of your body, its the best time to absorb food. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a snack before you go to the gym either. Just also make sure you are hydrated before going to the gym. Back off the weights. Start doing less weights and see how your reps go. When you do sets, you might need a longer rest time between them. Your fatigue might be related to lactic acid, and you need extra time to flush some more of it out. Warm up your muscles before lifting. You might need to stretch, or do a lightweight set before you do your main sets s a warmup.

you're very likely in ketosis. The metallic taste (at the back of the throat and sides of the tongue?) is a result of breaking down and using ketones, the by-product of which is acetyl-CoA and acetate.... dont worry about it it indicates your insulin and blood sugar levels are dropping.. also a good thing. It will resolve through the day then come back periodically. This goes away entirely for most people who enter ketosis and stay there after a few weeks. More info, look up "keto breath"

It was a decent alternative, I didn't particularly care for how easy they break but it was a nice alternative. The cool ranch ones are pretty good too. In addition to the original post, I can't help with an overabundance of meals but I do eat a slice of keto bread with PB2 every morning. 7g of protein, 1.5 fat 0 sugars. Quick and easy I'm pretty basic with most of my meals. When I have a sweet tooth I usually cut an apple and coat it with cinnamon and pop it in the oven at 400 for 15-20 min.

In the past year, I have been on weight watchers, keto and lose it. Lost maybe 5 pounds then promptly gained it back.

We talked about it here http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/360260-ketogenic-diet/ I eat Keto. It is nice to follow post-op. It is hard to get the fats in really. I keep my carbs low easily and my Protein goals I meet daily. If I fall short on fat, it isn't the end of the world.

This may be an unpopular answer, but why focus on keto or IF? Your problem doesn’t seem to be losing weight. You lost 70 lbs after WLS, and I miss sure in many other diets I never your life. Why not find a sustainable diet you can live with long term?

Its quite normal to go off foods. I think its the Keto diet that changes the foods tastes. Two years on, I still am unable to stomach cooked salmon, mussels and lamb. Strangely enough, they were my most favourite foods pre surgery. It does get better once real foods are back on your menu, I promise. Just eat what you can now because this stage of having little appetite doesn't last for everyone. What you are doing is great

I was banded in 2016 at that time I was about 220 pds and started having issues even with air all let out in 12/2018. Insurance had approved to remove band however I did want to wait and make sure that’s what I wanted. Over this past summer is when I decided to have my band removed and switched to the sleeve. My doctor wrote a letter of necessity to my insurance and it was approved. My lowest with band was 165 and at my surgery date on 12/31/2019 I was 183. I’m currently diabetic but off meds as instructed by my doctor. I’ve heard sometimes the surgery doesn’t work for everybody. . I also love wine but I do plan on doing everything by the book and cutting most of the carbs out. I had tried Keto but I think I gained weight instead of losing and I also ended up with my cholesterol a little high. Hope you find something that works for you.

I have MS and had to have my neurologist sign off on the surgery, which he happily did. My PCP was very supportive because she knew I tried different things, including keto. She knew my health issues and was fantastic and proactive. If your doctor is really dragging things out for you and causing all kinds of problems, I would look for another doctor. Is your neuro ok with the surgery? How long will it take for your insurance to approve your MRI? Will your neuro insist on a MRI in order to send over a note approving you for the surgery? Your PCP can't insist your neuro do testing you may not need.

Google "Keto Pancake Mix" and you'll find lots of companies that sell keto friendly pancake mix. I can't vouch for how they taste, but they might help your cravings...

So I’m sure grateful to have my mom here to help me recover from my sleeve gastrectomy I had Monday the 5th. I’ve stuck strictly to the post op diet set by my surgery team. Today my mom comments on my consumption of sugar free popsicles to help meet my fluid goals. I had four throughout the day was going for my 5th when she commented. And she told me essentially she didn’t think I was taking the surgery seriously because of the “additional calories and carbs” in the sugar free bomb pops. I have fought to hit my protein goals and fluid numbs everyday other than these popsicles I’ve had water, broth, and protein shakes. Rinse and repeat. I just feel both extremely judged and unseen. Her mind jumping right to calorie and carbs (she also used the word keto earlier to describe my post op diet which is inaccurate) makes e feel like she hasn’t even tried to understand what I’m doing here beyond surface level. I’m so frustrated. I’m 4 days out from surgery and already getting this l. I’m feeling crushed.