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AFAIK, until your diet improves, which can be a little while early on when we can't get much in, and even longer for those who are seriously into the low carb/keto thing.

@@donny how's it going. I'm trying to start a similar regime myself. 3.75 yrs out, never got to goal (got within 5lb) . I'm now admitting for the first time in public that I'm 50lb up from lowest. I got to this stage by drinking and eating around my sleeve. Sharing a bottle of wine with my husband results in us sharing a large pack of crisps (chips) and a large bar of chocolate. This has been going of for 2 years and the weight gain is the result. I have also been eating bread again and Cookies. During the holidays I have been investigating Keto and I think it will suit me. Anyway the next part of the journey begins - I just wandered off the path and got lost. I need to renavigate.

I'm still on puréed foods, but I plan on eating ketogenically once I can keep food food down. I've done a keto diet before and that's the only way of eating that myself and my boyfriend feel is actually manageable and realistic for us. Plus I play rugby year round in a woman's club, and I'm hoping with a keto diet I'll have enough energy and stamina to play! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Laughkc11 First time I heard about the Keto diet was a year after surgery. I liked that it burns fat instead of using carbohydrates for energy. I eat avocados, real butter, and eggs. Pork sausage is also hard for me. I still eat turkey sausage.

Anyone start eating keto right out of the gate? Like as soon as you were off of soft foods, etc? I'm still a few weeks away from the normal diet phase, but I'm not thrilled about the idea of living off of sugar-free/fat-free products. I'm a bit concerned that I won't be able to tolerate the fats associated with keto, so I'm curious what others' experiences have been.

Since you are still healing you shouldn't "give up" on Protein. Adding a scoop on unflavored protein powder to 8 oz of 1% milk will give you 28 grams of protein. You can favor it with an almost endless choice sugar free syrups. I like to add a handful of ice and blend it. On the keto diet you can even add some heavy cream. You need just drink this just three times a day to get 90 grams of protein in around 600 calories.

What is keto? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Keto is high fat, low carb moderate protein. My daily macros look kind of like this... 25 g Carbs (9%, 100 kcal) 110 g Protein (41%, 440 kcal) 59 g Fat (50%, 528 kcal) I don't usually get that much fat in but I try, I always hit my protein goal. I very rarely have more than 15 net carbs in a day. I find is almost impossible to get a lot of carbs in, veggies don't really have them, and I don't eat other things, just meat and veggies.

I've heard of people doing keto, never knew what it was, I'm going to look into that because I feel like I'm a carb junky. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

What is keto? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am a sleever. I would need to loose 200 pounds to lose all my excess weight. At almost 1.5 years I have lost 175 pounds. I look solidly 10 to 14 years younger than my age. The men that approach me in public and ask me out are 26 to 30. I had a pretty face before I lost weight and I still have a pretty face. I think how you eat post op determines if you look healthy or not. A lot of WLS patients stay on low calories forever, slowing down their metabolism and denying themselves essential fats. I eat keto, and the few other sleevers I know that eat Keto all look younger than their age. Most people that lose weight with keto even without surgery don't age by dropping a lot of weight they look younger. The fat helps with that. Also upping you calories and keeping them up helps. Calories and Protein should be pegged to your lean muscle mass. People who have been super morbidly obese for a long time have more muscle and denser bones because carrying all that weight changes your body. I have between 100 and 130 grams of protein a day. Also what is 100% of excess weight for a morbidly obese person is will be different than a person that was never morbidly obese. I am probably pretty close to 100% right now with my extra muscle and loose skin. Again on the aging, I never had the huge fat neck that some people have I always had a neck and could wear regular chokers even at 370 pounds. People that have a ton of neck and face fat do usually age terrible if they drop a ton of weight because they have loose skin in their face. That is just genetics and weak jaw lines. If my doctor would have suggested the DS I would have considered. It is extreme but it does work THE BEST. Still I wouldn't want the malabsorption issues, which is why I have worked so hard on my food and eating right. Eating correctly on keto in a way that sustainable to me, that does not feel like a diet has been the key to my weight loss. After 9 months I feel like my weight loss was due to my food and lifestyle, not my sleeve. I decided when I had the sleeve, if I didn't get to a certain weight with it, I would get a revision to the DS. I have been very successful with the sleeve, and no further surgery is needed, except plastics to remove the skin. If your health is in bad condition and you need to lose weight fast, I wouldn't hesitate to have the DS.

You have to kind of figure it out for yourself, because everyone is different. However you nutritionist should be able to give you a meal plan. If you are paying them, fire them, they are useless. Most long term successful people eat low carb. I eat keto. I use a calculator to set my macro requirements. I eat foods I like that fit my macros and the keto way of eating. Once you are healed how you eat is up to you. Still your nutritionist really makes me angry. They should be able to give you real suggestions. That is their job

I just got my date; Tuesday, January 3rd. Heck of a way to start the year. I'm on day 2 of the keto diet (protein liquids and one low carb, low glycemic meal daily for a week, then all liquids for a week)/ The timing sucks because of all the Christmas food. I' just tell people I have a stomach bug and that's why I'm not eating. I'm sure I'll be ready to cry come in the next few days when I want to eat and cannot, but I am keeping my focus on a healthier future with no diabetes, no sleep apnea, no high cholesterol, no gastritis, less joint pain, etc!!! Prayers and good vibes for all of us!

I will be 6 weeks post op this week and so far I have limited my carbs to resemble the Paleo way of eating (maybe closer to Keto at this point). Carbs are what got me in trouble to begin with and I have no plans of eating that way again. Sweet potato and apple sauce (organic, nothing added) are just a few things I allow myself to eat.

Simple/Complex Carbs: http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_understand_foods/carbs_versus.html Though some people will place white potatoes and white rice in the simple carbs category. I don't get too fussy about it, but new potatoes or sweet potatoes are often more nutritionally dense than large white potatoes and long grain rice or brown rice is generally better than white rice. Ketogenic diet: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto Hope this helps!

Good info!! My hubby and I have started ( mostly him because I am at maintance) but it sure seems to be working for him. I had no doubt that he would do well because when we did ATKINS he lost bunches myself not 1 ounce!! But the practice is low carb high fat and Protein. Now I just can't wrap my mind around full-fat everything and Bullet Proof coffee. It just isn't in me after dieting my whole life. Ok now for what I have learned, the carb cycling isn't recommended until you are in Ketosis, or been doing the Keto diet for awhile and or on maintenance. Heck, they have what they call FAT BOMBS!!! Now I did try the BPC with this MEGA BUTTER FAT STUFF!! I took 1 sip and almost lost it. GROSS but I found out how to get started with it and it isn't half bad. I can tell you that all of the groceries we bought are so costly!! I don't see someone with a family to be able to do this program. High calorie also. But because of having WLS it's taken into consideration. The prep was so stressful. I really don't care for leftovers so it would be very hard for me to follow to closely. That is ok hubby is doing great. He has lost 14#'s in a week and 1/2. YAY!!!

Both my kids are high functioning ASD - I know what you mean! We mostly avoid artificial/processed food, but the pre-op diet was tough. I'd already picked up a few Sucralose products during the insurance mandated diet, but went full chemical sugar free for the last few weeks of super low carb. Man, it was *nasty*. But I've seen the pictures from my surgery and my liver looked FABULOUS, so I'm pretending it helped my liver shrink and am moving on. Like elisa5150, I did use sugar free stuff the first month or so - especially the sugar free popsicles - but also Gelatin, Protein powder, and some protein hot chocolate. Now, I use flavored stevia drops for kefir or yogurt (yay live cultures!) and a little xylitol (a sugar alcohol) in my tea. Some of Protein shakes (Orgain) have stevia and erythritol (another sugar alcohol) or monkfruit and inulin (Jamie Eason Lean Body for Her). Personally, I do really well with xylitol and okay with erythritol (though their "naturalness" is highly debatable). And while current research increasingly makes it look like sucralose and other traditional artificial sweeteners are really messing with gut health, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that stevia, monkfruit, xylitol, or erythritol have much effect one way or the other. There are natural(-ish) protein powders out there - as long as you can keep the carbs and protein where they're supposed to be. (My NUT recommended youbars - they make custom Protein Bars with options for natural sweeteners.) We love grass fed butter and cheese, though I'm sticking with olive oil and coconut oil for now. I do have a tub of natural coconut oil based vegan butter spread I use every once in a while, but I wouldn't give up grass fed dairy for margarine if I had a choice. Mostly, though, my new stomach prefers savory moderate to low fat food, so I try to work with that as much as I can. When I was still eating dairy, I discovered I could mix herbs (Penzey's Fox Point seasoning) into low fat Greek yogurt and use it as a dip. Still got my protein, but didn't have to sweeten it. Which is probably for the best. I don't think living on artificially sweet or fatty things is necessarily better than living on real sweet or fatty things. So, good fats when we eat them - grass fed beef; pastured eggs; olive & coconut oil - and all in reasonable amount. If a dish is too fatty, I can't eat enough to meet my protein goal. Sort of a self limiting problem, so I don't see the need to drag margarine into it. As for sweets... research just keeps making it look like artificial sweeteners wreck your gut and make you crave more sweets. Which kind of makes sense since some "bad" gut bacteria has been tied to increased sugar consumption/desire for sugar. And sweets have gotten me into a lot of trouble in general, so I feel like this is the time to develop better habits. Thank heavens I did full on high fat/low carb Keto before surgery - I rarely had sweet things anyway and it still kicked my butt! But it really did kick the sugar cravings and I am so glad I didn't have to deal with that post surgery! It's made it way easier to explore healthy options that don't involve so many chemicals. Now to try and get back on my gut health protocol and try and get my kids onboard. Wow - sorry this is so meandering - it's the middle of the night and we have a small herd of cousins over for the first Christmas break sleepover. Brain. Fried. Let me know if you need product ideas - I feel like I've researched them all . Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Thanks for the advice I'm trying to get as much Protein in my diet as possible. I have bought a Keto diet/recipe book so hoping that will give me more tips thanks again! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Everyone has really good suggestions. sleep more, add extra Protein, etc. if you're that active, I'd suggest bumping up your carbs too. You can still stay in keto. Your muscles do require carbohydrates for strength. If you want to add supplements, glutamine and creatine will also help with preventing muscle loss. However, creatine does cause Water retention so you may notice you're not "losing" as much but it's just water. Glutamine is a supplement that's used at our hospital to prevent muscle wasting in patients with hypermetabolic syndrome. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My way of eating is keto.

Bear in mind how long it took to gain the weight you are trying to lose. You didn't gain 20, 30, 40lbs in 1-2 months and the weight will come off in fits and starts. I was really successful with keto a few years ago and lost 100lbs by eating a diet of baically all red meat and some salad. I did a keto adapted preop plan and modified my post op plan for keto (I still only ate approved foods for each stage, but I cut out all carbs from the approved foods list). Now I am doing a full keto, and some intermittent fasting days. I don't plan my fasting days, but organic. I do not force myself to eat and just concentrate on drinking lots of Water.

If making the decisions later is difficult, make the decision earlier when your willpower is intact. Pack lunch. Leave your wallet home and just bring your license to the gym. Never grocery shop hungry. In terms of food, I'm the opposite of what is described: the longer i make healthy food selections (for me, that's keto) the easier it is to keep making the right selections. Cravings are nil and weight loss is a steady reward and so I have no desire or incentive to cave.

@@laGata15 Keto is a diet. High fat, moderate Protein, low carb @@chicken Lady My diabetes is cured with the sleeve.

Oh I see..is that keto a diet ? Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App My doc said he recommends the sleeve since ryn in his opinion is too rough.. I also prefer to go for the sleeve as well Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App

Try eating Keto, you could drop your A1C down pretty fast. You won't heal if your blood sugar is out of control which is why they don't want to do surgery on you with uncontrolled diabetes.

@@bossportsgal I am a strong supporter of not telling anyone. One of the reasons why is because you will always be that person that had surgery to people. Even when you are years post-op surgery effects are gone and you will still be that person that had surgery. At almost 1.5 years I really don't feel like a surgery patient. Sure I have smaller capacity than other people but I can easily eat around my sleeve if I choose to. So I still have to make good choices like anyone else. I know a lot of people always feel like weight loss patients but I really don't. I feel pretty normal other than suffering the affects of losing a ton of weight, and the things that come with that, but I have friends that lost weight on keto that have the same issues and didn't have surgery. I would hate to be stuck with the surgery label for the rest of my life and have people watching everything I eat forever. That is what I have seen happen with everyone that has surgery, people watch what they eat, and comment on it, either to the persons face or behind their back. As far as people that will tell you that people will suspect when you lose weight. I have lost almost 1/2 my body weight and no one suspects surgery. The reason is because I have totally changed my entire life style. I am more active, and I eat differently, even when eating out. So if you live a healthy life, people won't question how you are losing weight since most people think diet and exercise are the key to losing weight anyway. They will assume you just finally got it right. People are sheep, them bah.