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I tried keto and kept carbs under 20 but with only 1000 or less cals a day, I stalled weight loss. After a few weeks I moved carbs back to about 60 a day and started losing again. I may have been eating too low cals, since I workout 6 days a week for 1 hr+ at a time. I liked eating keto, any feedback? Sent from my SM-T310 using the BariatricPal App

I'm hoping it doesn't take as long as some to get back to meat. Meat has always been my favourite thing on my plate. In fact, I did a "keto" died that was actually just me being a carnivore. I shunned fruits and vegetables for 18 months and lost 100 lbs. Sadly, beer crept back in first, and before I knew it I was eating grains and carbs again and gaining weight. If the thought of raw meat in your stomach makes you sick, we probably can't be friends. I like steak as thick as a baseball and cooked blue rare, basically just warmed up on the outside.

@@ChunkyChicTrying I really disagree with all these you are on a diet and you have to watch what you eat for the rest of your life, people posting in your thread. I feel like that the kind of attitude that sets people up for failure. If you feel like you are on a diet forever, you will be willing to cheat and worse. I completely changed my attitude towards food. I don't eat my feelings. I don't reward myself with food (lipstick is a far better reward). If I am stressed I go for a walk or do jumping jacks. I eat in a way that I find enjoyable and do not at all feel deprived (keto) and it is a way of life not a diet. I can eat anywhere, and make easy choices. If for some reason I eat off plan it is a one time thing and that is it. My suggestion is to find a way to eat that you like, that doesn't feel like punishment and fits into your lifestyle. Which might require some real soul searching.

I am going to be trying recipes from here http://thenourishedcaveman.com/keto-thanksgiving-roundup/ and making some choices. Luckily the people I spend Thanksgiving with are low-carbers too.

Sounds like ketosis, the metallic taste is a dead ringer. Ketosis is the state of your metabolism switching from Ironing glucose as a primary fuel source to burning fat. It can be burning stored fat, or dietary fat and most likely a mix of both. Your body contains approximately 300g of glucose "on hand" stored in your muscle tissue. Once you cut your carbs, those stores get depleted and your body turns to an alternate fuel source, fat. Your liver generates 280g of glucose every day for brain function and cellular functions every day regardless of your diet, so there is no danger to remaining in ketosis. When fat cells are burned, there are by products called "ketone bodies" or ketones created. There are 3 types of ketones, and you can buy urine strips that will test for 1 of them. When you first start ketosis, your body sucks at using ketones and so that "spill" over into urine. The longer you remain ketogenic, the more efficient you become at burning them. Beta-hydroxybuterate is one of the ketone bodies that has been shown to have very beneficial results on the heart, and is a preferred source of fuel for the brain. While initially in carb withdrawal and your body can't uptake ketones properly, there is a syndrome known as "keto flu". But after the initial withdrawal subside and your body adapts to using ketones as well as fats for energy and fuel, there is evidence of increased mental clarity and acuity as well as dramatic improvement in heart conditions. Sorry if this is more info than you wanted, just chewing the fat, so to speak.

Long time hereditary migraine sufferer here, too. My daughter actually was hospitalized with a status basilar migraine for a week when she was 16. Her neuro gave us some of the best advice, EVER. He said don't get hungry or thirsty, those are sure-fire migraine triggers. Also, if you drink caffeine, stopping it cold turkey will absolutely trigger it. Then there's all of the triggers that are specific to the individual - processed meat (nitrates), red wine, beer, aged cheese, weather, hormones, what have you. The pre-op diet wasn't too bad for me, but I'm convinced it's because my surgeon doesn't have a strict pre-op diet unless you already have liver problems. I was only asked to replace 2 meals a day with shakes, and make my 3rd meal and any Snacks low-fat and avoid processed grains and refined sugars, fruit was fine. I didn't do all of that as well as I should have, but it allowed me to lose a few pounds. I also cut out caffeine, but I did it VERY slowly. If you're drinking plenty of Water (100+ oz a day is what I consider well-hydrated), and you're drinking shakes regularly, then I would suspect that the lack of carbs in your diet is the culprit. You didn't say if you're pre-op or post-op. If you're pre-op then I would suggest talking to your surgeon's team and seeing if there's some way you can add back in some calories and complex carbs to help with the migraines. If you're post-op, then all I can offer is to gut through it. I get VERY ill in ketogenesis, and the first 3 weeks post-op I couldn't get out of keto without eating stuff with refined sugar in it. So I just kept up the Protein and water and pushed through. Also, something my daughter's neuro told us... whenever you have a headache (migraine or not) it starts an inflammatory cascade in your brain that will turn into migraines or turn into a string of migraines. He told us on any day we had a headache of any sort, when we went to bed that night to take 800mg of ibuprofen and whatever dose of Benadryl we were accustomed to (I can take high doses because I've taken it forever, my daughter usually just takes one OTC). Obviously, you'll want to check with your doctor before taking any meds like that, but I like to share that tidbit because it has helped us reduce the string of migraines thing, or stress/sinus headaches turning into migraines the next day. Good luck!!

In my own previous weight loss experience, I lost 100lbs over 18 monthts doing keto. 250 to 150, and I had virtually no loose skin. I only started working out at 15 months, and had already lost 75lbs so it wasn't because of working out. Slower weight loss may be frustrating, but in my experience it is better in the long run!

I thought I would post up my entire experience with ALM in Tijuana while the details are still fresh in my mind. This will be a bit of a long read, but hopefully someone who is investigating the possibilities will find some useful information, answers to some questions and some reassurances! Here goes: I was introduced to the idea of bariatric surgery about 6 months ago during a conversation with a friend, who has been struggling for a few years with a significant (100lbs+) weight gain. I, too, had been gaining weight steadily since losing 100lbs four years ago. She said that if she couldn't lose the weight in the next year, she was "gonna get the gastric surgery" and be done of it. Of course, I had heard about gastric bypasses and lap bands, but I always associated it with Hollywood stars (ie, the very wealthy) or people who were much larger than 250lbs. I walked away from that conversation with a seed planted, and over the next few days I began doing some preliminary online research. This was one of the sites I came across at that time. I learned about the different procedures, and researched some of the worst case scenarios associated with each. I researched long term consequences, health outcomes, the effects on women of childbearing age who want to become pregnant, etc. I tried not to get bogged down by only reading positive stories or looking at #vsgbeforeandafter pictures and imagining my weight disappearing effortlessly overnight. I decided that this was something that really piqued my interest. I went to my provincial health authority's website (I live in Nova Scotia) and saw that the wait times here for an insurance covered procedure were more than 5 years, as there is only 1 bariatric surgeon in the province. Dismayed, I googled some bariatric centres close to where my above mentioned friend lives (Houston) and saw the procedures ranged from $12,000 USD up to $20,000 USD. There was simply no way I could afford that, even though I travelled to Houston on a weekly basis for work and could stay with my friend free of charge. I put the idea out of my head. I thought, "this really IS for rich folks, $28,000 (Canadian dollars) isn't feasible for a normal working person." But I kept coming back to pages like this, and others and on one of my google searches a sponsored ad result for ALM popped up at the top of the screen. "Affordable bariatric surgery at a top hospital in Tijuana, Mexico" or something to that effect. Intrigued, I clicked through the ad and read the entire content of the page. All the procedures were available, starting in the low $4000s (about $5500 CAD). I'm not naive (in fact, cynical would be a much more appropriate adjective), so I thought "what's the catch?" I took note of the doctor's names from ALM's website. I checked them on linked in, I read forums like this one, I entered search terms like "Dr So-So Tijuana deaths" and read well beyond the first page of Google results. I read about ALM, again entering morbid search terms, digging through online forums and basically trying to find that one piece of information where I would say "AHA! Gotcha! Of course that's a terrible idea!" I didn't find much. The company seemed legit, plenty of online posts dating back a few years to a few days about people who used their services and had successful operations with the surgeons they work with. This was around June. So I sent an email to a link on their page. I explained my personal experiences with weight loss and gain, my concerns about some members of my family and their onset health problems, and asking if I would be a candidate for the procedure at 5'8", fairly muscular and 250lbs. I don't wear plus sized clothing, but I'm at the point where if I gained another 15-20 lbs I would have to. I clicked send, and wondered if/when I would hear back and went on with my life. To my surprise, I heard back only an hour later. My coordinator, Crystal, answered my questions thoroughly (I was surprised it wasn't a generic "form" email, thank you for contacting us, don't call us - we'll call you blah blah blah). We opened a line of communication back and forth, and I felt pretty confident with the answers I was getting. So now I was getting excited. Possibilities. What seemed unattainable just a few weeks earlier was now suddenly in reach. It was time to discuss my findings with my wife. I chewed this over in my head, how to bring it up, was I ready to answer her questions, should I nerd out with all the info I had learned, or should I nonchalantly just throw it out there? I brought it up, and she was surprised but open minded. I explained all the options I had looked into, and what, exactly, a vertical sleeve gastrecromy is and isn't. She listened to my spiel, and said "Okay. Would I qualify for the procedure?". She is not fat, but has lost and gained 60lbs in the past few years and has an obese parent with diabetes. Her BMI was 32 when we had this conversation, and she wears size 12 jeans. We emailed Crystal with her concerns and questions, and again, she got right back to us. She emailed us forms and questionnaires for the doctor's review and we set to filling them out. We were on holidays for most of July, and when we returned we set a date, Oct 27 and paid our $500 each deposit to hold that date. In early August, it seemed like an eternity but since we both travel for work and work 70 hours a week, we knew the time would surely pass. We talked about little else but how excited we were. How we were going to do everything right, get back to the gym, change our lives and how this would help us when we start our family in a few years. We booked plane tickets. We changed companies in September, which was a welcome distraction from all the VSG this and VSG that. Starting about 3 weeks prior to our travel dates, we started receiving emails from Cindy Rios, an RN who works with (for?) ALM regarding diet, lifestyle changes, phases of the surgery recovery and suggestions for streamlining and making the most of our pending surgeries. We had quit caffeine and carbonated drinks in August, in a bid to make it easier down the road. We went to Costco and loaded up on Premier Protein (like a shopping cart full) because we are on the road with work and didn't want to be short on supplies and maybe tempted to cheat. We didn't do "food funerals" in the same way I wouldn't attend the funeral of a nemesis or adversary who had stolen some of my life and made me unhappy with who I was. We bought enough salad to get us through the work week when we were home each week. The pre-op diet was easy, for the most part. Not wanting to risk enlarging our livers with excess carbs and losing our hard earned money if the surgery couldn't be completed made it easier. We had a supply of Keto-strips from previous ketogenic dieting and made sure we were staying in ketosis throughout the entire time. We flew out of Nova Scotia at 5am on the 26th. We arrived at the San Diego airport before noon (4 hour time difference) after changing planes in Toronto. We had a text message waiting for us when we landed from our driver, asking what our schedule looked like. We told him we were on the ground, and just waiting to deplane and on our way. We received a call immediately saying they would pick us up at the cab stand at Terminal 1 in about an hour. We carried on our luggage (not wanting to risk the airline losing our luggage with multiple connections) so we strolled from Terminal 2 down to Terminal 1. We received a text message with a picture of the driver's license, Rafael and his personal information. When an hour came and went, I sent a text asking where he was and got a call right back. He was stuck in traffic at the border, but wouldn't be much longer. We got a description of the van he was driving so we knew who to watch for. He arrived not much longer, and we picked up 2 other people on the way. We made our introductions and were off on I5 towards Mexico. Rafael informed us that because we had landed quite early, we would head straight to Mi Doctor hospital and do our preoperarion check ups instead of waiting for surgery day. The hospital is literally 5 mins from the border. Rafael took us from place to place in the hospital, and stayed with us the entire time. First we had blood taken for a full work up. Next, we went for an EKG to monitor heart function. I then met with Dr Elias Ortiz in his office, as I was the first surgery of the day the next morning. My wife filled out paperwork upstairs, and after my meeting with Dr Ortiz, I filled out the same paperwork. All the paperwork is in English and Spanish, so you'll sign everything twice. I was the only patient to meet Dr Ortiz that afternoon, as he would meet with the others during the day between surgeries. I asked him to visually inspect my gallbladder, as I have a family history of gall bladder disease and he said he couldn't see if there stones, but the general health would be evident. I asked him about taking Advil (i take a HUGE dose of Advil once a month for period cramps) and he assured me that NSAIDs would not be an issue once the sleeve was healed. I have an alternative medication, but I don't take it because it causes drowsiness and he assured me that it was fine until I can handle NSAIDs again. He was friendly, knowledgable, and overall seemed like a really friendly fellow. I felt like I was in good hands. Rafael was waiting for us when everything was signed, and we piled into the van to head to the hotel. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Tijuana, which was about 10 mins by van from the hospital. Rafael ushered us through the lobby and into the elevators to the 11th floor. He collected our IDs and did the check in process on the medical floor while we lounged and admired the view. Rafael told us what time we would each be picked up the next morning, 5:40am for my wife and I. One by one, we got our rooms and he passed us off the concierges to take us to our rooms. The medical rooms were nice - spacious bathroom and shower, we had a king size bed and several pillows each. ALM provides each patient with 3 room service orders of broth, - sugar free popsicle and a glass of apple juice. We ordered twice and it arrived promptly. I skipped the juice, because I had worked so hard at cutting all the sugar out of my diet and I wasn't going to reindulge the night before the surgery. We were pretty tired from the flying, and even though it was only 6pm in Tijuana, it was 10pm at home and we had been at the airport for 3am. So we enjoyed our broth, watched some Netflix on the iPad and went to sleep. We had to bring our luggage to the hospital the next morning, as we weren't returning to the same room after the procedure and would be staying 2 nights at Mi Doctor. We got up at 4, had a shower and packed up our things. We met Rafael downstairs in the lobby and headed over to the hospital. We were greeted there by a nurse who gave us compression socks and gowns and told us to change into them. We changed, and the nurse came back in to put in the IV. She said it would be a little while before doctors were ready for us, so we puttered around the room and waited. A series of doctors from the surgical team came in, we shook hands, saw pictures of their kids and talked a little about how the day would progress. I was first up, and my wife was second on the lineup. They explained that after surgery, I would be wheeled into a recovery room right beside the OR and would be waking up just as my wife was coming out of her surgery before we were both moved into our room upstairs. After what seemed like eternity (maybe 4 hours, from the time we arrived) a knock came at the door. A nurse sat me in a wheelchair and I was brought upstairs to the OR. My wife was lead shortly after I left to our room upstairs. While in the room, nurses were in and out to hang some signs over our hospital beds and get it ready for us. They moved our luggage in for us, and she waited for her knock on the door. When I was wheeled into the OR, I was given a hairnet and booties and told to untie my gown from the back and hop up on the OR table. I was wearing underwear, but no bra and nothing was said (many people seem to have concerns about this). I was never asked to remove them or asked if I was on my period. The doctors I had met that morning were all there in their scrubs, and we had a grand chat about my work, including lots of questions from them. The anesthesiologist was busy hooking this and that up, and he said I would feel a bit woozy as he injected something into my IV. I felt elated, ecstatic and silly all at the same time. I was still chatting animatedly with all the guys when the anesthesiologist put a mask over my mouth and nose. I do not remember anything after that point. I awoke in the room outside the OR (although I didn't know that at the time) and immediately tried to sit up. I had some pains under my collar bones, and looking down I could see the row of incisions on my belly. I remember asking for wife, was she ok? Yes, they said, she is fine and right beside me. I looked over at her, and then asked "did you do the surgery?" (As if the incisions weren't proof enough) and they said "yes, you did great and your wife too!" Then I went back to sleep. When I was brought out of the OR and still under, my wife was summoned from our room to the OR. She sat with Dr Ortiz who informed her that my surgery had gone just fine, and that I was still in the OR preparing to be moved to recovery. They chatted about what would happen after her surgery, and she was brought into the other OR to be anesthetitized. While laying on the table, the anesethesiologist said "you look nervous, I'm going to give you something to relax and then we'll chat about what comes next." That's the last thing she remembers. I vaguely remember being bumped around off one bed and on to another. This was in our room. It was still light outside, and I immediately went to sleep. I awoke shortly after when they brought my wife to our room, and I was very relieved to see her sleeping soundly in the next bed. We both slept for what I can only assume is a few hours. I awoke suddenly and was incredibly nauseated. I tried to take a deep breath, but my shoulders were hurting and I couldn't breathe deeply. I vomited in my mouth, and threw myself out of bed to the bathroom and spit it in the toilet. It was dark coloured blood, which would have been alarming if I hadn't been so medicated. Feeling better, I went back to bed. A nurse woke us up to check our vitals, and change the IV bags of medication. I asked about the bloody vomit and was told it's completely normal. They gave us an IV shot for nausea and we drifted off to sleep again. This process was repeated every few hours (not the vomiting) until the next day. They brought some warm bags to place on my shoulders, the left of which was developing a very sharp pain. I had some pain in my stomache, like a hunger pain right before your stomache rumbles when it's empty, except it would not rumble. Just a twisting, painful sensation. I didn't have my watch or phone and had no idea what time of the day or night it was. The time difference made it impossible to guess, but I was feeling wide awake. I could sit up in bed, albeit with some pain, and took stock of my surroundings. It was a good sized room, there was some free space to walk around the side of the bed and to foot with a private bathroom and shower in the room. A nurse came in and told us to take a shower, and they would change the dressing on our incisions and we would get dressed in our own clothes. For the rest of that day (day 2), we walked a little inside the hospital, took a few walks outside and wandered around the parking lot (dragging an IV tree) and I tried to walk off the pain in my shoulder. The other shoulder felt fine, but the pain on the left side was making it difficult to draw breaths. We relaxed in our room, played on our phones and chatted. Shoulder pain aside, we were feeling pretty good and mobile. My IV stopped working (unfortunately after they injected a nauseau shot into it, which swelled my hand up a bit). They switched hands for the IV, but my blood kept clotting inside the port and they had to keep cleaning it out to get the IV working. Finally, they asked me if I was feeling ok and just took the IV out, so I was pain med free. The doctor came in to remove the drains the night before we were to be discharged. It was mildly uncomfortable coming out, but my shoulder pain disappeared immediately. We were bandaged up, and told that we would meet at 7:30am the next day to meet for aftercare instructions. We were both brought downstairs for an X-ray leak test with the radiologist, which both showed no leaks. Dr Ortiz came in and told us that our organs looked great and healthy when he did the surgery, and that we had obviously followed the preop diet closely and that he appreciated it, as it makes his job easier. We thanked him and shook hands, and did not see him again. About 20 mins after, I noticed a bloodstain on my inner left arm, but I was wearing a dark coloured t-shirt and could not see that my drain wound had bled through the bandages. A nurse came in right then, and I lifted up my shirt to look for the bleeding. She immediately changed the bandages, but about 5 minutes later it bled through again. This happened 5 times, using a variety of pressure banding and trying to close the drain with bandages before a call was made to a doctor. A doctor in scrubs appeared shortly after, and she lifted off the bandages to check me out. She was surprised that the drain hole was still bleeding and decided to stitch it up. She put in 3 stitches, which immediately stopped the bleeding and bandaged me back up. I told her that I suspected the drain wasn't working properly, since the drain balloon was full of large clots and my IV had been clotting, and told her about the intense pain in my shoulder that had dissipated as soon as the drain was removed. She agreed that it had probably gotten blocked and caused some buildup and pressure, but there was nothing to worry about. We walked, talked, napped through the night and arose at 6:30 for our morning meeting. We showered, had our bandages changed and packed our bags to head downstairs. During the meeting, we all received a little purple reusable shopping bag with some medications, copies of our blood work and leak test paperwork, as well as some ALM goodies, like a tshirt, button, pen and bumper sticker. We were all shuttled over the Grand, and has a debrief while waiting for our new room assignments. It was about 9am, and we had a tour of TJ lined up at noon. We weren't sure if we would go, as the time change was really messing with our sleep schedule and we had been up most of the night. We got to our room, and decided we'd set the alarm for 2 hours and if we felt well, we'd go. Sure enough, a 2 hour solid nap did the trick and we headed out for the tour. Rafael drove the bus with about a dozen patients and friends of patients. We went to a place with tasty ice cream (I was a bit nervous, since ice cream isn't exactly "clear liquids", but I ate a few mouthfuls anyway). I ordered the tiniest child size and couldn't get through half of it. Next they took us to a pharmacy where the pharmacist gave a very entertaining presentation of all the medications they recommend for bariatric patients. B12 shots, pain killers, half a dozen kinds of antibiotics, anti diarreah, medicine for nauseau, and a whole host of others. He wrote prescriptions for whichever medecines you were choosing, so as to not cause problems crossing the border back into the USA. Everyone was filling up baskets, and even getting some of their medications from home unrelated to the surgery like Ritalin, Valium and Viagara. We then went to the "main drag", where lots of tourists buy trinkets, get pictures with brightly coloured backgrounds set up and eat tacos (if they haven't just had surgery, of course). We were supposed to go to a restaurant that serves excellent broth afterwards, but there was a mixup with times and they were closed so we went back to the hotel. We were pretty tired, and basically just lounged around the room and had some broth and went to bed. The next day, we had nothing lined up through ALM so we found our own action. We got dressed, changed our bandages and headed out into the sunshine. There is a restaurant across th street, Fonda Argentine that we had read online serves excellent broth. The door was open, and we stood inside at the maitre'd stand for about 10 minutes. Employees were sitting at a table, looked at us and turned their backs and refused to acknowledge us so we left. All together, we walked about 2 miles around the neighbourhood, checked out the little ice cream stand again, and stopped by a little grocery store on the way to the hotel. We purchased a few of those "3 minute lunch" cups, where you just add water to ramen noodles. We got some spicy beef and chicken ones, and microwaved them at the hotel in the medical floor lobby. We strained the broth out, and it was a welcome and delicious change from the bland chicken broth at the hotel. The next day was our travel day, and we met Jack at 11am in front the Grand. There were 2 others who were there with their daughter heading to San Diego with us. Their flight was at 3pm, ours was at 6pm. It took about an hour and a half to get to the airport, which was much faster than we had expected. We printed our boarding passes for the 3 flights home, and left the airport to take a trolley tour of San Diego. It was about $40 each, and took 2 hours. You could hop on and off at any of the stops, but we were anxious to get back in time in case security was busy. There is an excellent little restaurant past security at terminal 2 called Saffron that sells delicious chicken broth. We got a cup of broth to go each, and boarded our first flight home. LAX had absolutely nothing that could pass as "clear liquids", it was all burger joints and pubs and none even had soup on the menu, so we just walked the entire 2 hour layover. We did stop and have a glass of cranberry juice. We clocked about 3 miles of walking that day, and that included carrying our backpacks everywhere (remember, we carried on our luggage) and we were feeling great. We had the same problem with lack of hot food options in Newark, the only place that serves soup didn't have any soup ready at 7:30am. So we wandered around the tiny terminal, just getting some walking in. On our way home from the airport yesterday, we ran errands in a few stores, stocking up on broths and soups we can strain for the next phase of our diet, starting tomorrow. I was in the kitchen all afternoon making a huge pot of butternut squash soup and a spinach dip with soup like consistency to portion up for work later this week. Tomorrow we are back to our regular schedule! If you're still with me, I hope this will help someone who is thirsty for the details on how this all works! Ask me anything, I'll do my best to answer it!

Hello all! None of you know who I am, but I know many of you from obsessively reading your posts, trials and success stories for the past several months. I'd like to thank everyone who puts themselves out there to the broader public to educate us about this procedure and many of the bumps in the road. Like many of you, I have struggled with my weight for most of my life, starting in adolescence. Despite assurances from my friends and family that I looked fine, and that I wasn't really fat (just a little fat, I guess) I was never at a weight where I felt truly confident in my own skin. More importantly, I never truly felt that I was fulfilling my physical capabilities. I excelled at sports when I was younger, but I could recognize even then that my weight was holding me back from taking it to the next level. Jump ahead 15 years (I am 32 now) and my "normal" fluctuations of weight went from about 20 lbs (I stayed between 185-205 for most of a decade) to more like 60lbs (getting as high as 250, doing keto for 2 years and getting down to 150, only to gradually start gaining back to 250. I work as a long haul truck driver, and although I don't indulge myself at most truck stops, the sheer lack of physical activity is certainly part of my weight issue now. After maintaining this new (disappointing) weight, I decided it was time to avail myself of every tool in the box. During a very drunken conversation with an old friend, she said that I she couldn't lose her excess 120lbs by her birthday, she was just "gonna get the gastric surgery". This sent me searching for more information, and one of the sites I found was this one. Never one to say or do things I don't mean, I ended up researching the process with my mind set on making it happen. Unfortunately, in my part of Canada, the wait is very long (more than 5 years, start to finish) and at a BMI of 36, there was no hope I would be approved. I could never afford $20000USD+ to have it done south of the border, so I contacted A Lighter Me and got the ball rolling. I just had my surgery last week, I am 6 days post-op and just got back home today. I feel prepared for some of the challenges coming my way, and hope that I can be of some help to someone else who is out there, reading this and trying to decide what to do. Thanks for reading!

I live in the Midwest and everyone here is something -- hi protein/lo carb, Paleo, keto, I live in the Midwest and everyone here is something -- hi protein/lo carb, Paleo, keto, whole foods etc. I haven't had anyone blink an eye when I order/eat. Sent from my XT1565 using the BariatricPal App

Wow I'm so sorry for all you have been through ???? I've heard good things about the Keto diet,good luck praying for good health ???????? Sent from my N9132 using the BariatricPal App

amf1025, Well, he had the lap band for 13 years. He did lose 100#. But his starting weight at the time was 515#s. The Surgeon said he wasn't strong enough for the RNY. Which wasn't true because at the time he was still driving log truck and long haul trucking. He was 50yo. So after the surgery, they kept having problems putting in the fill and finally ruptured the port. Back into a day surgery got that fixed. So in 2013 it malfunctioned and he couldn't hold anything down. The VA suggested that he see a Bariatric Surgeon which we did. they said he needed to have the band removed. And they would do the revision at that time to an RNY. When they got in there the band had eroded into his liver. They couldn't do the revision but removed his band and gallbladder (due to him having stones) they told him that in 3 months when he was healed they would do the RNY. He ended up getting abscesses and was deathly sick for 9 months and 3 months he doesn't even remember. So now he is healed up so we go back to the Surgeon, he tell us he won't do the WLS because he said, he was a "PROBLEM CHILD". But he did refer him to another surgeon in Portland Oregon. Now they would do his surgery when he lost 25#'s and got his A1C (he is diabetic) down to a 7 or 8. Which if he lost weight his blood sugars would go high and if his blood sugars were down he gained weight. He just couldn't get it done. So then we get the news that he has Cancer on his kidney. Which the VA didn't tell us for 3 years. Now he has to lose 150#'s before they can do anything about the kidney cancer. So then we get the money up and off to Mexico we went. On June 3, 2013 he has surgery and is supposed to get the RNY. When they got in there they found that his whole right side is solid scar tissue. They can't do the RNY so he gets the Sleeve. So here we are now he has lost 60#'s but just can't seem to get any more off. This could have all been avoided if the first surgeon would have done the RNY. When he was strong enough to go thru it. They gave him 4 years if they can't do anything about the Cancer. Maybe 2 good years but the last 2 would be HELL!!! It has been a year already. Now I just found the KETO diet so I'm going to try it. We are both going to do it. You can do it to lose or to maintain. I feel like if I can do it wth him it might make it a little easier on him. I feel almost desperate like time is running out for us. So this is how the Lap-Band has been for him. Plus we have heard that most Dr.'s don't do them hardly, but the do many revisions. Please think hard before making your mind up on which way to go. Good luck!!

Hi everyone! First time poster here. I have started the journey and I'm in the super preliminary "dipping my toes in the water" stages now. I just wanted to pick the brains of the people here. Here's a tl;dr since I ended up rambling. Diet and self-control aren't an issue for me, but I can’t lose weight. Is the sleeve right for me? Am I mentally prepared for this? Hi, how are you doing? A quick history: My whole life I have been overweight. When I graduated college, I promised myself I would get in shape. I really made a concerted effort. I changed my diet and started working out. I have been out of college for almost a decade now and while internally I'm healthy, externally I am still fat. I see a wonderful endocrinologist and we have been working for almost 2 years to get to the root of this problem. I learned that I have PCOS and a serious metformin allergy which is what is making this such a struggle. I have blood tests that show everything is within range and I am technically healthy. She has reviewed nearly 900 days’ worth of MyFitnessPal logs and confirms I am eating correctly. We have tried a range of different weight loss drugs, none of which have had any effect. I did keto for over a year. I lost 30lbs in the first 3 months and then never lost anything else (and yes, I updated my macros as needed). At our last meeting, my doctor admitted that she was running out of ideas to try and it might be time to consider looking into weight loss surgery. I have nothing against surgery (or I wouldn’t be here), but I’ve got to admit that I have some preconceived notions which turn me off of it. I have an aunt who had a lap band put in and is frequently sick from complications. My mother had a gastric bypass and almost died when her body stopped absorbing Iron. Since heading down this path, I realize that my family doesn't take very good care of themselves and as long as I listened to the doctor and went in for routine visits, I should be safe from these things. I also always was under the impression that WLS was for people who had poor portion control and that doing something like this would force them to eat less which was why it worked. Portion control isn’t my issue. When I spoke to my doctor about this, she explained that WLS almost reforms your gastric system. People who were pre-diabetic suddenly get better. People who couldn’t lose weight start losing. This is my big concern. I think I'd like to do the sleeve. I need a tool to make things work. Therefore, I'm okay with a slower loss to hopefully avoid excessive extra skin. Still, as this is an optional surgery, I want to be 110% sure this I can be a success story. My husband helped convince me to stop doing keto. I was making myself absolutely miserable with the incredibly strict diet and no results (now I just keep low carb instead of 20g or less). He helped me see that I was banging my head against a wall and while he was proud of me for doing everything I could, I’d exhausted all of my non-surgical options. He is supportive and tried to convince me to love the body I'm in. Bless him for that, but that's not enough in my head. He is very tall, so while he's a bit overweight, you can't tell. I'm 5'1 and almost 260. We live in a world that's pretty prejudiced against fat people. I don't think he gets understands fat people go through as a daily struggle since he hasn't experienced it first hand. I’m sick and tired of people making split second decisions about me. I’ve had a doctor deny me basic medicine because I’m too fat. I’ve been harassed on the streets and told I don’t belong outside since I’m a gross fat cow**. I am sick of trying on clothing I like and discovering it doesn’t come in my size. I want to look at pictures of myself and see more than my chins. I try not to let these things get to me, but it still sucks to have these experiences. I am healthy, I’d really like that to be reflected on the outside as well. On top of that, I posted something similar to this elsewhere and someone pointed out "you're healthy until you aren't. Being overweight makes you a walking risk factor." They're right. If I break my leg, the recovery would be significantly harder with the extra weight. If I needed life saving surgery, going under anesthesia would be more dangers as a fat person. I'm healthy now, but there's a reason you don't see many old fat people. So there's my long and boring background. When I discussed this with my husband, he had two large fears. 1) The big one was that I would have this surgery and nothing would change. Are there any studies which show not the effectiveness of success stories, but the percentage of people who follow instructions and don't lose? Committing to the diet is not an issue for me, but I'm terrified of the idea of going under the knife for an optional surgery and not having anything to show for it. 2) Mental health issues. I don't think this one is valid, but for my husband's sake, I'll ask! I had a pretty traumatic childhood in multiple ways. He is worried that even if I lose the weight, I won't be happy. I'll hate myself for the extra skin, for a large toenail, for something. He thinks I'll never be happy. I don't agree at all. My childhood was pretty messed up, but I have spent well over a decade outside of that environment and have healed and become a healthy and well adjusted person. He was there the entire time to see the transition. I want to lose weight for the discussed reasons above. I don't want to have to carry around lab results to my primary doctor to prove I'm not diabetic and that my cholesterol looks good. I want to wear cute clothing and not have breakdowns in the dressing room when the largest size doesn't fit right. Still, I'm bringing this up for him. When you lost the weight, did you feel better afterwards? Did you have any lingering mental issues? I have an appointment with my endocrinologist coming up where I plan to discuss options and get a good bariatric recommendation. I will be bringing all of this up with her. However, I'm the type of person can't sit still and wants to research everything available! Plus, if I'm going to be doing this, it would be nice to join the community and get to know you guys. Sorry for the wall of text. I swear, I'm not nearly this long winded! I hope someday to be able to go "Hi, I'm Jess. I used to be fat and now I'm not." and that'll count as my entire weight loss history. *He had terrible bedside manner. I spoke to another doctor in the practice who was horrified and immediately gave me the medicine I needed **Which, while it doesn't bother me directly (I've got thick skin) frustrates me. I'm healthy. My lab work keeps coming back showing I am healthy. I don't care what strangers think, but I also hate knowing that only those close to me realize how hard I work to be healthy without anything to show for it.

Dont think its "ketosis", to get keto you need your body consuming fat not Protein. Think its more likely gerd or protein breathe. I know Isopure left a nasty taste in my mouth. Sent from my SM-G530T1 using the BariatricPal App

Keto is basically low carb. Under 20 carbs a day. You may not have to go that low to lose weight. And in the first few weeks you should only focus on protein and liquid goals.

I had surgery 6 days ago. Still on liquids but wanted info about Keto. Thank you for the link!! Bee ❤

Six days out...does that mean you are having surgery in six days? If so what this is doing is shrinking your liver making it easier to get the sleeve done (liver right above stomach). Ketosis (https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto) is a quick way to make it happen.

Hi All!! I've noticed people have referred to the keto diet. I am 6 days out from revision from band to sleeve and was wondering if anyone had any insight on this? I truly appreciate it! Bee ❤

I am very sorry you worked at this so hard and didn't get the outcome you wanted. I belong to a lot of keto groups, which is how I eat currently post-op. I have a facebook friend that lost 250 pounds on keto, has kept it off and had their excess skin removed. Lots of women see PCOS improvements. Look into it, do your research. It is a way of life though, not a diet. You can't think of it as a temporary solution but a way of eating. There is a lot of scientific research, so just make sure you do your research. Even with the sleeve, I kept gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for weeks until I went back to strict keto. It works if you follow it and you like it.

Pork rinds are usually 0-carbs and 0-sugar. I've used them frequently for breading on meat and as a low-carb pizza dough crushed up with eggs in low-carb/keto diets. They are amazingly good as pizza dough. The downside is they can be high in fat and calories.

After 6 months, Keto Krate if you eat Keto, but honestly. I think it is a waste. Like my tastes are so varied yet specific, there is no way I can roll the dice on people sending me random stuff. What I want to eat changes from day to day. It would take me months to get through one box.

Chemistry Queen on YouTube reviewed a Keto Krate but some of that stuff isn't safe for me to eat yet.

@@Sherbear2 well i think everyone is different. make sure you're doctor says it's ok for you to work out. i went into full cardio mode and just ran and ran and ran for six months straight 3 to 5 days a week, did a little strength training but perhaps not enough. my diet was keto diet. (no carbs, no sugar, high fat) but i know some ppl do weights extra. i am saggy now so maybe some weights would have been good. im sure others have other ideas. you could just start with walking, walking your dog, or yoga or zumba or whatever u like long as u get active. i think my weight came off "fast" cuz i worked out often and hard. i was impatient to lose it. lol. good luck to you!!

Thank you! We do seem to have a similar journey. It's good to see another person who started at a higher weight, since it seems RNY is more common for people with as much to lose as us. My surgeon actually had to verify my starting weight when I met with him right before surgery. He thought it might have been a typo since it's pretty uncommon to lose that much before surgery lol. When I told him it was right, he was delighted and said it really bodes well for my post-surgery success. I also didn't have to do the 2-week liquid pre-op diet, he said with the weight I lost my liver was already smaller, so it wouldn't make much difference. I just had to increase to 2 Protein shakes a day, and only a light meal the day before surgery. I don't like cooking much, so I didn't do anything special. I mostly took meals I already ate and made them keto-friendly. I'm hispanic, and tacos/burritos were a common meal, so I make taco salad instead of having tortillas and skipped the rice completely. I also switched to hand seasoning instead of using those seasoning packets. They can be surprisingly carby (cornstarch added, sometimes sugar too). I saute Morningstar crumbles with ground chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion. Serve over some lettuce and top with cheese. We also enjoy a good Indian curry, so I just made sure to check the sauces for sugar. Quorn makes a great veggie-chicken and you can get it either in pieces or cutlets, just make sure it's not the breaded version. Paneer cheese, diced "chicken" and spinach simmered in curry sauce is really tasty and a one-pan dish. Now that I'm post surgery I don't have room for sides, but pre-surgery mashed cauliflower makes a decent substitution for mashed potatoes.

@@PixelToph Could you share some of your vegetarian keto/low carb meals?