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Totally the same! I am 5 weeks post op - I can eat so much more than others on this forum! Today, we had a shared lunch at church - I had one large sausage roll (minus the pastry casing), 3 tbsp of tuna pasta salad, 3 tbsp bulgar wheat salad, the full topping of a large slice of veggie pizza and a keto brownie. The worrying thing is... I didn't feel restriction. 😲I only stopped because I felt I should. Does anyone here think that a person's height and frame size has an effect on this?

I'm going closet shopping this weekend to hopefully find something to wear Christmas Eve to church. I'm down to 220.0 and I'm 3 weeks and 3 days post op. Starting weight 246 lbs, surgery weight 237 lbs... Total loss since surgery is also 17 lbs. I've been sticking to Keto diet and have really been craving carbs lately. I'm wondering if anyone else did or is doing keto diet post op and if so, what happens to the weight loss if you go back to a regular diet?

I'm not sure the "meeting your deductible or Out of Pocket" expense is part of the actual approval process or its criteria. I started in May 2017 and had to go through the blood panels, exercise evaluation, colonoscopy, psych eval, several consults with a Nutritionist, and get a letter of recommendation from my PCP, two sleep studies for apnea and of course meeting with the surgeon several times. This actually took about six months. I did the sleep study early on because I knew I had severe apnea and needed to be on a BiPap machine for at least 30 days prior to being submitted for approval. On the 3rd and last pre op visit with the doc he told me to lose 10-15 pounds then sent me to his affiliated Nutritionist who set me up with a Keto diet. I failed that because although I was in ketosis many times, I still ate too many calories. I decided to go on the Bariatric Fusion website Liver Reduction Diet. It sucked but I ended up being OK with shakes and homemade chicken stock. I lost 13.5 pounds and at my next doc visit he submitted me to my insurance and I literally was approved within 72 hours. I am in California with Anthem Blue Cross. It's end of year and my OOP will happen to be less than $500. I know it's not what you want to hear but what I'm learning here is if you're self pay, almost anything goes. If you're insured (and their rules vary wildly) we have to be patient and abide by what they tell us to be approved. I've actually taken this time to "try" to reprogram my stubborn mindset into learning another way of thinking about food and my eating habits. This site is an amazing resource and I think the most important take away is that I need to realize my life will forever be changed the moment I come out of the recovery room and I truly need to be committed to a healthier lifestyle. I'm 53 and it's my time. Watch out [emoji8][emoji8][emoji8][emoji8]

I haven't had the surgery yet but while I'm getting all my pre-testing and whatnot done and waiting on my surgery date, I decided to put myself back on Keto for the time being. Only this time, because my nutritionist wants me to, I'm adding in more of a variety of veggies (that's usually not considered Keto friendly) and also some fruits. So, while back on Keto with these new stipulations, if I feel the need to snack, my go to's are............ Celery w/peanut butter or dipped in Ranch Raw veggies (grape tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, etc) alone or dipped in PB, Ranch or Cream Cheese Cucumber slices mixed with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper Cucumber slices with cream cheese sprinkled with Everything But The Bagel seasoning String cheese Slice of various hard cheeses Pepperoni or hard spicy salami slices Hard boiled eggs Greek Yogurt (with or without a small amount of Lily's chocolate chips/salted caramel chips) Small bowl of berries with sugar free whipped cream Sugar free Jello/Pudding with or w/o sugar free whipped cream Anyway, you get the idea.

Check out this site https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/recipes

I did a keto-ish diet pre-op and low carb off and on for years. Obviously they weren’t the answer for me as I did have VSG! I wanted to stop fearing carbs and have a more balanced diet. At almost 8 mo out, I have found that I can’t tolerate the higher fat foods as well. They make me feel nauseous. I do ok with butter, cream and full fat cheese so in weighed and measured amounts I still have those.

I had RNY, not sleeve, but I find too much fat at one time makes me nauseous. My husband eats keto and I literally make two meals (when I cook), because I eat carbs and can’t tolerate the high fat in his food. The post op diet is usually pretty much a high protein, reduced carb, low/reduced fat diet, which worked well for me. In maintenance, I eat more carbs.

Yes, indeed surgery is the key factor. One of the things that I have recognized over the years of being in this game is how little dietary style influences ones weight loss after surgery. Back in the good ol' days 20-30 years ago WLS patients were often advised to just "eat like you always have, just less...." and that generally worked quite well - for the year or so, give or take, that they were losing. Maintaining that loss was not so successful with that approach, obviously, as they never changed what got them into trouble in the first place, and they often regained just as they did when doing diets in the past, though usually somewhat more slowly owing to the restriction that they had. Back when low fat diets were "in", people did just as well with their WLS as they do today with low carb and keto diets being the big thing. The important thing is developing good long term eating habits that one can maintain forever, and none of the popular fad diets do that for most people, and they tend to regain when they get tired of the diet.

I'm 1 year 6 mo post OP vsg, I'm considering keto, does anyone know what macros I should be following? Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Lol re aussies drink a lot. Understatement there @DaisyChainOz. It can be odd to be still nursing my first G&T while my girlfriends are on their 3rd bottle of bubbles. I was put on keto by my dietician for three weeks pre my surgery & was successful too. (Yes, it’s easy to do & fits in well with family & lifestyle.) Now, I can tolerate very little fat in my diet. (Cheese is ok & marbled steak but had a thin sliver of lardo on king prawns the other night. Tried one piece & threw it up an hour later - all slimy yuckiness). Strangely, my cholesterol levels immediately pre surgery were in the middle of healthy range as it always has been. But it has been going up over the last 4 months when I eat far, far less fat than I’ve ever done. I believe there is talk around now that you should only follow a keto diet for short periods of time - a couple of months at a time only. A modified version may be different. Talk to your doctor about this. I know you haven’t got a surgeon yet because of your move & the delay to when you can do the surgery but maybe you could start the process. The surgeon I went to refers patients to either a dietician or the Wesley weight loss clinic (all shakes). Ask for the dietician. I believe the Wesley program can get very expensive.

My surgeon did the very same with me. Our NUT is in house and works as part of the team but I do have a Dr in the team besides my surgeon. My Dr is more strict with my diet while my NUT is a bit more easy-going. At this point (close to 3 months post op now) my NUT has always answered me by saying to not worry about calories right now. They just want me to get my proteins met first and foremost and then add anything I can else that is on the list (it does include potatoes, beans, fruits, keto ice-cream, etc) and she says to add some potato if it's easier to eat with chicken to get down. However, I read about a lot of different protein level preferences (always the same lowest but some require much, much higher) and even vitamin differences. Just follow what your Dr says. A lot also can depend on specific health problems, ages, prior history, etc.

I know some people here have enjoyed seeing my progress, so I wanted to do another update. I recently had my 1 year surgery anniversary from my gastric bypass. I have also reached goal and am no longer losing weight, so I figured now was a good time! I am so happy I had my bypass. I am running, hiking, and doing all the physical things that I was limited in before. I eat well and don't feel any loss or limitation emotionally. I have added carbs back in now that I am at goal, and have maintained well (even lost a little) over the past 5 months since hitting goal and going off keto. I had my 1 year follow up with my doctor, and he congratulated me for losing 100% excess weight and for doing it in less than a year! High weight: 292 Surgery weight: 247 Goal: 150 Current: 147 Height: 5'6"

I definitely wouldn’t recommend it for at least 6 months after surgery or more. The higher fat content generally won’t be tolerated as well and you’re putting yourself at a much higher risk for gallstones. Just doing lower carb is definitely effective after surgery since your cals are so low to begin with. It’s also hard to fit in certain nutrients because of the calorie restriction combined with the diet restrictions on keto.

I did keto for a good bit of my weight loss period (with the full support of my Surgeon). His plan was low-carb anyway, so he didn't mind when I took it to keto levels.

a type 1 diabetic you would have different needs than me so I do not presume that my way would would work for anyone actually. everyone needs to follow what works for them. but i will add that saturated fat does not cause heart disease (there was actually no evidence of this - documented in Big fat surprise by Nina Teicholz) and i am carb sensitive so try to stay under 50 carbs and 25 sugar grams. i do not go full keto though i use its guidelines. I am sure a true keto person would think I am not on program. skipping meals does not slow metabolism when you actually get plenty of good nutrients when you do eat. not eating for 16 (and sometimes 22) hours actually gives the pancreas and liver a break and lowers the demand for insulin. a lot of that time i am sleeping so it is not dangerous for me who is not on glucose lowering meds. people should research and do what works for them. some people can tolerate more carbs and some cannot. for me this was the solution. 1) don’t put sugar in, 2) eat real food including real fats not processed vegetable oils and 3) time restricted eating. otherwise known as intermittent fasting. I am not perfect in any way but for those who have gained weight back, i recommend giving up snacking between meals and watch added sugar. that was my first step. i know people who have gained much more back than I did so i posted this to give hope to those looking to get back on track and / or stop the craving and stop the gaining. good luck!

Thank you so much for posting your experience with Intermittent Fasting. I read Jason Fung's book the Obesity Code and watched many of his you tube videos as well as Dr. Berg's IF / keto / Insulin resistant videos. They have been very informative. I am insulin resistant as well and carb sensitive. I am 26 months out and up 4 to 8 lbs, depending on the day. My diet is very good, but I believe insulin is my issue as well. I was eating all day long. Great stuff, but never letting my insulin levels drop enough to burn fat. Can't store and burn at the same time. I have experimented with IF and am on 8:16 right now. It does make a difference for me as well. Just started a few days ago for the 2nd time, so I need to give it more time, but please keep us posted on your progress. Not sure I will do the 24 hour fasting, but we'll see. I see a lot of people who have gained and want to take it off, but not many who haven't really gained, but are 2+ years and want to loose more. I still have a good 50-60 lbs before I would be at a normal weight, so I don't feel like I'm done yet, but at 10 months my weight loss stopped and there it has been for the past 15 months. Keep up the good work!!

Trying to get information for my husband who is currently 300 pounds at 6'0" tall making his basic BMI calculation 40.7. He's tried dieting so many times over the years but always ends up higher than he started. When we first married 11 years ago he was VERY fit, muscular, and broad shouldered weighing about 190. Because of work stress, life stress, and bad eating habits he's now where he is today. Low carb/keto is how he prefers to diet. Right now he's considering the lap band to force him into losing the 100 pounds. He doesn't have an eating disorder that I know of, he just needs something to keep him straight that's more than just his mind. He says he plans to follow the strict plan with eating properly and exercising and then take it out after having it a year. And then from there continuing to keep a clean healthy diet and exercise regime. Other than sleep apnea, he doesn't have any other health issues that we know of. His blood tests all look good and other than being quite over weight he's healthy. Anyone else done this? What are the downsides? I know people don't like the lap band long term, but is this a better plan? We are fortunate to live in an area where there are many, many very good doctors and the ones here still do lap band. Was hoping he could use it as a tool to get to a healthy weight and then maintain from there. We have our first consultation next week. Would love thoughts from experienced people here. Thanks in advance!

I started my journey at 397 pounds. I lost 99 pounds during my six month insurance-required pre-op diet program, weighing 298 on the day of surgery (September 28, 2016). I met my goal of 180 pounds on October 2, 2017, 1 year and 4 days post-op. I currently weigh 173 pounds. The surgery helped me, yes, but I have followed a keto way of eating since the first day of my six month pre-op diet program. I eat less than 25 grams of carbs per day and keep my calories below 2000. I plan to continue to eat that way long term. That's what has helped me to achieve my goals. Good luck!

I too thought the balloon was the answer for me...NO! lost about 30 lbs and put it right back on. I had to address my eating addiction first. I have been doing Keto for almost a year and have lost a solid 40 lbs. eating addiction is real!! Good luck, the balloon isn’t the answer and a big waste of money.

This is a question I have asked myself also. I see that studies show plant based diets are proven to be very healthy and so, I questioned basing my diet on protein. I now do plant based, low carb, but not keto low and healthy fats. I have gained about 5/6 lbs and seem to stay there as long as I don't add processed foods or sugar to my diet. My blood work #s are excellent. I am experimenting with intermittent fasting 8:16, hoping it will help me drop a few more.

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.

As of today, I am exactly 3 1/2 months post sleeve surgery and have lost 61 pounds!!!! I can't believe it!!! I still feel like I'm fighting for every pound, but I also knew PCOS would do that to me. Still, I'm so so happy that I hit that weight. I know it's going to get tougher the more time that goes by, but the fact that I'm losing and not putting the weight back on is huge!!!! I'm so excited. My next goal is to hit 320 (that will officially put me at a lower weight than I was with keto - even though I lost 100 pounds then, and it'll only be 67 pounds now, because I went into the surgery a lower weight than I was at when I started keto). After that, my next goal is to hit 299 and be under 300 for the first time since 2005.

Hey Guys, I just found this site after a hopeful search looking for someone who has or is going through something similar. I had RNY with a Minimizer Ring on the 18th of February 2020. I am 43 and 5ft 9In. My surgery weight was 296 pounds and I am now 238 pounds. A loss of 58 pounds so far. I had been planning/researching the surgery for 5 years and after my last failed attempt of maintaining, went ahead with surgery with full knowledge of what to expect (well so I thought). For full disclosure, my weight problems I think were based on years of yo-yo dieting. Mainly extreme calorie cutting and exercise to get to normal weight. However, when off the ‘diet wagon’ I would only eat a huge meal once a day after not eating all day and being starving when I got home. Usually meals were very much carb based with heavy sauces. I would eat normally on the weekend, but overly big portion sizes. I am not a sweet tooth or an emotional eater, nor am I a fussy eater. I also loved coke zero, which I have just found out is apparently a trickster. Anyways, I think I ruined my metabolism and losing weight was no longer working like it used to! What I expected: · 5-10 days of a keto kind of flu whilst my body adjusted to fat burning mode · Minimal appetite, but still some kind of signal I needed to eat · Being easily satiated with small amounts of food · Having to chew my food 20-30 times · No water 30 mins before or 60 mins after food · Protein first, avoid simple carbs What I did not expect · Persistent nausea · Aversions to all meat/poultry/fish and eggs (physically make me heave) and other random things (sour cream, mushrooms, pumpkin soup, cheese that has been grilled) · Complete and utter exhaustion to the point where my personal hygiene is embarrassing because sometimes I can’t muster enough energy to have a shower for days · Dumping sometimes trying food for the first time, sometimes after having food that did not make me dump last time (for me it is sweating, heart racing, severe cramps and diarrhoea within 30 mins of eating) · Being so uncomfortably full even if it is just water, or a couple of tiny bites of food. I get less than 1000 calories in a week · That chewing the food so many times would make most foods unpalatable and having to spit it out or throw up · The amount of times I belch, heave and bring up thick saliva……all day…..its disgusting and embarrassing! I had read many stories before the surgery, some positive and some negative and was always quick to judge people thinking they were just negative Nancy’s or hypochondriacs and like attention. So it hard to write this post knowing a lot of people will think what I did. I have had scans with contrasts and there are no issues. I have been hospitalised for dehydration, low potassium and high blood ketones. Ketones are normal due to weigh loss. Dehydration and potassium easily fixed with IV fluid. I have a gastroscope tomorrow morning to check if there is scar tissue etc causing my issues. BUT WHAT IF THEY FIND NOTHING???? WILL THIS BE MY FOREVER??? HAS ANYONE DEALT WITH ANYTHING SIMILAR OR IS IT JUST MY BODY FREAKING OUT AND TAKING LONGER THAN NORMAL TO ADJUST? Thanks if you read this far, it really means a lot. I would love to hear from you. I am open to all feedback. Best, Laura (Alice Springs, Australia)

I cannot take credit for any of the following (I copied and pasted from a few sites...): Ketosis merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. Ketones (also called ketone bodies) are molecules generated during fat metabolism, whether from the fat in the guacamole you just ate or fat you were carrying around your middle. When our bodies are breaking down fat for energy, most of the it gets converted more or less directly to ATP. (Remember high school biology? This is the "energy molecule.") But ketones are also produced as part of the process. When people eat less carbohydrate, their bodies turn to fat for energy, so it makes sense that more ketones are generated. Some of those ketones (acetoacetate and ß-hydroxybutyrate) are used for energy; the heart muscle and kidneys, for example, prefer ketones to glucose. Most cells, including the brain cells, are able to use ketones for at least part of their energy. But there is one type of ketone molecule, called acetone, that cannot be used and is excreted as waste, mostly in the urine and breath. The description of the smell varies, but it is often described as "fruity" or like the smell of apples which are "past their prime" (or even downright rotten). The good news is that keto-breath usually doesn't last forever. Most people find it dies down after a few weeks, or at the most a few months. The reason is unclear, but it seems our bodies adapt in some way. Children on a ketogenic diet for epilepsy have been shown to have less acetone in their breath as time goes on, for example. In the meantime, there are things you can do to minimize the impact of "keto-breath": Drink more water: try 8 glasses per day to see if this helps, and then you can experiment from that point. Natural breath fresheners to try include mint, parsley or other greens, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel seeds. Some people swear by breath capsules, which are usually made from parsley oil (e.g. Mint Assure) for keto-breath. Others find they do not help. sugar-free mints or gum can be tried, but watch the carbs in them. Ammonia Breath from Protein When the body metabolizes protein, ammonia is produced. When people eat high-protein meals, there tends to be increased ammonia in their breath and/or urine. In large amounts, this can smell pretty bad. It's important to remember that we don't need lots and lots of protein in our diets. Our bodies use protein to maintain and build muscles, to make enzymes, and for other structural and chemical needs. The body will convert excess protein to energy, which is where you will get the extra ammonia (this also happens during starvation or long exercise when the body begins to rely on breaking down muscles for energy if it runs out of sources of fats and/or carbohydrates). Find Out How Much Protein Your Body Needs Sometimes people load up on protein because they are afraid to eat more fat. This is one of the reasons why it is rarely a good idea to try to eat a diet that is low in both carbohydrates and fats. The solution to "ammonia breath" for people on a low-carb diet is often to increase fats in the diet, and cut back some on protein foods. Above all, don't let problems with your breath derail you from staying with a diet that is improving your health. Instead, try to figure out the cause of the bad-smelling breath and tackle it. Body Odor There are a number of chemical changes that take place in your body when you're on a low-carb diet, some of which can cause a foul body odor. Ketone bodies have an odd odor to them; they're not unlike fingernail polish remover in their smell. Once you enter ketosis, it's common for others to smell ketone bodies on your breath and in your sweat, which can give you a foul, sickly-sweet odor.

Do you mean 800 calories? This website has a handy calculator that you can customize to figure out where you can set at: https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/