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Does anybody do this 16:8 intermittent fasting? I've been doing it but I don't see why it would make a difference and I don't think it has with me.

i’m so excited! i know compared to others my wait time is basically nothing but boy has all this caused some anxiety. (my insurance requires no supervision visits but i did them anyway) i started this journey December 31st 😁. at times i've felt like i was being pulled in every direction & now here i am. today i'll be doing a lab to make sure i’ve stopped smoking weed..i’ll pass that sh@# with flying colors & boom i'll be sent off.. hoping my approval comes fast ❤️

See I still track my food in an app and I’m only eating 400-500 calories a day and taking my vitamins. For the sake of my healing stomach I wont do anything worse than soft, creamy foods. The rest just seems to be head hunger. Instead of a therapist I’m actually going to start seeing a nutrition counselor who helps other eating disorders, food addiction, etc. so I’m not so obsessive about food... hopefully. At any rate, I will be curious what my doctor says. The most issue I have is that chest pressure if I eat too much or too fast. It’s weird and so uncomfortable. Supposedly it will go away as I heal. I never feel full but also never hungry. It’s that chest pressure that keeps me from having more. Not to mention I only measure out at most 2 oz. for my items. I’m more worried about what the hell i did with my healing muscles. I feel totally normal energy wise and it’s not the incision sites but the deep fascia,muscles or whatever that they cut through and now needs to heal that I’m concerned about. I at least don’t believe I did much more than strain myself too much. Sigh... need time to move faster so I can heal.

Aloha There's a huge thread dedicated to this (Intermittent Fasting) on the board. But I'm just going to be honest with you, its probably the nuts/nut butters. I eat them to maintain my weight so I know first hand that they can easily cause gains because when I stop for a while I lose a few lbs. They need to be measured or there's a huge portion distortion.

you are doing fine. Keep following your program and stay off the scale if you have to! I think people's expectations come from shows like "My 600 lb Life". Yes, those people drop like 30 or 40 lbs the first month, but they also start at 600+ lbs. Starting BMI is a HUGE factor in your rate of weight loss. Most of us "normal" bariatric patients will not lose nearly that fast. At a starting weight of 242 lbs, I would not expect you to lose that fast. You are doing just fine! and yes - almost all of us go through the so-called "three week stall" (doesn't always happen the third week, but it happens SOMETIME during the first six weeks or so post-surgery)

Is squash sugar free? And is your tea unsweetened? Ok well, sounds like you've got all the answers you need. Here's a link to opiodes and how it can affect weight. Wish I could copy/paste my arthritis doc for you. That's where my information comes from and from my n=1 experience with them from my degenerative spine and hip disease. I'm blessed cuz after 155+ lbs of weight loss, I just tuff through my daily pain and no longer have to medicate. Additionally I'm on a cancer drug for life that puts me into deep menopause with COMPLETE hormonal disruption. It causes weight gain in the biggest percentage of people. And yet, somehow I have been able to lose weight in the face of taking. I learned last week I will likely have to stay on it for life. So I'm just gonna try to keep tricking my body and mixing things up. Have you tried Intermittent Fasting? BTW, you haven't mentioned WHAT you eat. WHAT you eat is as important as HOW many times you eat, HOW MUCH you eat. I can do a LOT of caloric damage with a 5inch plate. Just sayin. Maybe you could post a typical day or two of meals? Here's the article: https://blackbearrehab.com/blog/how-opiates-affect-your-eating-habits-and-appetite/

I recently read, and can't find, an article about real longevity as it relates to a restricted calorie diet and how the body naturally thrives on calorie restrictions when the diet is based on nutrient density and whole foods mostly plant and Protein based. Lots of talk about reversing chronic disease and inflammation metabolic syndrome and people living into their 90 and 100s and having health and energy using this method. Primarily low calorie and high nutrition density. Dr Joel Furman has some great books about this. Yes, and I forgot to mention that I have intermittent fasting in my toolbox along with my sleeve and I feel like not only does the IF naturally restrict calories,but the other health benefits might greatly contribute to extending life span

I been doing zumba, Yoga and water aerobics I just started working on weights for my arm I still eat high protein and bearly no carbs, I have changed my whole life style No more fast food no cheating lol Sent from my SM-G973U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was similar to yours - just the day before surgery, with a bowel prep the afternoon before; congratulations - you have found one of the better programs out there. One of the prominent DS docs that I know quite specifically wants his patients as strong and healthy as possible going into surgery, and fasting on one of these diets for weeks ahead of time doesn't do it. It is not unusual for programs to specify a couple weeks of pre-op diet to help "shrink" the liver, as some surgeons may have problems in that area (while others, such as yours, seem to know how to work in that area without that imposition on the patient.) Some go so far as specifying a liquid only diet for a couple of weeks (or more) and I have never found a good explanation of what that is supposed to do (compared to a more conventional low carb diet). I would avoid programs that go that far.

I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I started out way heavier than you. Plus almost everyone has their first stall within the first month after surgery. There are lots of factors that influence your rate of weight loss, and the above poster is right - at 250, you're not going to lose nearly as fast as someone who starts out at 450 lbs. As long as you're seeing a general downward trend, you're fine. P.S. as far as gaining a pound, who knows. Hormones? Constipation? Water retention from some high-sodium meal? Any of those can cause a slight - and temporary - weight gain. As long as you're eating what you're supposed to be eating, your weight will drop again.

So I know what this is from. I have fasted before I ever got the band, and always had this pain when I broke my fast. However now that I have been on a liquid diet for a week (my longest fasts were 24 hours) I have never experienced such intense pain as now. it makes sense that a doctor who never fasted before wouldn’t have heard of this, but everyone in my religious community who fasts knows about this. When banded we are essentially fasting for much longer, hence the pain.

I have read a lot of people crash at 3 years even my own doctor warned me, Guess we will see, At this point i do not see how you can feel so good and healthy and slip back to being miserable and unhealthy? but only time will tell. I have the dang flu right now and it has whipped me, Never been this sick in my life, Can not eat or barely drink Not been a good week so far, It appears to be going away slowly but wow knocked me to the ground fast

So, yesterday was my 6 month gastric surgery anniversary. And Holy Crap. Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the day feeling pretty good. Went to the Cardiologist. He was so happy for my weight loss. He wanted me to lose weight, but didn't know about the VSG. He was impressed with how much weight I lost so fast. He also commented I look great and was shocked I don't look "sickly" at all due to the rapid weight loss like many patients he sees. He was thrilled with my increased physical activity and my plans to hike the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain this summer. (It is a "pilgrimage" where you walk literally across Northern Spain or another route to Santiago de Compostela). We discussed my tachycardia and sometimes low blood pressure. He is having me reduce my dosage to half a pill (YAY!). We discussed my cholesterol and medication for it. I told him of my desire to attempt to go off it for a while to see if I can keep my lipid panel numbers in check without it now that I lost all my excess weight and am eating much healthier. We agreed that I will stay on it for 6 more months and then do labs. If my numbers are good, he will let me go off them and see how my labs hold up. I acknowledged to him that I know if they do go back on them, then I will have to take it for the rest of my life... he was happy with that compromise. On top of all that already great news... I asked him about my EKG which I had already looked at myself (I am a former trauma nurse, I know how to read them). He confirmed what I already knew... my EKG was NORMAL!!! Now this is HUGE because the reason I decided to look into WLS in the first point was because I was worried about my heart. At my appointment with him in fall 2018, my EKG showed that I had an enlarged Left Ventrical for the first time. I had an echocardiogram several months later that confirmed the EKG findings. THIS is the reason I insisted on getting weight loss surgery in the first place. My heart was working too hard and was beginning to enlarge. This was unacceptable. This was my reason to stop "trying" to lose weight and for making sure I "did" lose weight. So here I am... 1 1/2 years after identifying that my heart was enlarging.... and all my excess weight is GONE and my enlarged heart is GONE TOO! OMG, I left the cardiologist office on such a high note, I practically floated home lol. And I called my husband with so much excitement. It was a great day. Until..... During the drive home from my cardiologist I got an e-mail from the radiology office. I saw the e-mail when I stopped to exchange some pants at Old Navy. Some of you may recall I posted recently that my bilirubin levels had been rising since surgery. I normally have a high normal to slightly high bilirubin level. It is something that I have monitored my entire adult life. But since surgery, my bilirubin keeps getting higher. I saw my lab results before my bariatric surgeon did. I printed the results, wrote a note to my regular nurse practitioner, and dropped them off at her office. She called a couple hours later and agreed that we need to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and liver out. I did that Tuesday and was told that the results would not be available until Friday. Except now it is Wednesday, the next day, and I get a text that my results were available online. Again, I saw the results before either my general nurse practitioner or the bariatric surgeon. And what I read was devastating. My liver and gallbladder are just fine (weird... so why is my bilirubin elevated?). But I have a fairly large mass in my Left Kidney! I have a flippin TUMOR in my kidney! And they recommended on my report that I get a CT Scan or an MRI to further assess it. They used 2 terms to describe what kind of mass it appears to be. Both terms used, are the kind of masses that are cancerous 85% of the time. And even if it ISN'T cancer.... the mass is big enough that I know the first line of treatment is either a partial or total nephrectomy. Holy Crap. Add to that, I know that my grandfather wasn't much older than me when he had kidney cancer and had HIS left kidney removed. And I figure out all of this within 5 minutes, because as a Registered Nurse I already know too much. Still... I keep my **** together and calmly (but unnerved) drive home. I get home, I refill my water, I sit for a minute quitely before I call my husband over to talk. He is a Registered Nurse too... and I told him there is a mass on my Kidney and he made the same assessment I did... only he is much more panicked about it than I am. He wants to rush over to the nurse practitioners office NOW. I told him I want to wait a little bit so she can have time to look at the report first. Then I noticed a missed call from her. How I missed it, is beyond me... but she must have called in the 1 - 1 minute dead zone on my way home. What luck. And BTW, she doesn't make patient phone calls normally DURING her work schedule... she calls after she sees all her patients for the day. I know this because that is when she ALWAYS calls me for results. This was unusual for her. I knew she was worried before I even spoke to her. I called back and got a voicemail. (husband still panicking and wanting to rush over). I called a couple more times and got through to her. Instead of waiting for her to slowly break the news... I let her know I just saw the report and I know I had a mass on my kidney and that my liver and gallbladder were fine. This helped speed up her getting to the point... I needed a CT Scan and a referral to a specialist. She was at the same conclusion I was... it is a tumor and there is a good chance it is cancerous. I don't think she was going to say the "C" word yet... but after I mentioned it, she agreed. Now... my referrals always take a week. ALWAYS take a week to get back so I can schedule an appointment. So, I asked my husband if we can go for a walk somewhere. Well THAT was a disaster lol... because I got several calls from the referral lady and within an hour or so of my phone call to the NP about the results... I was running to the radiology office to pick up barium to drink for my CT scan on FRIDAY. Friday. The day I was supposed to be getting these results back, and now I am going in for a CT Scan already. Talk about FAST RESPONSE! The fact that she rushed this so much and managed to get me in to the radiologist office so soon just confirms how worried my NP really is, so that is totally stressful! Still don't know what specialist I will be seeing, but by the time I get that referral I will have results in hand from the scan, so that is good. On the plus side... I already know the rest of my abdominal organs are fine according to the Ultrasound. The CT scan will look more closely at all of it... but I don't have any reason to believe if it IS cancer that it metastasized. But now I have to gear up to drink a ton of barium (um... no clue how I will get this all in... I am only 6 months post op!). And now I have to deal with a tumor that could be cancerous and I might need a kidney partially or completely removed. Chemo is very unlikely, but radiation or other treatments might be needed. And on top of all that I still need an MRI for my L Knee because I might have a torn meniscus that might need surgery and definitely need physical therapy. And I am SUPPOSED to walk across Spain starting May 25th. Yay me. I thought I was THISCLOSE to being healthy again and all this **** happens! And how much you want to bet the Coronavirus hits my city hard right about the same time I need 1-2 more surgeries! Not afraid of the Coronavirus... except my immune system will be already under attack if I need a kidney removed!

Not everyone has nausea or vomiting. Did your doctor give you an estimate of how much weight you would lose in the first few weeks? If so, it is only a guideline. Weight loss is different for everyone and no doubt there are some who lose a lot in the first weeks. At your start weight 10lb is fairly reasonable I would have thought. People tend to stall as they progress through the post op stages, and you may be experiencing this. If you stick to your guidelines the fat will come off, maybe not as fast as some but as fast as your body will allow.

I would suggest working on cutting the soda out since you can't have carbonated drinks after your surgery for a few months (though my surgeon said it's not wise to ever drink it again as it'll re-stretch your stomach, which leads to weight re-gain). My surgeon didn't require me to lose any weight before my surgery but I lost 64 pounds in the 8 months leading up to my surgery (21 in the first 3 months). I did an elimination diet thing since I had to wait a minimum of 6 months before they could even seek approval for a surgery date because I wanted to prepare myself for how I would be eating for the rest of my life. I don't want to get back into bad habits. I never want to get back to being almost 400 pounds (at my heaviest I was 389 pounds). I cut back on my portion sizes with no seconds. Of course cut out fast food (other than salads). I cut out soda, then rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, and beans in that order. And then just maintained. Cauliflower rice is a good rice replacement and G Hughes makes a sugar free terriyaki sauce that makes for good stir fry (also makes an awesome bbq sauce which is also sugar free and great for chicken). Cauliflower pizza is surprisingly good and really the only difference I notice is that it doesn't crisp like bread. Whisps are a brand of cheese crisps they sell at Walmart which make for good croutons or chips and are low carb and delicious (Asiago and pepper jack cheese ones are my person faves followed by parm and then cheddar, though the cheddar are best dipped in salsa). And if ice cream is hard to give up they sell a low carb brand called CarbSmart which is made by Breyers. I also had 1/4 cup of peanuts 2-3x a week for snack. These are just what I did. Everyone's bodies work differently so I don't know what will work for you. I wish you the best though!

I was told I lost too much too fast in a month I was in my 30% of my loss , and I am still losing it will be a year this month and I lost 76LB so I think it depends on your body Sent from my SM-G973U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was yesterday, March 3. I’m on my way home from the hospital now. (A two hour drive) It was pretty easy for me to be honest. A little pain when I woke up and a little nausea here and there, but no dry heaving. Started walking within a few hours. Incision sites are a bit sore and if I turn a certain way or stand up too fast it’s uncomfortable. No trouble getting water in.

Everytime I eat I feel sick and nauseous.. then I try to throw up and it’s just phlegm, plus I have acid reflux.. is i.t becaise I’m eating fast or not chewing longer ?!?

I think I was conditioned into being a slow eater during weight loss phase. If I ate too fast, my chest and throat would hurt/burn and feel like it was going to explode. And I prefer NOT to feel like that way, so I learned quickly. I'm a 1yr, 4mnths out and I naturally eat (very) slowly now....I don't even have to think about it anymore. Its my new normal.

I do the 16 hour fast now

Dang! Gina! You look awesome sauce! Ok, does it make me a voyeur cuz I just most of the time passively receive hours of viewing pleasure and grins and giggles from this thread and am having trouble having time to reply? It moves as fast as #fillintheblank!!!

I actually was shocked with the insurance, it’s not through our regular health plan, its like an add-on that my husbands company has. Every procedure they cover is based on The Dr’s recommendation and not insurance guidelines. The only requirement is our deductible has to be met. It’s really a nice benefit. I was supposed to see Dr. Gorjala but he only sees patients on certain days. I was nervous about Dr. Lytle but ended up completely at ease. A little back story, I did not want the surgery, but all of my local doctors said I needed it. My BMI was only 32 I weighed 188 and am 5’0” and had been on weight watchers after a botched hysterectomy. I had gotten up to 201. I developed a large incisional hernia and no one would fix it until I was down to my ideal weight and weight watchers and gym was not doing it fast enough. My regular insurance would not cover it because my BMI was to low, I was only borderline diabetic, and no cardiac issues or high blood pressure. I was going to file a complaint with the health insurance and our insurance advocate told me about the program. Dr. Lytle reviewed my medical records and had to convince me that my local Drs were right and that I needed to have this surgery to get the hernia fixed. I just met with a local surgeon for the hernia, through the same program and found out how bad things really are, but because I had the surgery I can be fixed. All of my large and small intestines are outside of where they are supposed to be and I have no stomach wall so they need to rebuild it. I will lose my belly button. I live in Central Florida half way between Daytona and Orlando. My next surgery will be in Orlando at ORMC. Atlanta is huge and I do not miss driving around there. Thankfully we were staying in Sandy Springs around the corner from the hospital. We did travel to Centennial Park when we were there for consult. The traffic is horrible there so I can understand your concern. Lol. I want to wish you luck with everything. It sounds like you have been through a lot yourself. I know everyone at Bariatric Innovations will take great care of you! The trip was well worth it. I wanted Dr. Lytle to fix my hernia also and he agreed to do it, but I needed to consult with a local surgeon first. If it wasn’t so far I would have gone with Dr Lytle but because of the seriousness of the hernia I decided to go with a local surgeon to avoid all the traveling.

Pretty much at this point the only thing that would probably stop me from losing still is steroids. Which i obviously dont want to do. Unfortunately it pretty much comes down to calories in for us. Right now i just cant get enough in to really build. BUT i know this is part of my journey. Another hump to get over. But i also dont want to fast forward to when i can eat MORE again. Im just taking this time to learn and prepare for when that time does come! Your situation is tough because you just had the revision and dont have anymore left to lose. I would definitely talk to your nutritionist on how to get those extra cals in.

Jake said it we all have been stalled, Mix up your eating a little and do a 12 hour fast - Stop worrying about the per pound loss, this is a journey and your body is fighting back trying to stop the weight lose, stay on plan and you will win

For better or worse, I never got the slow eating down. I still eat too fast. I have a sleeve. I could eat normally, just smaller amounts, after about four months.