Search the Community

What is the rum cake recipe? I usually make rum balls for a christmas cookie but I've never made a rum cake. Keto too would be awesome! Sorry about the foamies though. I don't think I've had that yet. I do get the burps if I eat too fast or too much though. I wish my pouch was as small as yours though, I eat 4 to 6 oz per meal.

Does anyone else still have foods that they can't eat well? I'm so sad that chicken and apparently turkey are still an issue for me. I can eat the deli version of them so it makes no sense to me and its frustrating. I also am having a slight issue with clementines/halos. Its my newest favorite snack, which of course usually changes weekly. I eat about 2 or 3 of them in a sitting, they are about 2 inches across so smaller then usual. I eat them little section by section so I don't think I'm eating them too fast but I get a burning like stomach acid. I have the bypass so I don't think its the acid from me but maybe the halos are too acidic for my new stomach? I take a tums and it goes away and no other issues, so of course I still eat them lol. I hope I'm not being stupid and hurting myself though.

Not even sips but it's natural from the beginning. Meaning that physically in the beginning, you'll eat so little that any additional water will make you feel uncomfortable anyway. Before you know it, it becomes habit. It still makes me so uncomfortable that even now I wait over an hour after I eat before drinking anything. I understand your concerns about vitamins too. If you hate swallowing pills, many of us have been using patches successfully. You'll have to see what works best for you. In the end, the weightloss will be worth with it and you will see how very little you eat, and will want to keep your body healthy by taking supplements. For months, I ate less than 800 calories. Even years later, many of us still do not eat enough to be well nourished. I totally get the fast food with our significant others as a bond but it is totally doable. My mister doesn't care what I order but I think he feels more comfortable as long as I order something. So let's say Taco bell ... I order a side of black beans with onions (50 cal). I don't think it is what I eat but that I have a meal with him regardless what it is. IF he ever insisted on me eating what I used to eat, then there is something really wrong with the relationship in the first place.

Hello, I have a consultation for VSG surgery but I am nervous about how serious this procedure is and some lifestyle changes that will come with this. Weird things concern me more than the surgery itself like not being able to drink water with my food. That sounds extremely hard to me. I love water, especially when I eat. Would I be able to just take a tiny sip of water with meals? Taking vitamins daily for life also bothers me but I am coming to terms with this. My last fear is the fear of regain. I struggle with restrictions with food and fear I will over eat or turn back to my old ways that got me to the 280 lbs ( 5ft 8 in) that I am today. My husband loves to eat late and eat fast food. Eating food together is how we enjoy ourselves and I fear I won't have support when I change my eating habits. I guess I need some encouragement from you guys. Thanks. Sent from my SM-N970U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I understand the AUC Glucose/Blood Level curve Integral (area under curve) is used to calculate the Glycemic Index of certain foods. I have a question on why two sample foods with the same mass of carbohydrates can have different AUC Integrals or Glycemic Indices. I have some possible theories and would appreciate guidance. To be clear on definitions, the Glycemic Index is calculated using the relative rise of a blood glucose level two hours after consuming a food and it is the integral of (area under) a 2 hours glucose/blood response curve, following a 12 hour fast and ingestion of a sample food with 50 g of carbohydrates. The Index is calculated specifically using the ratio of a blood glucose AUC integral, ignoring the area below the fasting baseline (start of curve rise), for some carbohydrate source and a reference source. The reference source is usually either glucose or white bread. The trapezoidal rule is typically used to calculate the integral, although any method can be used. The Glycemic scale places pure Glucose at 100. The index is calculated using a ratio of two integrals using this formula: (SAMPLE_FOOD mmol/L * time)/(REFERENCE_FOOD mmol/L * time) * 100. Where I'm confused is that two sample foods with 50 g of carbohydrates should have the same energy in calories, typically 200 kcal (4 kcal/g carb). I see the integral of the AUC curves for different foods can be different, indicating different glucose/blood level changes for each food over the two hour window. This makes me think, the foods have the same energy content, but are changing the body's blood glucose levels differently, resulting in different curves and Glycemic Indices. I first questioned whether the reason for this was that part of a food's curve lied outside the 2-hour window, raising the Glycemic Index slower than another food. I also read that the glucose levels will change differently depending on the type of carbohydrate, and some form of carbohydrates are even impossible for the body to digest and are either digested by bacteria in the gut or simply excreted in the feces, which would resulting in a lower glucose/blood level rise. Therefore I have open questions on the AUC curve and Glycemic Index: are these numbers different between the same sample size of 50 g of carbohydrates due to differing blood glucose levels, yet the same energy delivered to the body (perhaps in another form other then rising glucose)? Are the levels different due to differences in the body's digestion of the food? Or, is part of the glucose/blood integral of some lower Glycemic Index foods passing beyond the 2-hour window of measurement, which would cause a smaller integral and lower Glycemic Index?

I would consider a few things in the following order: (1) check to ensure your band is in the green zone (2) ensure you are eating to maximize the effect of the band to control portions and appetite (3) highlight and recognise the core things in your lifestyle that may need to be looked at, such as non hungry eating, food types, fasting, activity levels, stress levels Hope that helps as a start

Wow, next you see her say, "are you okay, looks like those bags under your eye are growing fast you have to be careful at your age." Do let people pee on you and call it rain! Bully back!!!! Sent from my SM-G996U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Have you ever lost 21 lbs in just over a month? You're absolutely on track. My surgery was also on October 17th. I've lost around 27 lbs. 5'6- starting weight was 227 day of surgery. The absolute worst thing you can. Do to yourself is compare your journey to others. This surgery isn't a quick fix. You will have slow loss some months and seemingly easy months with fast loss. Trust the process. Don't get frustrated abd just focus on what you can control. Nutrition and water. Everything else will follow.

I am absolutely the same. I was too scared to even try anything during the liquid phase but when I got to pureed phase I tried chicken noodle soup at an outing with no way to puree. I was able to keep it down. I have had no trouble with eating anything. I am only 5 weeks out and still not eating anything too heavy, too hard, or sugary at all but I was absolutely convinced the doc forgot to actually remove the stomach. Had it not been for the decrease in appetite and the filling full quickly I would have argued him on it, lol. I am able to drink water like normal. If I drink protein shakes too quickly, like I often do when at work, I find I get just slightly nauseous, but it passes in like 15 minutes. I have hit a MAJOR weight loss stall though. I fear this may be part of the reason, I have done too much too fast. That being said, all the research I have done says you cannot stretch your stomach this soon after surgery and a weight loss stall early on is not uncommon. For now, I plan to keep doing what feels right and see how it goes! Thank you for your honest post, I was scared to admit I was moving faster along than prescribed!!

I track, but I only track to ensure I hit my protein. I had surgery to break the cycle of dieting, and counting calories and carbs and all that just perpetuates the cycle. I would suggest before you start, have a conversation with your team. Its very likely that they didn't give you macros because they don't want you tracking and obsession over them. Protein is really your only hard and fast "goal" and the rest is far less important, especially this early out.

That was my first thought too. Lock your food down so she doesn't get into it. Also, you and your husband lay down those firm boundaries, and hold firm. Let her freak out, and just ignore her when she acts up. Treat her like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum. I get it about not throwing her out. I have helped many in a situation who needed a place, especially relatives. It gets annoying fast. She is over the top so that's why locking your food down and other drastic measures are needed so you can stay on track. Good luck. We're rooting for you.

I'm 4 weeks and 2 days post op. I'm down 18 pounds since surgery. My clothes are also looser and I really love it, too. My weight loss was happening really fast, in the first couple of weeks and it was kind of scaring me. Thankfully, it has slowed down. I start soft foods, today. So far, I haven't had any problems with getting in enough protein and water. My hunger is really starting to return. So I've had to start eating food more often. I was eating 3 times a day, now I'm up to 5. I've cut down my use of protein shakes to 1 or 2 per day. I was drinking 3, before. I'm typically getting anywhere from 600-900 calories per day. I was cleared for exercise, so I've been doing slow walks on my elliptical - 15 minutes a day and keeping it under 7 miles per hour. I'm trying real hard not to overdo it. My incisions are healing. I have one that was bigger than the others and it's being a little slow to close up. I still have some bruising. I'm still fairly sore. But, if I sneeze now, I don't feel like I'm going to die. So that's progress.

It brings to mind the time when I met my stepfather's mom. She kind of was like mean Maxine from the Hallmark cards and just blurted out the first thing that she thought of. I was 30 pounds heavier at the time and she said "aren't you a plump little thing". I was more amused than offended. Fast forward 3 months later and I've lost those 30 pounds...what does she say now? "weren't you fatter?" I heard my stepfather tell her to apologize, but she just mumbled something under her breath.

Hello everyone. I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself. I found this forum a few days ago and have enjoyed reading the posts. I am a 40 year old female and had my surgery on 10/24. My starting weight when I first started the pre op liquid diet was 215. I was 204 the day of my surgery. I’m just a bit over the 3 week mark and I’m down to 191. The past week or so the scale hasn’t moved much. I was a bit confused at first since I know I’m not consuming more than 5-600 calories a day but then I started reading about the stalls in the week 2-3 range and realized it’s normal as my body needs time to heal and get my water level back up. So I’m trying not to stress over the scale. It’s crazy because in my diet days I would have been thrilled at a 13 pound loss in 3 weeks, but after surgery I’m like “is that all?!” But I’m trusting the process. I also know that I’m starting out at a lower BMI then most people that have this surgery so I’m probably not going to have these massive losses. The surgery itself was pretty smooth. I work nights so I got off work at 5am, took a quick shower and went to the hospital at 6:30am to start the procedure. Needless to say after surgery I slept for most the day lol. I was a bit sore and nauseous when I woke up but they were good about giving me meds. By the second day I didn’t have as much pain but the nausea was still there. The most annoying part was I had to pee every hour thanks to all the fluids they pumped through my IV. So I constantly had to call for a nurse to unhook me and help me up and into the bathroom. The only other hard part was my vision. No one warned me that a side effect of the nausea patch they put behind my ear effects your vision. It kind of freaked me out because I couldn’t read my cell phone screen at all. It was just a big blur. I finally asked the nurse and she explained the issue. Before I left the hospital I asked them to remove the patch. It took another 2 days before my vision was fully restored. So that was a challenge. Not only could I not read my phone but I couldn’t read the prescription bottles either. Had to rely on my family to tell me which pills were which and when to take them. Otherwise the experience wasn’t terrible. Otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. The weird gurgling every time I eat is a bit annoying. It doesn’t hurt exactly but it’s still not comfortable. At first I thought maybe I was eating too fast, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve learned through this forum that it’s pretty common. What else….. oh vitamins! The chewable ones were gross so I switched to the chewy ones. They’re not terrible but not great either. I’m looking forward to when I can just switch to capsule vitamins. I have officially dropped a pants size so that’s nice. I have a range of clothes from size 16-10 from all my yo yo dieting phases so I at least have options while I’m losing. Today I’m in the 14s and packed up my 16s to donate. If I get smaller than the 10s I’ll be planning a shopping trip. I really enjoy this forum. The only people that know I had the surgery was my wife and my best friend. I didn’t tell the rest of my family or coworkers. So having a safe place to talk about my experience and compare stories has been nice.

I am amazed that i made it to day three of the pre op. I gave away most of the food in the house but today i saw some salami, cheese and ham i missed. I thriew it away really fast adn poured some water on it. This may seem small and silly but it made my day. I don't why today i have felt really hungry, i still have two protein shakes to go though and can broth. I have drank a ton of water. I am hoping this is the worst of the hunger days because day one and two i wasn't hungry at all.

I'm 5 weeks post-op and need to actively practice slowing down my bites. Sometimes I forget I have a sleeve- I'll take too many "quick" bites and it makes my stomach feel like I swallowed a brick. I've been getting way too full way too fast because of it.

I had recently bought slim fast and I didn't know Amazon has all the stuff I need before my wieghtloss surgery. Slim fast isn't something that helps so I gave them to my sister.on Amazon I found the protein 2 o waters because my adopted sister is going through the same kind of thing only I think hers is the sleeve. I am so excited to be going through this journey because I waited 20 years for something to happen like this. I was once very skinny when I was a kid due to lots of health problems especially diabetes I gained alot of weight always hunger thirsty etc..I'm still training my brain to say no on certain things. It def works so far. I lost around 50 pounds since last year or was it forty pounds and I'm trying my best to loose it the diets working that im on I eat more veggies rather then candy. What are your thoughts on sugar free candy I think there are additives in it I cut those out as well.

I had the Loop DS/Sadi-S surgery. I actually take less vitamins then the average person for my surgery... I take 1 multivitamin with iron and 1 (one a day) multivitamin without iron, two calcium citrate, and every other day 1 vitamin A. If you do for some reason decide to have the Loop DS/Sadi-S I recommend a probiotic every day (it helps your stomach so much and I swear by them). Either surgery has malabsorption and what they don't tell you is that ANY surgery with malabsorption (RNY, DS, Loop DS) has a 3% chance of giving you either a wheat allergy or full on Celiac Disease. I have terrible luck and ended up with the wheat allergy, but honestly? It's been a blessing in disguise as I quite literally can't eat fast food and any restaurants I go to are very, very, VERY limited because they have to full on either be a gluten free restaurant, Celiac friendly, or a restaurant that deals very carefully with food allergies. I have two conditions that cause acid reflux issues (not GERD. One is an autoimmune disorder and the other is an immunological condition) and my acid issues were actually improved for a good two years before going basically back to normal (no better or worse). I recommend going with your gut. If you've decided on RNY then go for it. It's YOUR body and YOUR choice in the end. You are the one that has to live your life, not your doctor so go with whatever choice makes you happiest.

Hey August Buddies! I finally broke through my last stall - I hovered at 203 forever... but it finally broke through with more exercise. I have been doing a regular regimen for my hair and **knock-on-wood** it's working. So I wanted to share with you what I'm doing. 1. Daily take high-quality grass-fed collagen in my water. This is what I currently use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074T8HKGF It has no flavor and dissolves great! 2. Collagen works best with a REAL FOOD vitamin C. It helps the body absorb and utilize collagen better. Not just a regular Vitamin C Ascorbic acid. Here is the link to what I use, and I swear by it. Here is the link: https://shop.drberg.com/vitamin-c-complex 3. I take 2 supplements a day of Dr. Bergs hair supplements. Here is the link: https://shop.drberg.com/hair-formula-capsules 4. Three times a week I massage my head to bring blood flow to the roots of my hair. Even pull and tug on my hair to give it circulation. 5. I use Morrocan oil on my hair after a shower. I try to only wash my hair twice a week to help keep its moisture. So overall, I am trying to hydrate from the inside and from the outside, and so far it's working!! I've seen a little increase in hair loss, but nothing compared to when I was on Keto full-time. I'm also doing intermittent fasting for 16:8. I eat for 8 hours a day and then I'm done for 16. It really helped me get over my stall too. Hope this helps!

because I like to over share sometimes (lol) and just give people a window into a true reality of a very large persons journey struggling with bad habits, eating disorder, anxiety depression etc….… I have decided to show a general weight progression for my weight loss journey so far….it has been far from drops all the time, even when I was doing the right thing! My high weight was July 2021 when I tipped the scales at 456. I am starting the rest of my story in January 2022. I was taking Ryselbus for a bit and was back down to 440. It was at this time that I doubled down to start doing the mental work on my stress eating, emotional eating, binge eating and other disordered eating which had gotten me pretty immobile and huge. During feb, march and April I avoided the scale, focusing on my relationship with food, the triggers contained in my relationship with other people who had made me turn to binging and life in general. Also in some changes in portion size and being able to stop when full (which was hard for me) but April 24th I stepped on the scale and was 426. I felt like I had made progress on me for the first time in a long time. May 8th I was gradually down to 421, then my body did the first drop on may 9th (which I have learned is normal pattern for me) to 414.6 I went up about two pounds and down about two pounds for another couple weeks until finally dropping so to 405.6 May 27th. June I really worked hard on dealing with fast food addiction and some very deep emotional hurts along with work stress and financial stress. My weight varied from 412.6 down (yep, gained!) to 403 at the end of the month. I was gaining, I was loosing, I was struggling to eat better and not loose my head to anxiety and other emotions. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost. The whole month tracks up and down and up and down until I started to find my way towards the end of the month and the struggle became easier. June 30th saw my surgeon for first consult. I was 403.2 that morning on my scale July 4th I celebrated my own independence by leaving 400s with 399.6… I had started doing a lot of portion control and making healthier choices. Had nearly eliminated fast food. You would think I would be on a better path, but no, my body was still going to frustrate me. Even though I was eating a consistent diet, my weight decided to go on a joy ride and spiked back past 400 to 411.8. I was devastated and disheartened. How could I gain when my calories were in control and I was not eating much junk??? Emotionally I struggled and dug deeper into my past, my present and what I wanted for my future. I made some emotional breakthroughs and slowly the scale slid down, leaving the month at 396.4 Then August 3rd, 399.9 lbs, my nutritionist appt where I got my surgical guidelines and it threw me for a loop. I was told three weeks of either 1) 4 protein shakes a day and a light meal of lean protein and steamed veggies or 2) 50 total carbs a day….. that morning I had what I thought of a healthy smoothie breakfast with split pea (protein/fiber), berries and a banana with ice… I did the math on the carbs. It was 108 for my breakfast… could I do this?? with my struggles with disordered eating I knew I needed baby steps to get used to anything. Carb counting seemed to give me more variety and feeling of control. I started tracking all foods and reducing my cab count throughout Aug….. a miracle happened to my body as my mind relaxed with the guidelines given to me. The weight fluctuated, but trended truly down. I ended august at 376.3 by September I was (mostly) living with 50 carbs a day.. reading all labels and looking up food, paying attention to portion. Funny thing is my calories only dropped about 200 from my pre carb counting diet, but I was even more stringent with what I would consume… I was ready for my surgery when my surgeon was finally able to schedule ! By making my new habits my new normal, I was down to 365.6 at the end of September. A few hiccups delayed my surgery scheduling (mostly an uncommon complicated insurance issue ) but I kept moving with my new normal… I finally got my date of Nov 3rd, so October was go time. The time to double down and follow things to a T so I could be in the best shape for surgery. My body wasn’t as cooperative even with me doing right as I hoped, but with perseverance I dropped more weight. During the last week in October with changing nothing I went from 362 to 353. My body just finally released the weight… surgery day 351.4 ! Will do a post op so far in a bit…

Yeah. I think so too . Definitely not anything you did. Hoping for a fast recovery for you.

I have United healthcare. From my initial apt to my actual surgery was three months. But that is because:1. I did every pre opp thing super fast 2. My BMI was 44 and 3. My program was fully covered because I had maxed out of pocket already.

Surgery we’d I got my water and protein 64 /80 first day . Maybe to fast been totally full uuable to take anything in all day no gas and sick to my stomach all day. How long before first bowel movements

Yeah, I was always a nighttime snacker. Now I use it to my advantage, I suppose. I save some of my calories/protein allotment for nighttime. I have yogurt or a proffee at night usually and sometimes I have fruit, it just depends on what I'm feeling that night. I think I consume more protein/calories than most do because I'm extremely active at the gym. Five days of cardio/strength, plus long trail rides on Saturdays. So snacking is fine for me as long as it's decent foods. What kind of snacks are you having? You say you feel like you can take in more during snacks than during meals? It's probably dependent upon the types of foods that you're eating. If you're having solid proteins like chicken, fish, etc during meals, they're more filling and fill you up fast. A lot of "snack foods" ie: chips, cookies, nuts, etc are slider foods so they slide right through your pouch, and you can consume more of those than protein dense foods.

Bread still fills me up super fast so I only pulled the "bare" spots off to start which happens to be the crust and outer areas. I was actually surprised I finished that much of the bread, usually I take 1 or 2 bites and then just eat the insides. Or, just skip the bread all together. But sometimes, you just want a sandwich! PS: I like crusty breads better myself also!