Confusing post op info!!

[itscometothis 12]

I am rather irritated about the post-op diet plan because quite frankly there are 50 different planS!! I can't read mine like it is the bible when I have seen soooo many different ones. Some say three meals a day and to only have Protein Drinks for Snacks. Some say 6 small meals.. some say only three meals and NO grazing! Grazing is the devil!! lol I can't see how eating little bits throughout the day could ever be bad. Some people say to write everything down and track your calories... but I don't want to bother with that.. that is why I had the surgery so I didn't have to do that anymore. The point was to have freedom from the diet grind, not be hyper-vigilent about food. Blech. No thanks.

I guess I will just have to see what works for me.

It would have been nice to see that we all have a very similar diet. It would make me feel like the post op diet was based on science and fact rather than surgeon opinion.

That will be all...lol

[Shoppingbeemom 31]

I want to know too

[Disney 20]

You definitely will have to just do what works for you. The only thing is to follow Dr's orders right after surgery about eating, etc. After you can eat more and easily, you can find what works for you, plan wise. I don't track at all, I don't count carbs or calories and I eat when I feel like eating something. Listen, you can eat so little, even when you are years out (from what I have read), it is not gonna hurt you to eat several meals a day. I mean, not big meals, but if you eat the same amount of calories in 3 meals or 6, what is the difference? I have been told by my nutritionist that several smaller meals is better for your blood sugar than 3 bigger meals because keeping the blood sugar steady is key or may cause cravings. The thing with me was, I couldn't eat enough Protein in 3 meals. Just remember to try and get your protein in first with all those little meals.

It's working for me. I have been plugging right along with losing, but everyone is different. Again, your Dr's plan must be followed in the beginning. Better safe than sorry. Good luck!

[kellyw74 258]

You have to do what your dr. says about your eating to make sure you don't hurt yourself in the begining.

My plan says 3 meals a day and no snacking. I have to snack because I can not eat enough at one time to get enough calories in a day. I only get 3-400 calories a day if I don't snack, then I won't lose weight. WEIRD!

So, I go against my dr.'s orders and I snack. LOL Not, on bad stuff, just more Protein and veggies to bring the count up and compensate for my exercise and stuff.

It works for me! Do what works for you!

Kelly

[Tiffykins 673]

For me, my issues, and my goals, I had to change some behaviors. It's a nice thought process that eating small amounts throughout the day will work forever, but your stomach capacity will change. I can easily consume way more calories today than I could say at 2-5 months. Actually, I can and do consume triple the amounts of calories I ate during my losing stage. Mainly, it's because of the pregnancy, but I can eat way more than I could early out. It happens. Most people who are 2-4 years out report the same issues. We can eat more, but that doesn't mean we should. I can tell you that snacking and grazing is dangerous especially in maintenance. Losing was easy, keeping it off, staying in maintenance is not as easy as just eating small portions. If that were the case, none of us would have had to have 85% of our stomachs removed. Certain foods that just didn't work early out, essentially just slide right on through my stomach and allow me to eat way more than I should be eating.

So, for me, I stuck with what my surgeon prescribed for me during my losing stage and then tweaked my maintenance intake to ensure that I was able to keep the weight off without dieting. I promise I do not diet nor deprive myself of any foods in maintenance, but I sure do not need or want to pick up the bad habits that helped me reach my surgery day weight. I ate 4 meals a day (each meal consisted of 15gr of Protein per meal and this gave me the necessary Protein grams per day, it isn't "that" hard to eat enough protein), no Snacks, didn't use protein drinks/shakes, and it worked for me. I continue the same program in maintenance for the most part. As for the pregnancy stuff, I have to snack to eat 1700-1800 calories a day. I have horrific head hunger and cravings that I never dealt with when I had a set meal plan and schedule.

There are plenty of sleeve patients out here who report a real gain of 40-60lbs because of habits/behaviors were never addressed, and life takes over, and BAM here they are back to real dieting trying to get back to their goal weight all while battling the mental/emotional aspect of weight regain and trying to lose it again. Those stories are what made me realize it "just winging it" wasn't going to work for me until I changed some behaviors with food.

We all have issues with food, and no 2 patients will be the exact same, but I do know what I was trying to do before surgery didn't work, and I wasn't willing to just "do it my way" to see if it would work. That didn't work in the past. I wasn't naive enough to believe it work now.

Plus, I never really felt like I was dieting in my losing stage. I just didn't have much room for anything else other than protein. I was satisfied on my small meals, and that kept me on track. So, getting out of "diet mode" is again nice in theory, but long term, we still have to be mindful of what/how much we eat for the rest of our lives. I surely do not know one single 30something year old naturally skinny woman that can just eat whatever and how much of those foods that she wants without seeing some weight gain. All of my naturally skinny girlfriends are not constantly dieting, but they do not have issues with food, and quantity. It's a fine line between not dieting and intuitive eating. I've had a true gain, it was scary, but I know what caused it and resolved the issues. I agree that it's confusing, and you have to do what works best for you, but realize that if you are not getting the results you want from your way of doing it, don't be afraid to change it up and go on the prescribed post-op losing plan from your surgeon.

[Veda 12]

Great topic!

Tiffykins, what you say makes so much sense to me - thank you for taking the time to respond!

I've been wondering if people end up tracking what they eat, going on diets, and focusing so much on food post op, then why have the sleeve. This is not meant as a critical comment, but a sincere question. I just had my initial consult and the surgeon said that I will HAVE to exercise and completely change my eating habits if I want to lose 75 of the 90 extra pounds I've gained over the past 7 years. I think, why can't I just do WW one more time?

I'm so sick of feeling like a failure now when most of my life I have been thin. People used to tell me that I was lucky to be "naturally" thin. Some would say that I couldn't possibly understand what they were going through trying to lose weight. In reality, I was a fat person in a thin body because I watched, like a hawk, every single thing I ate or drank. I remember one day thinking that I was not going to do it anymore and that is the day I began a long, 7 year, journey to get to where I'm now at - excited to get surgery to help me gain some control back. But, does it do that?

Does the honeymoon phase help people lose the weight faster, but then all the typical weight loss efforts are still a reality after the first post opp surgery year is over? Or, does the sleeve help people keep from gaining it all back? Is it more difficult to gain the weight back or is it pretty much the same as pre-op?

I feel like I'm missing this piece of information and need more input on this so that I can have peace of mind about my decision. I would sure appreciate feedback on this!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

The sleeve will help you with your portion sizes once you get into maintenance.

If you graze, you will gain weight. You can snack on things all day long,

every few hours.

So to answer your question, yes, the sleeve will help you not to gain it all back. You have to do your part too though, because eating Cookies, chips, etc will cause you to gain a lot of weight back. Those things go down like there is no sleeve after awhile.

[Tiffykins 673]

Great topic!

Tiffykins, what you say makes so much sense to me - thank you for taking the time to respond!

I've been wondering if people end up tracking what they eat, going on diets, and focusing so much on food post op, then why have the sleeve. This is not meant as a critical comment, but a sincere question. I just had my initial consult and the surgeon said that I will HAVE to exercise and completely change my eating habits if I want to lose 75 of the 90 extra pounds I've gained over the past 7 years. I think, why can't I just do WW one more time?

I'm so sick of feeling like a failure now when most of my life I have been thin. People used to tell me that I was lucky to be "naturally" thin. Some would say that I couldn't possibly understand what they were going through trying to lose weight. In reality, I was a fat person in a thin body because I watched, like a hawk, every single thing I ate or drank. I remember one day thinking that I was not going to do it anymore and that is the day I began a long, 7 year, journey to get to where I'm now at - excited to get surgery to help me gain some control back. But, does it do that?

Does the honeymoon phase help people lose the weight faster, but then all the typical weight loss efforts are still a reality after the first post opp surgery year is over? Or, does the sleeve help people keep from gaining it all back? Is it more difficult to gain the weight back or is it pretty much the same as pre-op?

I feel like I'm missing this piece of information and need more input on this so that I can have peace of mind about my decision. I would sure appreciate feedback on this!

The sleeve really does help keep portions in control. I promise I did not diet during my maintenance time, but I was conscious of my food choices. I eat anything and everything I want. Grant it, about 85-90% of the time I still eat Protein first, but I enjoy all foods. I drink soda, alcohol(not in pregnancy), enjoy a lot of social gatherings which revolve around food. So, I do feel I live a pretty normal little life with food. BUT, I put in the work early out when really didn't have room for a lot of other foods. I remember even getting into maintenance, and being perfectly content with a few chips/crackers. Now, I can sit around mindlessly eat an entire "Big Grab" (those 99cent) bags of Funyuns.or half a sleeve of crackers without restriction. Those are the habits that I was talking about in my first reply. The sleeve really does help us not gain the weight back, but the sleeve doesn't stop ice cream, Cookies, carby/fat/fried foods from sliding right through. None of the WLS options stop carbs and sliders. So, we still have to be mindful and diligent in our food choices.

My weight gain was over the holiday season last year. From Halloween to New Years, we attended a bunch of parties, social events, get togethers, etc etc and they all involved alcohol in copious amounts, party foods, Snacks. Seriously, every other weekend, I had somewhere to be and had food and booze in hand. Over those 3 months, I had a solid 7lb gain. I saw the scale gradually go up, and thought "oh it's Water weight from the booze". Low and behold, the new year came and those pounds were still there. I went back to just my normal eating habits, not dieting, just Protein first for my meals, and I dropped those pounds in a little over a week. I admittedly hate working out. It's no different than scrubbing toilets. I could probably have more laxity in my food intake if I worked out more. However, I don't want to work out, I don't want to go to a gym, I really just hate exercising. That is a big part of my pregnancy weight gain. I'm eating 1700-1800( about 400-500 more calories than what I ate in maintenance) calories a day with a minimum of 100-200gr of carbs, and 80-100gr of protein per day. The sweet/junk food cravings are unbelievably difficult to fight at this point. I've never dealt with this level of head hunger, or cravings in my life. So, I know that it's pregnancy, and the fact that my eating habits have changed in pregnancy.

The lack of physical hunger really is my #1 contributor to my success. I know my sleeve limits, I also know how to cheat the sleeve so it is still all on me to make the best decision on what goes in my mouth for every meal, every day. I can still go several hours without eating. I still never get a stomach growl, or any physical sign that I need to eat. But, I can eat every hour on the hour if I choose. That's the part that is very hard to overcome for me. I know I can eat a meal, and then an hour later I can wander into the pantry and eat more. I wanted to just put it out there that losing was easy, and maintenance is where I (and many others) struggle. That was my issue before surgery as well. I could lose on WW, or any other "diet attempt", but life would happen and I'd gain back what I lost and then some. For me, the most successful sleeve patients out there are the ones who made major behavioral modifications, and really adhered to a solid plan post-op. I have read 100s of topics from people who experience several stalls, slow weight loss, and/or their weight loss comes to a complete halt because they think that the sleeve will do all the work. Sadly, those same patients post how they don't want to diet, how they want normalcy. Well, I hate to say it, but most of us are NOT normal. If we were, none of us would have sought surgical intervention. Pretty much if you are diligent with food choices, and allow indulgences in moderation, the sleeve works. I can still suck down a milkshake, or eat an ice cream without issue. I really do live by the mantra of "just because I can; doesn't mean I should". It's not always easy, but the sleeve helps tremendously.

[itscometothis 12]

Thank you all SO much for responding with such good information and your own experience What a great bunch of people!

I am going to follow my plan. I am a regular exerciser so that will always be my ally in the fight.

Hugs to you all!

[Veda 12]

:dance: Tiffykins,

I now get it! Thank you. Your responses have helped me understand more about the sleeve as they are thorough. This is what I needed.

The sleeve really does help keep portions in control. I promise I did not diet during my maintenance time, but I was conscious of my food choices. I eat anything and everything I want. Grant it, about 85-90% of the time I still eat Protein first, but I enjoy all foods. I drink soda, alcohol(not in pregnancy), enjoy a lot of social gatherings which revolve around food. So, I do feel I live a pretty normal little life with food. BUT, I put in the work early out when really didn't have room for a lot of other foods. I remember even getting into maintenance, and being perfectly content with a few chips/crackers. Now, I can sit around mindlessly eat an entire "Big Grab" (those 99cent) bags of Funyuns.or half a sleeve of crackers without restriction. Those are the habits that I was talking about in my first reply. The sleeve really does help us not gain the weight back, but the sleeve doesn't stop ice cream, Cookies, carby/fat/fried foods from sliding right through. None of the WLS options stop carbs and sliders. So, we still have to be mindful and diligent in our food choices.

My weight gain was over the holiday season last year. From Halloween to New Years, we attended a bunch of parties, social events, get togethers, etc etc and they all involved alcohol in copious amounts, party foods, Snacks. Seriously, every other weekend, I had somewhere to be and had food and booze in hand. Over those 3 months, I had a solid 7lb gain. I saw the scale gradually go up, and thought "oh it's Water weight from the booze". Low and behold, the new year came and those pounds were still there. I went back to just my normal eating habits, not dieting, just Protein first for my meals, and I dropped those pounds in a little over a week. I admittedly hate working out. It's no different than scrubbing toilets. I could probably have more laxity in my food intake if I worked out more. However, I don't want to work out, I don't want to go to a gym, I really just hate exercising. That is a big part of my pregnancy weight gain. I'm eating 1700-1800( about 400-500 more calories than what I ate in maintenance) calories a day with a minimum of 100-200gr of carbs, and 80-100gr of protein per day. The sweet/junk food cravings are unbelievably difficult to fight at this point. I've never dealt with this level of head hunger, or cravings in my life. So, I know that it's pregnancy, and the fact that my eating habits have changed in pregnancy.

The lack of physical hunger really is my #1 contributor to my success. I know my sleeve limits, I also know how to cheat the sleeve so it is still all on me to make the best decision on what goes in my mouth for every meal, every day. I can still go several hours without eating. I still never get a stomach growl, or any physical sign that I need to eat. But, I can eat every hour on the hour if I choose. That's the part that is very hard to overcome for me. I know I can eat a meal, and then an hour later I can wander into the pantry and eat more. I wanted to just put it out there that losing was easy, and maintenance is where I (and many others) struggle. That was my issue before surgery as well. I could lose on WW, or any other "diet attempt", but life would happen and I'd gain back what I lost and then some. For me, the most successful sleeve patients out there are the ones who made major behavioral modifications, and really adhered to a solid plan post-op. I have read 100s of topics from people who experience several stalls, slow weight loss, and/or their weight loss comes to a complete halt because they think that the sleeve will do all the work. Sadly, those same patients post how they don't want to diet, how they want normalcy. Well, I hate to say it, but most of us are NOT normal. If we were, none of us would have sought surgical intervention. Pretty much if you are diligent with food choices, and allow indulgences in moderation, the sleeve works. I can still suck down a milkshake, or eat an ice cream without issue. I really do live by the mantra of "just because I can; doesn't mean I should". It's not always easy, but the sleeve helps tremendously.

[longer-life 139]

:hail: Tiffykins

Like Veda, I also needed to know more about this topic. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have copied and pasted your posts so I can read them again and again.

[Veda 12]

Thank you! I like hearing the voice of success!

The sleeve will help you with your portion sizes once you get into maintenance.

If you graze, you will gain weight. You can snack on things all day long,

every few hours.

So to answer your question, yes, the sleeve will help you not to gain it all back. You have to do your part too though, because eating Cookies, chips, etc will cause you to gain a lot of weight back. Those things go down like there is no sleeve after awhile.

[itscometothis 12]

I just wanted to mention.... this is all good info and I appreciate it But it doesn't really answer the question as to why there are sooooo many different post-op diet plans. It doesn't make sense to me that the plans can be so different. I can follow my surgeons plans but I guess I could also follow 50 other surgeons plans. What I really wish I knew was, is it better to eat three meals a day and no Snacks or is it ok to eat a damn snack..LOL!

Thank you! I like hearing the voice of success!

[Tiffykins 673]

I just wanted to mention.... this is all good info and I appreciate it But it doesn't really answer the question as to why there are sooooo many different post-op diet plans. It doesn't make sense to me that the plans can be so different. I can follow my surgeons plans but I guess I could also follow 50 other surgeons plans. What I really wish I knew was, is it better to eat three meals a day and no Snacks or is it ok to eat a damn snack..LOL!

Here's how I looked at it;

Do I need it??? Do I need to supplement with a snack to hit my calorie/protein goal for the day? IS that snack going to keep me in my caloric/protein guideline for the day. I can tell you that I ate 4 meals a day, no Snacks, because that gave me what I NEEDED, not wanted. I had to snack once I got to maintenance to get my body stabilized until my restriction loosened up around 8-9 months post-op, and then I was able to cut back on the snacking (I had 2 per day typically beef jerky/nuts/peanut butter/avocado slice), and go back to my standard 4 meals because it gave me what my body NEEDED.

You can snack. No one is going to stop you from doing it. But, if you have a calorie/protein/carb/fat guideline, stay within that guideline for success. Most of those numbers are pretty similar in regards to the most popular, most successful programs that I have watched over the last 2.5 years. If you need to eat because of a strict workout regimen, then eat a Protein based snack.

For me, it was about "need" over "want", or the just because I can doesn't mean I should theory.

And, I should throw out there that I've seen 3 different nutritionist and all of them believed something different, and they ALL worked with my surgeon. I followed what he told me to do because the nuts were idiots, well all of them but 1 were idiots. So, I'm not a fan of varying diet plans, but the top-rated plans, most long term surgeons have set plans based on successful patients who are further out than a few months.

[itscometothis 12]

Thanks Tiff... much love to you