Less than 5g Sugar and Less than 5g Fat

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

Does everyone still live by this even after 6 months post op? When you go to a restaurant, how are we supposed to know just how much sugar or fat is in what they cook? How does everyone typically calculate this? After time, can our tummies tolerate a lil more than that?? Sorry, just random questions!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Is this some directive of your program?

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

Hey there! Yes, my nutritionist says to stay under 5g of sugar and 5g of fat or else dumping syndrome will occur...Now, I'm only 9 days post op and not even thinking about food...It's just been on my mind. I wanted to see if eating more than 5 g sugar and 5 g fat is what causes dumping??? And also, what the heck is dumping? Everyone kinda says a different thing...so I'm sure each person is different.

[Bndtoslv 292]

You mean per food item? I never had such a direction. I was told to limit high sugar and high fat food to maximize weight loss. Dumping isn't common with vsg that's more usually found in RNy.

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

She says per food item. That's good to know. Thank you! ☺

[dhrguru 1,238]

She says per food item. That's good to know. Thank you! ☺

I'm rny, and wad told something similar re: sugar grams. I try to follow it, but the only greek yogurt I like has like 15g sugar. I eat it anyway, it's not daily. I don't dump.

[Daisee68 2,493]

I agree with @dhrguru. Those are really guidelines for how to determine what is "low fat" or "low sugar". You aim for it, when you are buying something but it isn't always realistic. Now it is a good guideline for your Protein shakes for sure, but otherwise, it is just a goal. My NUT said to always try to target foods with less carb than Protein. Eventually you will know which brands you like and which work and you will just buy those and not have to check every time.

Dumping is generally related with RNY though it can sometimes happen to those with sleeve. Luckily, I have not encountered it yet. It is a reaction to food to high sugar / high fat foods that your new stomach just cannot process (or in the case of RNY does not get absorbed correctly) - sweating, vomiting, stomach pain. It can occur from 15 minutes to 3 hours-ish after you eat that specific food. You will know once you have had it and you likely will not choose that food again.

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

I agree with @dhrguru. Those are really guidelines for how to determine what is "low fat" or "low sugar". You aim for it, when you are buying something but it isn't always realistic. Now it is a good guideline for your Protein shakes for sure, but otherwise, it is just a goal. My NUT said to always try to target foods with less carb than Protein. Eventually you will know which brands you like and which work and you will just buy those and not have to check every time.

Dumping is generally related with RNY though it can sometimes happen to those with sleeve. Luckily, I have not encountered it yet. It is a reaction to food to high sugar / high fat foods that your new stomach just cannot process (or in the case of RNY does not get absorbed correctly) - sweating, vomiting, stomach pain. It can occur from 15 minutes to 3 hours-ish after you eat that specific food. You will know once you have had it and you likely will not choose that food again.

Very good to know! Thanks a million!!

[Daisee68 2,493]

@@VanessaVSGforme - Welcome! I just want to add that I am not at all a proponent for going against your individual team's advice. So please don't read in to my post that it is ok to ignore them. I just wanted to say that it isn't quite as overwhelming as it may seem. And as far as eating in a restaurant, that is a tough one. And you will need to wait a while before you try that. Best advice is to stick with a restaurant for which you can find a nutrition guide online first so you can see your best choices. I went to hibachi grill last night for the first time. The specific restaurant didn't have a nutrition guide so I looked for similar restaurants who did (i.e. Benihana). From that I decided shrimp would be the best choice. NOW what I should have done is ask the cook to leave off the butter, but I didn't. I sort of wanted to "test" how I would respond. (Stupid, I know. What is it our parents used to say? Do as I say, not as I do?) Anyway, I was able to eat 4 shrimp, 1 mushroom, 1 piece of onion, a little broth and a couple of bites of lettuce with dressing. And luckily I did fine. The fact is, the butter could have caused me to dump but I wanted to know if it would or not and I was close to home and it was a Friday evening, so I knew if I was going to get sick, this was as good of time as any. Some people don't dump at all. (So far, so good for me but that doesn't mean it won't happen.) I will not make it a habit to eat this way (i.e. butter laden foods), but I am still so low calorie/fat the rest of the day, I could afford it. I track every bite I put in my mouth - including micronutrients - and as I good to dinner, I look and see if I can afford to eat more carbs or more fat. If I can, then I may have full-fat cheese instead of low-fat cheese or I may add a cracker or two.

I am only 3 months out and have recently had a complication (stricture) that they have fixed, so I am sort of experimenting with new foods finally to see what I can tolerate. PLEASE be sure you follow your NUT program as best as you can. I think it was @@toasty that said to me recently that once you start blatantly avoiding your program rules (such as using a straw which is what I wanted to "cheat" with), then it becomes a slippery slope.

I hope that helps!!

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

Thank you for sharing and I totally intend on following my nutritionist guidelines...I just wasn't sure how others went about doing things...and really, I was just so confused on what dumping was lol. Sounds terrible and I know I'm going to do whatever it takes to not "dump" as I have this horrible fear of throw up. ???? I really appreciate you taking the time to explain things in depth! Toasty has great words of advice! His surgery was yesterday, I do hope he's doing well and resting!

[Daisee68 2,493]

You are so welcome! I too fear dumping but @@Djmohr encouraged me not to be afraid to try new foods, so I am trying to follow that advice now that I seem to be tolerating better.

PS - Great job on the weight loss so far! Clearly you have worked hard pre-op! That is a great start and you are going to do great!

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

It has not been easy but totally worth every second. I started off at 410 June 5. Surgery day was 9/2 and I was 367! Weighed myself a couple days ago (before my husband hid the scale lol) and I was 349! Anxious for my post op appt tuesday to see how much more has fallen off!

[toasty 371]

Hi All. Well, I just got home from the hospital. It's done! I was feeling awful yesterday, I was unable to drink anything and I was worried. But no reason. Things got much better overnight, and today I am drinking fine. I am about to sit down to some chicken broth and Jello, then lie down for a rest.

Thanks for all of the warm thoughts my way!

Talk to you all soon.

[VanessaVSGforme 276]

Hi All. Well, I just got home from the hospital. It's done! I was feeling awful yesterday, I was unable to drink anything and I was worried. But no reason. Things got much better overnight, and today I am drinking fine. I am about to sit down to some chicken broth and Jello, then lie down for a rest.

Thanks for all of the warm thoughts my way!

Talk to you all soon.

Hey there Toasty!! So glad to see things are progressing for you. ???? ???? Warm thoughts on your way and I promise things continue getting easier and easier. Listen to your body. Don't force anything it doesn't want. Don't expect to meet ur Protein and Water requirements just yet...and if ur tired...SLEEP!!!! *Hugs*