9 year update!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Hello you all! I see a few faces out there that I knew many years ago here. I used to be a host, and even got an award for most followed post! Its been a while. I first joined this forum in 2010. My pic shows me with red hair… its white now! I had a VSG in January of 2011. I entered this plan as a vegetarian, and maintained that status until about a year ago when I upped my game to Vegan eating (Did you know you can drink Coke and eat Oreos and still be vegan?). 7 weeks ago I upped it again and I follow a Whole food Plant Based diet. It is also vegan eating, but cuts out not only meat and dairy, but any highly refined product including oils, refined sugar, white flour and rice, you get the picture. It is high Carb and low fat.

It took me about two years after surgery to get about 65 pounds off (I only had 80-90 to lose) and then started to gain. I gained about 20, trying different diet changes along the way… then started using the 5/2 semi fasting method, and lost the rest in the following year eating an average of 1000 cal a day. So it took me three years to get to goal.

Loved it. At last, I felt like the person in the mirror was me. That didn't last long. Slowly,over years, I gained much of the weight back. Eating less didn’t work like it had. I did eat more crap, but much of the time was on calorie counting staying under 1200 cals without much success. I got up to between 20-30 pounds under my highest weight, and managed to keep that much off for the last 8 years. This is a success. I have never been able to do that before. I can eat less, my stomach allows for much more food than it did the two years after surgery, but it still can give me a full signal faster than before surgery. This is a win. I am not sorry I got the surgery.

In April of this year (2019) I found out I had breast cancer. In a whirlwind, I went to a ton of appointments and ended up quickly in surgery for a lumpectomy with 2 nodes removed, then a month of daily radiation. I am lucky to have caught it early, and my prognosis is good. Nothing like a kick in the ass to get you back on board a more healthy lifestyle. I was recommended to go to a “survival coach” appointment with Kaiser. I was told they would talk to me about lifestyle changes that would amend my other treatments. So, I found myself in the office at the appointment.(July 19th 2019). I met one on one with Dr. Earnie Bodai and a Nutritionist. He went through my prognosis, not just for Cancer but heart disease, stroke and diabetes. He gave me statistics, and suggestions, and told me I was much more likely to die from other things before I died from breast cancer. He said I would most benefit from eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet. He gave me the research to support it. He handed me over to the nutritionist who filled me in on the details. I had heard about this type of lifestyle before, but didn’t think I could follow it. Nothing like Cancer and a convincing bunch of information to make change easier! I switched to the WFPB diet imdeiately. Thats been just 2 months now. I have done a ton of research to back up what he told me. I ate a ton of food. I didn’t count calories. I traveled for two weeks over seas and managed to stay on plan. I watched ‘forks over knifes’ and ‘What the health’, I went and had labs done after following the plan for a month. My labs came back drastically better… in just one month. I had been a vegan before the labs, but the new small changes in my diet made a HUGE difference. My glucose dropped from 123 to 108… and should continue to drop as time goes by. My total cholesterol dropped 47 points. In one month of eating this way. I have been trying to control my cholesterol for years by other dietary changes. My LDL dropped from 175 to 139…. And yes, at almost two months on plan, eating so much delicious food, I have lost 15 pounds. Just saying. Im doing this with my older sleeve. Its working well. I don’t think I could have done this when my sleeve was newer, as you have to really EAT to have this plan work. I told my nutritionist that I had the sleeve and wondered if I could eat the TWO pounds of veg a day the plan recommended… She said “Start Eating, Eat often if necessary, Don’t worry about Protein, your health will improve.” Thats what I have been doing and it works. If any of you out there are at the point where you can eat a lot more than early on in the sleeve process, this plan may work for you too. I am not a DR.. Do your research.

I looked up my Survival Dr, Earnie Bodai on line, he said he had some medical papers published on breast cancer and diet, almong other topics, and found out the man is more than just a Dr. He is the Dr. that single handedly got the Breast Cancer stamp approved in the United States and now its being approved by other countries as well. He may well have saved hundreds of thousands of peoples lives through his many good works. I trust his research and recommendations to me. Here is his story if you are interested.

https://youtu.be/KlToZUJg4kg

Here is the plan I am following now. There are many others that are similar out there. Just look up Whole Food Plant Based diet. The success stories are legion. http://www.kphealthyme.com/Healthy-Eating-Active-Living-Programs/Education-libraries/Plant-Based-Diet.aspx

[Recidivist 1,141]

Thanks so much for your update! It's very valuable for those of us relative newbies to hear long-term stories like yours, but relatively few people ever post them.

Congratulations on your success with the new healthy diet!

[TeeBeau 60]

I'm sorry to hear you've been dealing with breast cancer; I wish you good health. It's good to hear you can be successful with this vegan whole food plant based diet. My primary care provider has told me that they are starting to recommend this way of eating to patients, but that for me, for now, only six months out of surgery, I need to follow the high Protein, low carb bariatric diet. But once in maintenance, she wants me to explore the vegan plant diet with my nutritionist. Thanks for sharing.

[SeattleLady 277]

I also appreciate your update. I do pray that you continue to move forward towards your best health. Please continued to keep us updated! Thank you additionally for the links.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using BariatricPal mobile app

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I know I always wanted to hear from people with a few years under their belt! The procedure was fairly new then.

[Sophie7713 3,269]

10 hours ago, feedyoureye said:

I know I always wanted to hear from people with a few years under their belt! The procedure was fairly new then.

You were definitely a trail blazer! Thank you for sharing with us. It is indeed, appreciated and invaluable. A cookbook we are really enjoying: Whole food Cooking Every Day by Amy Chaplin - you might like as well. Many best wishes and continued healing. A bouquet in your honor signifying good things ahead. ;]

[feedyoureye 3,087]

How sweet! Thanks so much!