Globetrotter

Looks like this thread has been deserted for about 2 months now. I have been missing for awhile now, going through some terrible life changes. I am 4 months away from my 34d surgiversary and still haven't made it to goal or maintenance. The closest I got was one year ago (right before the $h!t storm hit) and even then I was still 35 lbs from personal goal weight. Anyway, I am proclaiming a do-over, if it works on the playground it can work here! I gained 25 lbs in the last year through $h!tty eating and not exercising. Starting on the 22nd I began eating and exercising like a post-op; 700 cals/30g carb/60g+ protein/60 oz water/nlt 30 min cardio daily. We will see what happens. I just don't want to be obese again. Even a year ago when I was working out like a maniac and tracking my food I still had soft flabby arms and a round face and big hips that still made me look pudgy, even with all my hard work. This is why (random rant) I firmly believe that for those of us who have had massive weight loss, the journey isn't fulfilled until we've had plastics, that extra skin and flesh and empty fat cells puts an undue burden on us that naturally thins dont have. Anyway, I'm scared of chocolates and chips, I become a frantic addict when I see/smell them :( Luckily ice cream makes me ill, feels like I imagine an overdose does.

I cannot explain why the reset works, it could be part physiological, part psychological. Returning to the strict healthy habits of post-op can trigger (in a good way) post-op behaviors and mind set. Not being a scientist or medical doctor I cannot authentically speak about how the stomach reacts to Protein or carbs but in my personal experience, I have discovered that "hunger" is "felt" by me the more carbs I eat on a regular basis. No carbs, no ravenous I MUST EAT IT ALL hunger cues. But that's me, not science. I have also noticed that if I start my morning off with warm liquids (herbal tea) I can go alot longer without eating. I've also noticed that if I eat dense/thick foods like greek yogurt, soft scrambled eggs, Peanut Butter, they keep me full a lot longer. I am in the process of a genuine reset, my first. Over the last year I went through a lot and let my food go to pieces, eating anything I felt like. On the 22nd I started tracking again exactly like a post-op. I can report that I am exhausted and going through carb withdrawal but that, if I really really examine how I'm feeling physically, am not actually hungry. A little frantic but that's the head hunger. Today I am having: Breakfast - egg white scramble with turkey sausage, shredded cheese, diced ham lunch - Protein shake dinner - steak snack - tea with milk, grapefruit Total will be about 675 cals, 24g carbs, 70g protein and I will go dancing tonight for my cardio. This is an experiment, I've never done a reset before or as some like to call it "5 day pouch test", but there are plenty of folks here who do it all the time and there are whole threads devoted to this topic to serve as a resource. Hope this helps!!

I am four months shy of my 3 year surgiversary and I will say that, no, the feeling of fullness has not gone away. However ... after several years you learn tricks on how to eat more and fool your body, bad tricks, sneaky tricks that aren't helpful but yes, you *can* eat more than you *should*. Another however (more positive) is that there are still foods that stick, still foods that I can barely eat a mouthful, and when I "reset", eating like a post-op, my post-op stomach seems to return, where 2 oz of scrambled eggs fills me up entirely.

I posted a new thread today called "reset": 2012 was a $h!t show for me, I won't go into it. Suffice it to say that precisely one year ago I was the fittest I've ever been, even though I was still 15lbs shy of surgeon's goal. Then the $h!t storm broke and I stopped exercising, stopped tracking my food, stopped coming here and whammo, got weight last month and I had gained 25 lbs in one year. You know how I must be feeling about that, so I won't go into it, but I have pulled over to the side of the road, and this is me - calling my insurance to get someone to come out with a gallon of gas... Does a reset work? As of this week I am back to 700 cals/30g carbs/65g protein/30 min cardio daily. Will this *shock* my system into a weight loss jump start? I really want to get to goal, my goal, not just surgeon's. I felt great at 165, I know I would feel outstanding at 140, and once I get this excess skin off with plastics, I can just imagine how strong I would feel. Help!

Hi all - One year ago I was in the best shape of my life, exercising 6x a week, running, lifiting, dancing, yoga, you name it. I was still watching my carbs, tracking everything in my online tracker. Then I lost my job, broke up with my boyfriend, and went through a serious depression. 2012 was NOT my year. So, I stopped going to the gym, stopped tracking my food, stopped coming here for support, and just fell off a cliff. Looking at it in writing, it appears to have been more of a suicide than sabotage. At any rate, I want to get back to that feeling of strength and health. I was at 165 lbs a year ago, still 15 lbs shy of surgeon's goal. I am currently approx 185 lbs BUT ... this week I started tracking my food again, watching my carbs, exercising, and coming back here So my question is this: does anyone know if doing a "reset" works? I mean, returning to a post-op lifestyle in order to jumpstart weight loss again. I am eating 700 cals a day, <30g carbs, >60g Protein, 60 oz Water. I'm doing a minimum of 30 minutes cardio every day plus yoga. I do not have a functioning scale at the moment so have no numbers yet to see if it is working. Does it work? I accept that there are genetic factors at play, but I really want to see south of 130 pounds (I'm 5'3"). I'm 2.5 years out, with 50 lbs to lose. I figure if I can just get to and maintain 130, plastics will take care of the rest.

Hello everyone, I've been away for a long while. My all time low was 165 lbs one year ago. I'm currently at 185 and this effing sux. I am doing a reset; I'm back to 700 cals a day, minimum 30 mins cardio a day, and <30g carbs a day, >65g protein. Does anyone know if doing a "reset", going back to post-op eating, works? I went through a depression for a few months, had some terrible things happen in my life, and allowed useless carbs back into my life along with stopping exercising. So, I'd like to know if a reset works because not only do I want to get this excess 20 pounds off, I want to actually make it to goal!

I call bullsh**.

I have pain in what I assume is my stomach pouch or maybe just below it? about 20 minutes after I eat. This is a new development and scares me and is what makes me think maybe small bowel obstruction, or some horrible development with my pyloric valve? Also, regardless of the consistency of what I eat, I can feel every single meal travel through my intestines until the ... end. Any advice or wisdom would be appreciated.

Haven't been to the dr, the vomiting hasn't recurred, though I still have nausea. In an unrelated event, I had a headache for 3 days and have a pain under my right shoulderblade when I inhale, but my back pain is because of stress and anxiety.

I have never stopped taking my acid reducers, I take a Prevacid almost every singly day and have since surgery.

And about 30 minutes after I eat I get pinching pains in my stomach pouch area. I am able to have successful BMs.

I still don't know what the problem is, I'm scared that it is a partial intestinal obstruction.

I know it is the jumping off place for all of us in our community to blame ye olde gallbladder but I did get it checked out and its fine.

I'm a longtime fan of The World According to Eggface and enjoy her recipes, I think we are all familiar with her legendary Ricotta Bake!! So I was invited over a friend's house for Thanksgiving and decided to make Eggy's Pumpkin Protein Muffins with Ricotta Cheesecake filling. In short, they were the star of the table! Everyone else at the meal, all non-ops, couldn't stop raving about them and demanded the recipe! I must say, they are rich, sweet, and thoroughly satisfying. One word of caution though, if you follow Eggy's recipe and only have a muffin tin for regular size muffins, you will end up with only 4 or 5 muffins because she uses a mini-muffin tin (dang those must be the size of a quarter or something!) Since it was for a party I just tripled the recipe for a dozen muffins and it worked perfect.

I'm 2 1/2 years out and it never goes away, but you do learn coping mechanisms and therapeutic ways of dealing; I too like to keep busy, like crazy busy, during the day and I agree that it is the nights (if you are alone) that are the worst. Some things/tricks I do include staying as busy or as social as I can until as late as possible, packing lunches and prepping breakfasts the night before, never having cash (to better resist a run to a quickie mart), having only food that requires a lot of effort to prepare in the house (raw materials for cooking rather than pre-made), a wide variety of teas, and cases of naturally flavored unsweetened carbonated Water. My gym activities keep me busy through the early evenings, prepping for the next day takes up some more time, and if I make a large hot mug of tea and drink that or peel a fiberous beneficial pomegranate during a DVD or while reading a book, it takes care of my desire to mindlessly slurp/munch while relaxing. If I pre-plan all of my Snacks and lunch, and again make sure I have no cash (vending machines), that takes care of the work day. This must sound grim, I'm sorry, I'm sure it wouldn't have to be so regimented if I was in therapy

Can a person still have bowel movements if they have an obstruction? I have been able to.

I should have said - I do still have my gallbladder.

Hello everybody! I know I've been gone for ages, been going through some things, no time to recap it all though - emergency! Twice in the last 4 weeks I have vomited chemical tasting yellow bile about an hour after waking up, today it was traced with bright red blood. I am between jobs at the moment and do not have insurance . I'm scared because I googled this and it said pyloric valve damage can occur after gastrectomy or that it could be a peptic ulcer. It has been about 20 minutes since the vomiting and I have a dull ache in the spot where my stomach pouch is. I am almost 2 1/2 years out from surgery. I am still nauseous, I have nausea off and on sometimes, I chalk it up to my body adjusting to my Mirena.

First off, there is no way I am pregnant, none. Second, I have had several bouts over the last few weeks of vomiting yellow bile about an hour after waking up. When I did it today I noticed traces of bright red blood. I googled this and it said that this can be a result of damage to the pyloric valve after gastric surgery, specifically gastrectomy. I am over 2 years out and this has never happened before and of course, I do not have insurance right now (long story). So, it has been about 20 minutes since the vomiting which by the way tasted like horrible chemicals, and there is a dull ache in my stomach pouch area. Help!

Are you taking in about 10g per meal, or just in your snacks? 10g x 5 meals is only 50 g's, which is pretty low imo. I like to average about 5-6 meals a day, my snacks and meals are almost identical in size (tiny) so I don't see a difference. I try to make sure that no given snack or meal is less than 15 grams protein or more than 10g carbs. Maybe the biggest difference between a snack and a meal for me is that snacks tend to be pure protein, super low/zero carbs like jerky, protein bullets or shakes, or plain greek yogurt.

I don't know if I'm doing this correctly but I have a blog out there in the interwebs and thought I would try to link it here. Check it out, read my scribbles, fight the good fight! Globetrotter http://enflagrante.wordpress.com/

So the next thing we need to do everybody, is agitate for Starbucks to carry a protein shake! A real one, with low sugars and >10g carbs. The Army version of Starbucks, Green Beans, has one and it is great.

HAHA me too KZ! Or I get a half pump of sf vanilla syrup

Oh honey, I am 2 years post op and a completely normal size for an American woman (10/12) and I STILL have issues with feeling like I should be embarrassed in public for a variety of things, like making special orders or not letting people cut in line! I am totally one of those people @ 'bux now, asking for all the secret off-menu stuff, including the off-menu size "short"! No apologies!!

Haha, thank YOU CaliKat, you are awesome! I definitely need that kind of power talk right now Went for a hike last night, several miles of rugged terrain, and today have eaten a piece of sausage, half a small biscuit, and drank an iced chai, no sugar. Lunch will be some curried beef, no rice, and dinner will be some elk - a very lean protein- in a salad.