bakawaka

Hello everyone: what I have learned from almost 10 years post surgery is that my body tells me when I have consumed too much sugar at one time and/or whether I have consumed too much sugar in one day. I still get the "dumping" syndrome if I have too much sugar. I am convinced, however, avoid added sugar as much as possible is a wise choice. Wishing success to everyone!

What should be our maximum grams of sugar per day? The reason I am asking is that many foods, such as yoghurt and Protein bars, offer the "correct" number of caloris (300 or less) but 20g of sugar. The 20g seems awfully high. So how many grams of sugar should be the limit for a meal and for an entire day? Thanks in advance for any insights.

The pain of the drain post op was the worst part of my experience. As soon as the drain was out, the pain went away. I had that stupid drain for two weeks post op.

just wanted to report back to those who responded. i've been practicing/learning how to cook low-carb. i found that a combination of soy flour, coconut flour and gluten free flour + some baking powder + a little bit of xanthan gum. it really works. i use egg whites plus some eggs (with yolks). one question: should any other liquids be added, such as almond milk?

i debated between sleeve and bypass and chose bypass. i did have a bowel obstruction 1 year post op. but i am still glad i chose gastric bypass and would do it again. why? gastric bypass (according to research) does lead to faster weight loss and supposedly longer term success. i'm not a physician or surgeon and thus can only recommend talking to your surgeon. My surgeon (excellent surgeon, by the way) advised me that if i like baked goods gastric bypass would give me longer term success. i have no regrets and remain thankful for the surgery.

My family was simply not available post surgery - and i was ok. it was challenging. the drain was painful. but i was ok taking care of myself. it would have been helpful to have someone around. but with the right attitude it is possible to get through post surgery alone (in my opinion). i'm not a doctor. so i recommend talking to your surgeon.

At two years post op, health insurance no longer covers the sublingual version of omeprazole. The sublingual version of omeprazole successfully treated my GERD. I switched to the over the counter version because the health insurance has decided not to cover any form of omeprazole. After using the capsule for a few months, I find that the GERD is back with a vengeance. I had GERD pre-op and I have it post-op and expect to always have it. What are the experiences of others? Has anyone else experienced a difference in effectiveness between the sublingual version versus the capsule version of omeprazole? I did some research on the web and found an abstract of a study that seems to suggest that the sublingual form is more effective.

I hope never to be fat again. No regrets about having gastric bypass, even after the complications of a bowel obstruction (surgically corrected) and constipation. Life is never perfect but I find being at a reasonable weight makes everything easier. I am grateful for my surgery and my surgeon and would do it all over again, complications, pain, and all. My main challenge is now to maintain healthful food choices. At two years post op, I do crave foods that I thought I would never again crave so I must focus more on the willpower part. Gastric bypass has made it easier to maintain, but I know that it is not "the" solution. Eating properly and getting the right amount of activity are the solution and gastric bypass has increased my chances of long term success. Wishing everyone success in the weightless journey!

At two years post op I cannot drink coffee anymore. I have lost my taste for it. Now I like hot tea with milk and equal/Splenda. The coffee caused a problem with stomach acid for me. Also I found that the caffeine stimulated my appetite. This all might change and I will end up wanting coffee again. For months after surgery I drank decaf. Now I just don't crave it. My tastes have changed two years post op. Never expected that.

Avocados are delicious. They seem to be nutritious. But they are high-fat and high-cal but supposedly a "good fat." Do you view avocados as a good food for WLS patients? Would one avocado per day be too much? I would appreciate your opinions and experiences.

I use alone milk in my coffee as a creamer and it works great, lower calories.

How did your surgery go? I hope that all is well. I wish you success on your weight loss journey.

Anxiety is normal. I vomited all the way to the hospital on the day of surgery from fear. Two weeks ago I had a second surgery - no fear because I had experienced the prior surgery. It will go well. Have you ever had any kind of surgery before or even a patient in a hospital before? Try to meditate on happy thoughts. I expressed my fears to my surgeon and the surgical staff and nurses and they all reassured me that fear is normal. In any case, I wish you the greatest of success on your weight loss journey. 1 1/2 years ago I was in your situation. I have never regretted the decision. Of course, it is a long road to learn a new way of eating. It is work. But it is worth the effort.

By the way, I still have no regrets about the surgery. Life is so much better post surgery. One of the best decisions I ever made. The complications I experience are so much less difficult than the pains of being obese.

I was able to distinguish from constipation based on the fact that food and Water would come back up. I would belch and water or other stomach contents would come back up. Obviously this is not a pleasant topic but I share the information in hopes of helping others. It was vomiting but not high-pressure vomiting. Everything just slowly came back up. Another distinguishing factor was the pain - far beyond constipation pain. I experienced pain that Left me sweaty and clammy. I felt sick all over. It was the same intensity as a migraine.

There are many dudes on this site. Congratulations on your decision to improve your health. I am 1 1/2 year post op and am very happy with the result, despite some complications. Getting surgery was one of the best decisions of my life. I wish you the greatest of success.

What an inspiring article. Am so glad I read it. I think about the ideas about throwing out/ignoring the unhealthful food. It helps to hear about others' experiences. Empowering.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Will give all of it a try. At age 50 I am truly starting from basically a zero knowledge base in cooking. It helps immensely to get suggestions. I will keep trying to learn.

I suggest moving on from this person. As someone who had weight loss surgery, I have no regrets. Relationships change. Self-empowerment always causes people to move away - but you will meet many new people. I wish you the greatest of success.

I wish you the greatest of successes with your surgery. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. No regrets. My relationship matured via surgery. It can turn into something positive and meaningful. Improving your health ultimately improves relationships. This is my opinion and experience. Again, wishing you the very best of success.

i am not vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free but try to apply many of the techniques to achieve low-fat, low-carb, nutrition-dense, no-sugar/low-sugar, low-calorie, high-Protein food. Problem: i never learned how to cook. i bake something that to me tastes great but the texture is not right. i puree/mix sweet potato, tofu, egg whites, coconut flour, corn meal and artificial sweetener and then bake. it ends up looking like a cake. Tastes great to me and meets nutritional goals. The outer texture is great. the inner part remains too soft. How can I achieve a harder texture in the inside part? i know that this is an odd question but am hoping that someone who knows food chemistry can provide some advice. i would like to achieve a cake-like texture. At the moment, the inside texture is more like a very thick pudding. There is no white flour. And I don't want to use white flour because of the carbs. I have tried adding baking powder and/or guar gum and/or xantham gum. This technique did not make any difference. So could it be the case that I am not leaving the dish in the over long enough? Or is there some sort of magic ingredient to add? Or do I need to add, perhaps, one TBSP of white flour in order to get the benefits of gluten? i never cooked pre-surgery and thus ate out all the time, which is one of the reasons I gained weight. Now I am trying to learn how to cook in order to prepare my own food that provides the right amount of calories and nutrients. I experiment a lot and have improved my techniques over the past year - I even learned how to do make an omelette by watching YouTube videos. I want to learn how to bake vegan/vegetarian/low-fat, etc. I find a lot of helpful tips on YouTube - demonstrations by cooks. But I have not found a YouTube video or article via Google that addresses this baking issue. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for anyone who might be able to offer insight.

for a very brief time I missed gin & tonic (i stopped all alcohol after gastric bypass because I don't want the calories). now i don't miss it. in fact, i miss NOTHING pre-surgery. I am 1.6 months post-surgery. I very much enjoy the new way that i eat. I enjoy not drinking alcohol, eating bread, consuming white sugar, eating white rice. i find that i enjoy my food more than in the past. my eating is more mindful. i am learning new tastes and new foods. it's fun.

I think that stalls are normal. I lost a lot of weight and then stalled for two months, lost some more weight, and stalled again. I can only recommend to "follow the rules" and eventually the weight loss returns. The main issue is whether you are improving your health. I wish you the best of success.

I wish you great success. I remember the time just before my surgery. I was very afraid. Now I am no longer afraid of surgery. Weight-loss surgery was one of the best things I did for myself in my entire life.

Amazingly it was not that scary. I had full confidence in the surgeon and hospital staff. I was discharged from the hospital today. Surgery took care of the obstruction. Surgery was laparoscopic and it really was not that painful afterwards. I was in the hospital for two nights. The lesson I learned is to be sure to go to the emergency room if you ever suspect a bowel obstruction. Taking care of it early is key. It turns out that the complicating factor was that I ate too much high-Fiber food too quickly. My instructions upon returning home were to follow a high-fiber, low-cholesterol, low-fact, low-salt diet, which is what I have been following anyway. Even with this complication, getting gastric bypass was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I remain grateful for the privilege of having this surgery.