drmeow

Still pre-op myself but I've read a lot of people in other threads saying get plenty of Gas-X!

p.s. totally makes sense that you'd have testosterone being dumped into the bloodstream by the weight loss - we ladies have increased in estrogen which trigger cycles and/or mood swings - both hormones are stored in fat.

I never asked for it to be removed; maybe something automatically pulled it b/c of the a$% notations? LOL

Glad to be helpful.

Thank you for the words of encouragement!! I now need to dive into the search for the right Protein poweder.. I wonder does it taste similar to flavored milk? I can't stand flavored milk at all blech.

Add ice cubes and blend it until you have a thicker shake, that may help. I use Isopure Zero Carb powder mixed in unsweetened almond milk (can't tolerate dairy or soy) but it can also be mixed into Water.

I have heard that unjury makes a good unflavored Protein you can mix into the broth.

I was just recently diagnosed, after complaining to my PCP for 2 years how exhausted I was (got the "lose weight, exercise more, blah blah")

I have had my machine for a week now and I am gradually starting to have a little more energy. I definitely wake up much clearer-headed. I mentioned to the tech who set up my machine that I was having WLS later this year and maybe I wouldn't need it afterward, and she said that it's possible but she has a number of patients who still need it after large weight loss, but at lower flow rates.

In my sleep study, my oxygen level was dropping down to 70 each time I stopped breathing (normal is in the 90's). The pulmonologist said that can cause a lot of damage to your heart over time, leading to a heart attack.

yeah, it's kind of a pain but it's very worth it to me.

yep!

I know this might seem crazy to a lot of people but through experience sometimes you need to change what your body is use to in order to kickstart your weight loss engine. When the body stays on the same routine daily it needs to be tricked into losing when you first started weight loss where your heart rate was quicker and you burned more calaries.

It depends a lot on what you eat. If you are still eating only 400-500 cal/day, yes increasing that may help you lose. But, DON'T increase it with carbs. Eat more Protein IF you aren't getting enough for your size, and don't be afraid to eat good fats! Eating enough fat tells your brain that you aren't in starvation mode, it fills you up nicely for hours, and it forces your body to burn the fat you've stored. It sounds wrong b/c we've all been brainwashed the last 30 years to think low-fat is the answer but all the "studies" which pushed that have been shown to be completely wrong. See http://www.businessinsider.com/13-nutrition-lies-that-made-the-world-sick-and-fat-2013-10

And then, for a very quick-and-dirty easy guide to living this - read http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Bacon-Dont-Jog-Bullshit-ebook/dp/B00KLDEKZC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434551727&sr=1-1&keywords=eat+bacon+don%27t+jog

I broached the idea of WLS with my PCP and he disapproved, saying he only recommends it for people who are literally going to die without it. (I have a BMI of "only" 40, but have several comorbidities such as high BP, prediabetes, sleep apnea). He said most people just regain the weight in a few years, and talked to me again about more exercise and thinking of sugar as a poison (his diet advice is sound - none of the stupid low-fat crap, but doing low-carb, which did help me lose 35 lbs once, only to regain it when I lost control)

I put it on the back burner, but then researched more online and decided to at least make an appt with the bariatric center of excellence in my town to get more info. Luckily, my insurance doesn't require my PCP to give a referral so I didn't bother. I'm now approved and just waiting to find a good time to schedule with my work. I saw my PCP last week for my usual quarterly BP check and he never even mentioned it, although he is on the same network as the bariatric practice and it probably showed up in my history that I'd been there.

I'll continue to see him b/c I like him otherwise, and maybe I can educate him better as an example on WLS afterwards. But fortunately did not have to rely on him for referral.

It can for some people. Ideally, artificial sweeteners don't raise your blood sugar (and then plummet, the cause of the lightheadedness). But some low-carbers have found that certain ones do bother them. Granular splenda in small amounts doesn't seem to do that to me, but if I use the sugar-free coffee syrups like Torani, it seems to. Maybe just b/c quicker absorption?

2 Tbsp of Splenda does seem like a lot to me in a 16 oz drink - have you tried using less?

One of my favorite new (to me) artificial sweeteners is Swerve, which is erythritol. I also like xylitol but don't like having it in the house b/c it's very unsafe for dogs (drops their blood sugar)

YMMV

I LOVE reading stuff like this! and yes, I think it's a huge NSV. Really, isn't it the real goal, to be able to eat like "normal" people?

All my life, even before I got fat, I have not understood how others could look at a plate of chocolate chip Cookies and just have 1 or 2 and then walk away. Even as a child I wanted it all!

I am really looking forward to this - hope I feel the same way!

No matter how much sagging I get I am still excited to have this chance. I don't think plastics would be good for me b/c I tend to scar very easily. Plus, I really don't want to have to go through all that if possible. I am doing this for my health and activity level so I really don't care too much; I was just curious.

I'd rather look older and be active, and have people say "wow, she's really active for her age" than look younger due to my chubby face and be sitting on the sidelines all the time.

If you are only 3 months out from surgery 1) you are going to keep losing and it may be hard to hide this from him 2)you haven't actually known him very long.

I was "madly in love" with my husband within weeks of starting to date him. Was engaged a year later, married a year after that. Then spent 24 of the hardest years of my life trying to get to know this person who is the most self-centered, emotionally dead person I've ever known. Am now in process of divorcing.

Madly in love is just a feeling; it's not love. Maybe this is love, maybe not - but you have a ways to go before you decide it's real, and by that time you'll know whether this is something you can share or not. If you don't ever reach the point of enough trust to share it, he's not the one.

the hidascan is specifically for gallbladder. I had abdominal pain for almost 10 years with multiple negative ultrasounds of GB and kidneys, uterus, etc. before someone was smart enough to send me for this scan. It measures the contractility of your GB. I had no stones, just a very abnormal GB. At surgery I was told it had previously ruptured in 3 different places! Since GB problems are very common when losing weight (esp if you are doing low-fat) the hidascan is very important to have done.

Complex are very important if you exercise a lot as you need them for fuel. Protein helps repair the muscles and stos the body from breaking down muscle. Stay away from sugary carbs and remember it's ok to be on a low carb diet but bad to be on a no carb diet.

Actually if you are completely keto-adapted you have no need of carbs. Reference the Inuits who eat nothing but Protein and fat year-round (in their native environment before McDonalds marched in probably) - there was even a doctor who lived with them 11 years eating what they ate and was completely normal.

You mention protein to repair the muscles - yes, protein is needed, and fat is needed for fuel. There is no need for glucose if you consume adequate fat.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Performance/dp/0983490716/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434031729&sr=8-2&keywords=phinney+and+volek

The authors of the above book say "low carb" rather than "no carb" b/c in our world, realistically we aren't going to avoid every single carb.

If you avoid ALL processed foods, and potatoes, corn and peas, you can probably eat most of the other fruit and vegetable carbs on a limited basis.

However, I suspect the OP is actually just having the typical 3 week post-op stall. She doesn't say when her surgery was, but the amount of weight loss makes me suspect that.

Also if she is fairly early post-op and eating even small amounts of crackers and bread, she's probably not getting all her protein in.

Yeah, I suspect that the guy actually thought he was complimenting you but I get how embarrassing it was for you.

I dread that happening, running into people who haven't seen me in a long time. Years ago I had a fat friend where I worked. We moved out of state and about 4 years later were back visiting and I met up with her for lunch. We had not kept in touch other than Christmas cards, etc. so I was shocked to see she'd lost at least 100 lbs. She looked great but I'd only ever known her fat with a round face and it was truly hard to talk to her normally at first. I know she was the same person on the inside but I would not have recognized her if I hadn't met up with her on purpose, and it was mentally jarring. My mind insisted I didn't know this person! So I am prepared for the shock of others.

Thanks, I was able to change the percents in Goals now. I don't think it has any way to track net carbs, though. I guess I can just manual calculate that by subtracting fiber g.

I used to use Fatsecret to log my food when I was doing Atkins. But I have a Fitbit now and I've seen lots of people on here loving MFP, so I downloaded it to use, since it syncs with the fitbit.

But, in Fatsecret I was able to have it show net carbs, not just total carbs. Total carbs minus g of Fiber = net carbs. Also, I'd like to be able to manually adjust my calorie and carb goals and I don't see that available without paying the huge upgrade fees. I wouldn't mind paying something for it but not that much.

Am I just missing something somewhere?

My therapist keeps warning me that after losing so much weight I'm going to look a LOT older due to wrinkles, sagging skin, etc. since I'm 53. Just wondering how much sagging others of you have had, if losing "only" 100 lbs. I know people losing 150-200 lbs or more are bound to have a lot of extra skin, but I am really hoping not to need plastics. And I don't mind some wrinkles, but am I suddenly going to look 65?

Still pre-op here but I already have those worries! What I am hoping to do is get very involved in one or more sports/activities that will keep me pushing for fitness goals even after I've lost the weight I need to. So, the motivation will be running faster or biking longer, or doing a race, or hiking parts of the Appalachian trail again, etc.

In RnY they don't detach the esophagus from the stomach; they detach the new small stomach pouch from the rest of it and then re-attach that to the part of the small intestine that is brought up. So it sounds like it was the stomach to intestinal anastomosis that wasn't done correctly. either way it sounds like an awful time for you and I hope you continue to recover.

Can you melt a little bit of cheddar on some refried Beans? I've heard of lots of people doing that post-op.

Yep, as the article points out, exercising does have a lot of health benefits. It's just that weight loss isn't one of them. So trying to "burn" 500 cal to reduce weight isn't very effective compared to limiting what goes in your mouth.

I love my Fitbit, too!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/15/take-off-that-fitbit-exercise-alone-wont-make-you-lose-weight/

Medical science has proven over and over that calories in/calories out is not the way the body works. Someone can eat 1500 calories of very low carb, high fat food and lose way more weight (and fat) than someone eating 1500 calories of high carb, low fat (assume Protein moderate in both these diets), regardless of calories burned with exercise.

Read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes for a good explanation.

Yes, stalls may happen when the body suddenly "realizes" it's lost a lot - might be starvation coming, better hold onto some weight for the lean times. Of course, some stalls may well be due to people inadvertently adding in extra food they forget to account for. Just because it doesn't happen to every single person doesn't mean it isn't real.

I hope after surgery I can prevent myself from weighing very often. I think that in many stalls you are probably still losing in inches or reshaping but we often focus on only the scale.

Googling online shows 10 g Protein per 190 cal shake, which seems awfully low for that many calories. Atkins is slightly better - 15 g per 165 cal. I think slim fast may have a high Protein One that is 20 g but I didn't see the calorie count on that one.

I'm pre-op but currently use zerocarb Isopure powder, which is 25 g/scoop with 105 calories.

caveat - I usually mix it with unsweetened almond milk which adds a few calories but little Protein. Some people use soymilk b/c of the high protein but I can't use soy due to my Hashimoto's thyroid disease.

I've heard the Premier Protein premixed are good.