catwoman7

celery is definitely stringy.. I would imagine something like carrots, radishes, and bell peppers would be OK.

it's usually the insurance company that requires the six-month supervised diet rather than the bariatric clinic - or at least that seems to be the case most of the time. People who don't have insurance coverage and self pay don't usually have to do it. Most surgeons do require some kind of pre-surgery diet, but that's usually just a week or two before the surgery (it's usually clear liquids and protein shakes - or some surgeons do allow you to have one meal a day - like a Lean Cuisine or meat & non-starchy veggies. It varies. Mine, unfortunately, wanted two weeks of liquids only, including protein shakes. That seems to be the most common). But that six-month thing is more often a requirement of the insurance company. They want to see if you're capable of following a program long-term, I think...

yes. It's probably reactive hypoglycemia (RH), which isn't that uncommon among RNYers. It usually appears when you're a year or two out. I have to eat something every 3-4 hours and limit my sugar intake. If I eat a carb, I have to eat a protein with it. As long as I follow these "rules", I rarely have the problem oh - if you're getting sweats and dizziness right away after eating, it's more likely dumping. If it's an hour or two later, it's most likely RH.

I malabsorb protein. We figured that out pretty early on. I have to eat 100+ grams a day or my prealbumin level tanks. For all I know, I could have malabsorbed it even before WLS - we never did a baseline on that, so we'll never know for sure...

most insurance policies that cover bariatric surgery require a BMI of 40 if you have no comorbidities, and a BMI of 35 if you have two or more co-morbidities. So you should qualify - you have both. I don't know what they mean by "fast track" - that must be something specific to your insurance company. From what I can tell from hanging out here for the last six years, most of us do have to do the six-month supervised diet, regardless of BMI. Even though at first I though it was a stupid hoop that we had to jump through, I'm glad it was required. I think it really prepared me for how life was going to be after weight loss surgery. Otherwise, the change would have been REALLY drastic...(all the changes are drastic enough as it is - but at least you spend six months gradually changing your eating habits so you kind of know the drill beforehand...)

after weighing close to 400 lbs, I would have been ecstatic to even make it to 200!

I've done some of those (well, i have little tolerance for those who don't follow the beat of the music, but as far as complicated steps, i figure as long as I'm moving, I'm good. If it's a video, no one can see me anyway if I give up on one of the steps and just march in place for a couple of minutes until they move on to some other step!

I'm kinda late in replying to the subject at hand, but I wanted to add that in addition to all the comments about "best weight", etc, which I completely agree with, my dietitian has always let us know that BMI doesn't always "work" with WLS patients (as it often doesn't "work" for some other categories, like athletes, either). We often have more "infrastructure" than never-been-obese people - i.e, heavier bones and muscles that we needed to hold up all that weight. Of course, we lose some of that as we lose weight, too - but even after massive weight loss, they're still often heavier than they are for "normies".

have you tried this guy's? He does walking workouts like Leslie does, but I think he's more fun. Plus I like it when his cats walk across the room. His videos are all of different lengths, so if I'm really not in the mood to exercise - or don't have time - I'll pick some 10- or 15-minute one to do (most of his are walking workouts - but he does some other types, too. I just do the walking ones). I may have heard about him here on BP, but I don't remember - it's been a month or so. But someone recommended it and I really like him. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3lEhUBNqIrFMatB9Zgxo0g

count yourself as one of the lucky ones. Most of us have to go through a grueling week or two, but some surgeons don't require one at all.

1) three-week stall. Almost all of us experience that. 2) I lost 16 lbs the entire first month, and I went on to lose over 200 lbs.

P.S. I always use milk or unsweetened almond milk. You could do it with water, but it wouldn't be as "shake-y"

I make mint shakes sometimes. Either with vanilla protein powder or chocolate protein powder and some peppermint extract. With the vanilla, I'll usually put a couple of drops of green food coloring in, too. And I blend both (choc and van) with ice in my blender. Shamrock Shake!

I agree with this - but one small correction. They don't actually remove any of your stomach in the gastric bypass. They just divide it in two with surgical staples. So technically, the bypass is reversible - but they don't do it unless you have a serious medical issue that can't be corrected or treated any other way.

it depends on the surgeon. Mine did require a sleep study for everyone, but only required a cardiac stress test for people who were over age 50 and/or people who'd had cardiac issues in the past. sleep apnea is common in obese people, but maybe your surgeon felt that since your BMI is borderline, that it might not be an issue for you? Not sure.

I just checked and I'd lost 39.6 lbs at the three-month mark - so the same as you. And I went on to lose over 200 lbs. people lose at all different rates due to a myriad of factors - most of which you have little to no control over (e.g., age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate, starting BMI, whether or not you lost weight prior to surgery). The two factors you DO have control over is how closely you follow your program and your activity level. If you do well with those two, then that's all you can. If you're committed, you WILL lose the weight, whether fast or slow. I was a slow loser from the get-go, but I still ended up losing all of my excess weight.

I'd rethink the lapband. Hardly any surgeons will place them anymore because so many people have had problems with them. Many have had them removed and had sleeve or bypass instead. I know some people still have theirs and love them, but they seem to be in the minority these days.

I agree. At this point, you should be following your clinic's plan. There are WLS patients who do follow Keto, but they're quite a ways out from surgery. stalls are a very normal part of a weight loss journey. If you stick to your eating plan, they WILL break.

yes - it IS unbelievably delicious! And I have no problem with occasional splurges!

oh yea - Liberte yogurt is great. I think it has a fair amount of fat in it, which is probably why! So creamy - I love it - haven't had it in a long time, though...

I can eat it now, but IIRC it took several months before I could tolerate it...

I would have been ecstatic of even getting to 200 lbs, to be honest. It was an absolute pipe dream when i started out at close to 400. And I certainly would have been MUCH healthier at that weight than I was at 400!!! I would have been fine with that, to be honest...

you're actually lucky - a lot of people can't eat any solids at all. The only thing "solid" I could eat was sugar free Jello (which I ate with abandon since it was the only thing I could have that resembled real food). Otherwise, it was no-calorie beverages, broth, and V8/tomato juice (and the last two were limited - I think a cup a day). And 4-5 protein shakes. It was tough..

the ones where I could taste the protein did. Like Premier Protein ready to drink. A lot of the people love those, but I could taste the protein in them, so I didn't like them at all. Maybe try some different brands. I found Syntrax and Unjury products tolerable...but everyone's tastes are different.

yea - there are some things I used to love (like bananas) that I can't stomach anymore. Bananas taste absolutely cloying to me now (there are other foods, too - but bananas immediately came to mind...) some things I couldn't tolerate early out, though, I can eat now. Like a lot of sweet or spicy things. They tasted really intense to me at first. Not sure if I just got used to it or what, but I can tolerate a lot of them now...