Airstream88

And yes they do. I had a friend who was a food chemist. She worked on making things taste good. Maybe not by adding chemicals but adding salt, sugar and fat to massage those receptors that make us want more. As someone else said, I eat my protein first and that usually leaves me only a little room to eat anything else. I also eat 5 times a day - every 3 - 4 hours - with no snacking in between. And I follow the drinking rule and try to limit slider foods to occasional indulgences. I plan on continuing this way of eating for the rest of my life.

Are you following the 30-30 rule (no drinking 30 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after eating)? Are you eating enough? Have you upped your Protein to account for extra exercise? My NUT set my protein range from 75- 90. On workout days I try to make 90 or more. I eat 5 times a day, every 3 - 4 hours and include a protein serving at each meal and also 2 multigrain carbs, 3 healthy fats, 2 fruit servings and veggies daily. The carbs and fruits and veggies are after I eat the protein. I probably eat around 1000 - 1200 calories daily which was ok'd by my surgeon's office.

I did go back and check out your first link. It's a concern but you have to balance the potential side effects against not doing anything and remaining obese. I would still choose the surgery because I have osteoarthritis in my knees, neck, and back and I was pre-diabetic. I was either going to have 2 knee replacements or WLS. I used to take 3200mg of Ibuprofen a day to be able to walk. Now I take almost no pain medicine - just Tylenol before working out or on a rainy day. My back and neck don't hurt any longer and I'm no longer pre-diabetic. I wonder if obese people lose bone density as they lose weight via surgery because our bodies are lighter and no longer need the extra strength in our bones we needed to carry all that weight.

No one has complained of dental issues in my WLS program group. One of the nurses in our program had surgery 17 years ago and has never mentioned having issues with her teeth. I think what happens is that many people slack off on their Vitamin/Calcium regimens after a few years or change from Bariatric Vitamins to store brands which are not absorbed very well by bariatric patients. It takes a while for Vitamin deficiencies to show up and by the time they do, you are severely deficient.

You probably need to up your Protein if you have substantially increased your exercise. My protein goal is 90gm. I just read a couple of studies where researchers have found that too much exercise can hurt weight loss. The body will only allow so much activity to affect our metabolism and body composition. "The researchers measured the daily energy expenditure and activity levels of more than 332 adults drawn from five countries across Africa and North America over the course of a week. They found that physical activity does have a weak influence on daily energy expenditure, but only among subjects on the lower half of the physical activity spectrum. People with moderate activity levels had higher daily energy expenditures - about 200 calories more - than the most sedentary people. However, people who did more than moderate activity had nothing to show for it in terms of increasing the amount of energy they expended."

Gas-X strips, some Protein powders (I liked unjury chocolate the first month, hate it now), SF Jello (counts as a liquid), SF popsicles (something to chew on and they count as liquid!), decaffeinated tea bags (warm tea went down better than Water at first)

At first eating out is pretty difficult. You can only eat certain things and very little. As time passes, you will be able to eat more and ordering an entree and taking 1/2 home will become a normal occurrence. My first time eating out I had crab soup. The second time I had chicken tortilla soup and guacamole that I ate with a fork (no chips). Now I can order chicken, beef or shrimp Entrees (without rice or pasta).

At 4 months I could eat maybe the turkey and a few bites of the veggies and no stuffing since bread swells up in my stomach. I don't expect to ever be able to eat an entire 8-10" plate of food in one sitting again.

Why would you do that? Watching any surgery would freak someone out. I had my Achilles Tendon reconstructed. They cut a tendon that controlled my big toe , drilled a hole through my heel and anchored the graft using that tendon. If I had not had the surgery, I wouldn't be able to walk. What is your health going to be like 10 years from now if you don't have WLS? You can wait like me until you have arthritis so bad in your joints from carrying too much weight that even losing weight won't get rid of all of the pain.

If your self-esteem and self-worth are wrapped up in how you look then the appearance related results of this surgery (saggy skin, droopy boobs, etc) might make you feel worse. I had RNY last October because my knees and back were killing me and I was pre-diabetic with high blood pressure controlled by meds. It was either WLS or 2 knee replacements. If I had been able to lose 60% of the weight on my own and only had 30% more to go I may have questioned my decision. The question you need to ask yourself is can you maintain your weight loss, not only to lose the 33 pounds you have left but to keep all of it off down the road. Most studies show that people who lose weight w/o surgery gain their weight back. I have a friend who is a kick-a$$ dieter - lost tons of weight and then over the next 2 years ended up gaining most of it back and has to start all over again. It has been proven our bodies fight us tooth and nail to put the weight back on. All I can say is that I'm 54 and am so happy I had this surgery. 94 pounds total are gone and I'm no longer pre-diabetic and my knees and back thank me every day! Some saggy skin is a small price to pay for feeling 100% better. For years I had told myself there was no way I would have WLS surgery. Now I only wish I had this surgery sooner.

You are doing this for your health and well-being. What difference does it make what people think? To ask for a bigger stomach so you don't have to face the questions of others is setting yourself up for failure. I told everyone I was having the surgery - co-workers, family, etc. Everyone has been supportive and happy for me that I am finally losing the weight and looking and moving better. I made the decision to be open about it because I didn't want to have to lie or pretend to people about why I was eating so little or losing so much weight so fast. A good Bariatric surgeon requires a visit to the Nutritionist and the Psychologist to make sure you are ready for such a life-changing surgery.

You have to take small bites and chew very well. At first you may only get in a few bites. chicken was the hardest for me but I found out if I dipped it in salsa, hummus or low fat gravy it went down easier. The only steak I eat is Filet Mignon cooked medium rare. I found meatballs and meatloaf easier at first. But I could only eat 1 meatball at a time - I made them with ground sirloin instead of regular ground beef. It will get easier as the weeks go by.

Yep. I have a heated mattress pad on my bed, otherwise I would freeze at night.

The 30-30 rule is that you should stop drinking 30 minutes prior to eating, don't drink while eating and don't drink again until 30 minutes after. The 30 minutes after is so you don't flush the food out of your stomach and end up hungry right away. I guess everyone is different. I had my surgery about the same time as you and I am able to eat about 3 oz of most Proteins as long as they are moist. Chicken was difficult at first but I found if I dipped it in salsa, hummus, or guacamole I could tolerate it better. My NUT has us eating 5 mini-meals a day - every 3 to 4 hours. I'm eating about 90 grams of protein daily now.

Do you eat your Protein first? Are you eating real protein like chicken, shrimp, tuna, steak, pork, eggs, etc? Are you following the 30-30 rule? liquid shakes and things like crackers and bread do not make you feel full.

My NUT does not believe they deliver what they claim. I take the Nutrametrix Isotonic Multivitamins and Calcium that you mix with water. 95% of the vitamins are absorbed.

I posted this on another thread: I originally wanted the sleeve but ended up deciding on RNY on my surgeon's advice. It was only my 3rd surgery ever in my lifetime. If your surgeon is experienced then you should have nothing to worry about. Mine was a part of a "Bariatric Center of Excellence" and had done this operation for over 10 years. I don't recall seeing that the complications percentages from RNY were that much higher than Sleeve - maybe 1 %. The first couple days are rough but things get better exponentially each day after that. I am so glad I had this surgery. Really wished I had had it 10 years ago. My blood sugar is back to normal from being borderline diabetic. My knees and back feel so much better. I can walk faster, touch my toes, and generally just do everything so much easier than before.

I originally wanted the sleeve but ended up deciding on RNY on my surgeon's advice. It was only my 3rd surgery ever in my lifetime. If you surgeon is experienced then you should have nothing to worry about. Mine was a part of a "Bariatric Center of Excellence" and had done this operation for over 10 years. I don't recall seeing that the complications percentages from RNY were that much higher than Sleeve - maybe 1 %. The first couple days are rough but things get better exponentially each day after that. I am so glad I had this surgery. Really wished I had had it 10 years ago. My blood sugar is back to normal from being borderline diabetic. My knees and back feel so much better. I can walk faster, touch my toes, and generally just do everything so much easier than before.

Yes I did. Each surgeon is different. I really didn't do well on purees. Have always been a visual eater and the look and texture of pureed meat was off-putting to say it mildly. I did do the Ricotta bake (recipe on the "The World according to Eggface" blog). Drank my shakes, and ate yogurt, SF pudding with unflavored Protein powder, etc. eggs didn't really agree with me until 3 months out. Once on soft foods I could have part-skim mozzarella sticks and they were life-savers. Now though I have no desire to eat them. LOL! There are nice recipes on bariatriceating.com. I will warn you that their Facebook group members are hard-core and are proponents of little to no-carb eating. I'm a moderate. I always failed at hard-core dieting so I probably eat more than most. But I haven't had any stalls longer than a few days and have no issues with constipation now that I can eat all of my protein instead of drinking it.

Truvia makes a brown sugar blend I've used in recipes but I am 4 months out from surgery, not 2 weeks. My NUT guidelines was that sugar (any - cane sugar, brown sugar, etc) shouldn't be one of the first 5 ingredients and shouldn't be more than 6gms per serving. Can you figure out how many grams of sugar each serving would contain?

I was on pureed for the first 2 weeks, then soft foods for the following 2 then at day 31 I was allowed to start eating regular foods with restrictions - no raw veggies, small seeds (sesame, etc), no white bread, no Pasta, etc. sugar free popsicles helped me with the need to chew.

You can drink Smooth Move Tea. It definitely helps me when I'm constipated. Also Colace stool softener is good. I have resorted to enemas a few times. Now that I can eat all my Protein via real food, I haven't had any issues.

My NUT has solid reasoning for the 5 mini - meals a day: 1. You can't eat enough Protein on 3 meals a day. 2. The stomach empties in 3 hours. If you only eat every 6 - 8 hours you will be starving. Eating every 3-4 hours helps to keep your blood sugar stable. However, no snacking in between the mini-meals. Extra food will be stored not used. 3. Eating protein at every meal keeps you feeling full longer because it takes longer to digest dense Proteins. Layering food - having protein, fat and aou good carb also helps with keeping hunger at bay

My NUT has us eating 5 meals daily - every 3 to 4 hours. 3 meals a day with no Snacks is unrealistic.

My sister had a Lifestyle lift. She was happy with the results but said if she knew the truth about recovery she probably wouldn't do it again. They do it while you are awake - cutting and stitching as they go. It took 3 months before she could sleep in her bed and several years later she can still feel tightness behind her ears where they pulled the skin back to smooth out her neck.