Ronjohn

I still like all the crap food I did before, so maybe you'll be luckier.
The surgery doesn't fix your head, as I'm sure you've read, so be careful. I've had to rethink how I think about food. Deriving enjoyment from food is a daily struggle. I tell everyone I meet that's getting surgery to remember, it's only a tool, you still have to "man up" and follow the diet.

There's a lot of truth to this... After a couple months you can do just about anything you want, but you better keep it in moderation if you want to continue weight loss... Most of us don't do well with moderation, as evidenced by our need for this surgery.

I had a mixed drink at 6 weeks out and a beer at 8 weeks. I'm sure everyone's doctor will tell them something different. My nutritionist has never advocated beer, as it's pretty much dead calories. I'm right at 2 years out, and can't drink more than a 6 pack in about 4 hours. Not advocating this, but it might have happened at a football game. It's very easy to drink calories, so be very mindful of this.... It's also very easy to eat garbage after a few drinks...

I have a smoothie every morning. It contains greek yogurt, fairlife milk, 6 frozen strawberries and four packets of splenda. It has 18 grams of Protein, 18 grams of carbs, 0 grams of fat and 142 calories. I moved to this when I got off the Protein shakes. I am actually debating going back to the Protein Shakes as I seemed to lose more weight on them even though they had more calories. May have just been a coincidence...

I have a smoothie every morning. It contains greek yogurt, fairlife milk, 6 frozen strawberries and four packets of splenda. It has 18 grams of Protein, 18 grams of carbs, 0 grams of fat and 142 calories. I moved to this when I got off the Protein shakes. I am actually debating going back to the Protein Shakes as I seemed to lose more weight on them even though they had more calories. May have just been a coincidence...

Giving up beer was probably the thing for me. A typical night for me would involve some takeout and a six pack of beer. I know I could change the diet, but was unsure on the beer. I stopped drinking the day I start my pre-op diet. I have had a couple beers since then, but they are rare they don't come home. I think having the surgery is a line in the sand moment for me. I keep saying to myself "How can you gut yourself open and have all the risks involved with surgery and not commit to this". May not be the best logic, but it works for me. I keep looking at beer as just dead calories between me an my goal. I am also stubborn, so once I decided to do this, there was no going back...

Giving up beer was probably the thing for me. A typical night for me would involve some takeout and a six pack of beer. I know I could change the diet, but was unsure on the beer. I stopped drinking the day I start my pre-op diet. I have had a couple beers since then, but they are rare they don't come home. I think having the surgery is a line in the sand moment for me. I keep saying to myself "How can you gut yourself open and have all the risks involved with surgery and not commit to this". May not be the best logic, but it works for me. I keep looking at beer as just dead calories between me an my goal. I am also stubborn, so once I decided to do this, there was no going back...

Giving up beer was probably the thing for me. A typical night for me would involve some takeout and a six pack of beer. I know I could change the diet, but was unsure on the beer. I stopped drinking the day I start my pre-op diet. I have had a couple beers since then, but they are rare they don't come home. I think having the surgery is a line in the sand moment for me. I keep saying to myself "How can you gut yourself open and have all the risks involved with surgery and not commit to this". May not be the best logic, but it works for me. I keep looking at beer as just dead calories between me an my goal. I am also stubborn, so once I decided to do this, there was no going back...

Thanks, I was not aware of that. I didn't research this option when I was looking at WLS.
I guess that means you need to eat 100+ grams of Protein everyday to hit your protein goals?

Start using MFP and track your caloric intake. I bet you are somewhere around 1,500 calories a day. Wheat thins and Peanut Butter could easily be 300+ calories as a snack. Switch this to PB2 and celery and you are at 100 calories. That's a 200 calorie shift... You have to find healthy snack replacements.
I tell my wife all the time "the little things add up". One donught won't kill your diet, but when you follow it with a Mountain Dew with fries you have problems...

i too was interested in this... but more from a motivational/life changing messaging. I didn't really pursue it as I have a fulltime career already. I do feel that there is much to talk to people about beyond the surgery itself, beyond the food plans, beyond the short term view. Much of that may belong in a therapy setting - but I do think there is a big picture message here that someone who HAS successfully transformed their life can communicate better than any therapist I have ever met.

Try mixing your shakes with milk to help get your calories up. I was supposed to be at 700 calories and that seemed to be the only way I could get there. I also put milk in cream Soups to help get more calories. It's a struggle, but it is doable.
I stalled for four days myself, so I know how you fee. I actually went to the NUT on the fourth day and moaned about it. She laughed and said four days was hardly a stall. I weigh everyday, but I don't really freak out about it. I just do my plan and it will all work out. I stress more about remembering my supplements and eating on time. If I'm not careful I can go 6 hours without eating.

Try mixing your shakes with milk to help get your calories up. I was supposed to be at 700 calories and that seemed to be the only way I could get there. I also put milk in cream Soups to help get more calories. It's a struggle, but it is doable.
I stalled for four days myself, so I know how you fee. I actually went to the NUT on the fourth day and moaned about it. She laughed and said four days was hardly a stall. I weigh everyday, but I don't really freak out about it. I just do my plan and it will all work out. I stress more about remembering my supplements and eating on time. If I'm not careful I can go 6 hours without eating.

I made this today and it was pretty good. I made a couple of them with cheddar cheese (I ran out of cottage cheese) and stuck them under the broiler for a couple minutes and those turned out pretty good also.

I made this today and it was pretty good. I made a couple of them with cheddar cheese (I ran out of cottage cheese) and stuck them under the broiler for a couple minutes and those turned out pretty good also.

I have gone to a few different counselors over the years, and have found the be quite useless. I'm not what I was expecting to be quite honest, but whatever it was I didn't find it.
I have actually contemplated seeing a counselor lately to deal with my food issues (addictions in general). With the sleeve, I am losing weight and feel confident that I will continue. I have lost weight multiple times before only to find it all again. I would really like to figure out how I overcome this addiction and learn to control it and not let i control me.
Do they have VSG food counselors?

I had some with ground up pepper and some cherry tomatoes last night and it was OK. Not bad, but at least it was a change of pace. I bought some mushrooms list night to try out that recipe. That recipe looks YUM...

They should pin this somewhere.

They should pin this somewhere.

They should pin this somewhere.

Maybe you can try a Bloody Mary. It has Tomato juice, so there is slightly something redeeming about them. I had two yesterday at a super bowl party with no issues, or then a buzz that comes on a little bit quicker. The tomato juice has tons of salt, so I wanted get on the scale the next day. I gained two pounds over night and only ate/drank like 1,200 calories for the day.
Not to people in weight loss phase. Alcohol does have calories, so watch you drinking. 400 of the 1,200 calories I had yesterday were drank, and I'm not talking about Protein shakes. Not a good idea to be doing frequently...

They should pin this somewhere.

I have a sleeve and in theory yes, a patient should be physically able to eat whatever they want once they are healed after surgery. Medically there is not a limit that says you can't have Pasta or you can't drink beer. In my case, my stomach hates food that has oils, some sugars, fats, anything that has been anywhere near a fryer, and a variety of other things like fish and cheese. If I eat these things I can usually count on puking within a few minutes. Past that though, throughout the entire time I have had the sleeve I have eaten what I want to and it sort of irks me when people get on their high horse about how if you have a sleeve you should be eating Protein, veggies, and healthy stuff all the time. No, I did not have my stomach cut out so I could spend the rest of my life on the same diet I was on for the first part of my life. My problem has never been that I don't eat healthy food, just that I ate way too much of it. So now, I'll have oatmeal and granola for Breakfast, just like I used to, except i heat 1/2-1/3 the bowl instead. I'll have a handful of crackers as a snack now, instead of eating the whole box. I'll have a lunchable for lunch, except eat only half of it. I basically eat whatever I want to with far smaller portions and I have not had a hard time maintaining at my goal weight.
That being said, "whatever I want to" is not ice cream, pizza and beer. All of that makes me sick anyway, so that was helpful. I noticed that I can eat some Desserts and that was the one thing that resulted in almost instant weight regain. So now, I don't eat sweets. If I am at a birthday party, I might have a few bites of cake, or if I am at a picnic I have no problem eating a few bites of pie, but I don't bring it into my house because then I will eat it all and gain weight. There isn't anything that is strictly off limits for me if I want to eat something and I don't mind puking, however because I'm not limited I have no real great desire to eat stuff that ultimately just makes me feel crummy.
So, no, if you want to eat all the same food you used to in far smaller portions, then go for it. If you can maintain your weight loss doing this, then good for you. 1200 calories is 1200 calories...sure we feel better if we eat that in Protein and healthy food and our health is much better, but if you have a day where you eat 1200 calories in donuts every once in a while, so what. Life is for living, not for choking down chicken and broccoli everyday for the rest of your life.

We didn't get some Raven fans on the Pittsburgh post, did we?

That made me laugh... How often do we have a Sir Mix-A-Lot reference on BariatricPal?