summerset

So you lose 200 lbs and regain 20. That's still a weight loss of 180 lbs. Still success. Nothing that throws you back into the morbidly obese range. I think there is a big difference between a rather small weight gain (compared to the weight lost) and a really big weight gain.

You seem to be absolutely terrified of this? May I ask why?

If you're able to maintain that kind of starvation lifestyle for 2 or 3 years and beyond - kudos to you! I'm terrified of having to eat 1000-1200 cals a day while needing to exercise 4-5 days 45 min a day. Find a sustainable lifestyle early on. Like a really sustainable lifestyle. One that fits your needs and not that of somebody else or a lifestyle that blows to pieces the very moment "life hits you". I know a lot of users on here throw a fit the very moment there is talk about "moderation" - however, I think our whole life is about "moderation", not only this eating stuff. Or maybe I should rather use the word "regulation" instead? You need to learn how to regulate yourself, the amount you eat, drink, use alcohol or caffeine, have sex, exercise, express your emotions etc. Too little of these things and life might be miserable, too much of these things and life might be miserable, too.

There is a variety of non-milk based protein powders. Soy, pea, rice, hemp etc. Vega tastes very sweet (if you mean the brand Brendan Brazier created). It's very heavy on stevia. I use some Vega products as well but only occasionally.

It's kind of weird to call your diet "plant-based" when you're eating meat every day.

If only people who are "ready" (i. e. who won't overeat) would get the surgery we would have a 100% success rate of surgery. Everyone would lose 100% excess weight, everyone would maintain it. If people would already have overcome overeating before surgery - they wouldn't need the surgery at all. It's completely unrealistic to expect WLS patients to never overeat again. A surgeon who has his things together should be aware of this. And white knuckling over an amount of six months or three months or whatever the magic timespan for your surgeon might be doesn't proof diddly squat, let alone the patient "doesn't overeat anymore". Why wear the willpower of the patient out before surgery?

I guess so. Maybe being very overweight was the only thing holding the wife or husband back from getting a divorce. "Better being in a not-that-ideal marriage than having to face a future life all alone" might be what a lot of people are thinking. Statistically it's way harder to find a new partner if you're fat. Same with jobs. Getting a new partner or a new job is way less harder if you have a normal weight or if you're only slightly overweight so people might finally find the courage to do what they wanted to do for years.

Liquids are way more important than protein. The body won't die when you're not meeting your protein goals. Not getting in enough liquids is way more critical.

Sounds familiar, that "this time it will be different", huh? --- WLS doesn't prevent people miraculously from "falling off the strict diet and exercise program wagon". Might be time to consider what wagon really to hop on.

This. You basically start to eat like "normal people". For some that's ok when it comes to maintaining. Others don't maintain on it. No idea why that is. Maybe the ones who gain don't eat like "normal people" after all but like they ate before surgery. "People live". Well, hopefully they really do. I personally think identifying as "a WLS patient" for the rest of my life is not something to strive for. It's interesting that some people seem to be eager to identify themselves with their medical conditions: "diabetic", "sleever", "food addict" etc. - gives me a weird kind of feeling somehow.

Well, it's definitely something to consider to say when looking at the dramatic impact an ideal diet and best medical treatment has on coronary heart disease.

I don't know if some members of treatment teams really view it as a permanent, lifelong diet but I sometimes get the impression that they do, e. g. when patients are given instructions like "eat only x amount of calories a day, don't eat more than x grams of fat and x grams of carbs a day and exercise x times a week" - that sounds like your usual dieting advice (since a view years all "dieting advice" seems to be marketed as "lifestyle changes") and a surefire way to obsession and burnout in the long run. Maybe you're right with this. I can remember after post-surgery nutrition class was over and the nutritionist clearly said to ditch the low-fat stuff that two patients were talking about "buying skim milk, low-fat cheese and low-fat curd". I was thinking "WTF?? What exactly did the nutritionist talk about only 15 min ago?? Why aren't people just glad that they will never have to eat this awful stuff again?"

Don't know what people on this thread are regarding as healthy but this is what I made recently: - cut up tempeh in thick slices and fry it brown in a bit of coconut oil - add sweet soy sauce and bake until it starts caramelizing - take tempeh off the pan, add frozen green beans and cook until done - add a bit of sate and let it melt I was too lazy to cook rice so I ate it without, lol.

I can't get use to almond milk somehow - I always use soy. I only use almond milk (don't want to use soy in everything) if the taste of the other ingredients definitely overpowers the almond milk.

Why lie to people if they ask?

Are you hungry or do you have an appetite? If you never feel satisfied - do you eat the foods you really want to eat or the foods you feel you should eat?

Maybe the surgeon will tell you that with a BMI of 29 you're out of the obese category and everything's fine. Surgeons seems to have more modest (more realistic?) goals for their patients than the patients themselves.

After I saw her posting pictures of the vitamins I thought this might be a sales thing.

I agree. You take a look into the box that has a label stamped on that reads "lifestyle changes" and when you take a look inside the box you see something in there that would have been called "being on a diet" some years ago. Too many lifestyle changes are really diets in disguise (maybe that is why they don't work longterm - just like diets).

Then why do so many patients treat it like one? Fault of the treatment team because they seem to treat it too often like one, too?

I think nutritionists should ditch the standard advice - if the nutritionist is going to dish out standard advice the patient can as well refer to a high gloss booklet. Costs less money and might be more informative as well in some cases. IMO nutritionists should give out tailored advice. For standard advice: see a booklet. When visiting a nutritionist when it comes to bariatric surgery I demand that the nutritionist is able to do a few things: - different surgeries and the challenges that come with them, this includes supplement advice according to bloodwork - different dietary approaches (e. g. the low carb approach vs. the pound of cure) - being able to advice patients of different cultural backgrounds when it comes to food choices - being able to change gears when one approach obviously doesn't work instead of scolding the patient and telling him to "just try harder" - being able to cater to different dietary preferences of patients (might not be a good idea to advice patients to eat more fish when the thought of eating fish makes the patient want to gag, you maybe also shouldn't advice "lean meats" to a vegetarian) - being able to incorporate the patient's activity level and lifestyle into the dietary advice (e. g. shift workers, patients with high activity levels)

That's like asking "Do you like having a constantly nagging spouse in your life? - Yes or No?"

Of course there are people beating addiction. But there are more of them that lose the battle. Look up the relapse rates when it comes to addiction. They're devastating.

Profit? Can't think of another reason. Btw, I think we need to post more in the Proteinoholic thread I guess.

Because people are different and have expectations/wishes that vary a great deal.