summerset

Unfortunately bowel obstruction and internal hernia can happen to anyone who had abdominal surgery, doesn't matter if it's WLS or not.

Quitting smoking is a b***h. Wishing you success here.

9.8% is still pretty high. That's 1 out of 10 patients. If it would be 1 out of 1000 or maybe 1 out of 100 I'd say it's pretty low, but not 1 out of 10.

I don't know why people are saying this (do they really? never saw this). However, there are quite a few that get conversions to bypass because of reflux complications.

Yes, try rice and pasta with caution first. Some patients can't stomach them. Same with Muesli. Rice fills me up really quick. For some reason I have a problem with re-heated pasta (starches change their structure after cooking and cooling down after all but I only have that problem with pasta, not with rice or oats). So when cooking at home I use edamame pasta - re-heating no problem. Udon noodles are also not a problem.

Hmmmmm, looks yum. I'm going to make a veg burger this evening, mimicking the "French" burger we used to get in the town we used to live in.

Looks interesting - is the pineapple at the bottom of this thing?

Yes, there is but I'm not talking about "can't stomach this" here. The restrictions of the peri-operative diet are necessary but anything beyond the healing phase is different from county to country, even different from treatment team to treatment team and what is "allowed" or not is about 100% arbitrary. I've never heard of this "no starches" for whatever period of time before coming to a US board. Mashed potatoes are a staple food of the German mushy diet phase. Also bread is part of a normal post-op diet once the healing phase is over. We were supposed to start with not-toasted toast when introducing bread before upgrading to normal bread (*yuck*, btw). I'm still waiting for someone coming up with a study proving that the "no starches, limit carbs and calories to ridiculously small amounts a day" is more successful in the long run than other less restrictive approaches. And I'm not talking about follow-ups up until a year but way beyond that time period, lets say 5 years and beyond. I also wonder what the next post-bariatric diet hype will be.

On a side note: I really would be interested in the long term results of restrictive regimen vs. flexible control, not only in terms of weight but also in terms of quality of life and body satisfaction.

One could argue into the opposite direction that in giving strict food rules to people having issues with food is setting them up for failure in the long run. Most have endured their fair share of restrictive diets in the past without long term success and there are enough WLS patients jumping eagerly on the dieting merry-go-round again after "having fallen off the wagon" (i. e. when the burning out has set in after being gung-ho with their restrictive diets in the honeymoon period). So many people on here are eager to recommend therapy or counseling - you know what an eating disorder therapist (and I personally wouldn't go near any other therapist when it comes to food issues) is most likely going to recommend? A restrictive diet? I think not because that seems to be essentially the worst thing one can recommend to someone with food issues. First the weight comes off fast, then it slows down, then there is the first stall and the second one, maybe a little gain from water retention - and then finally the frustration sets in. As soon as the rewards stop rolling in big, it gets harder and harder and harder to follow the (self-)prescribed strict diet and/or exercise program. And then the "falling off the wagon" happens, followed by a restrictive regimen again, usually accompanied by the vow of "NEVER AGAIN!!!! THIS TIME I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL ONCW AND FOR ALL". Sounds familiar? Of course it does because it happened numerous times before WLS. Why people are taking the risk of falling down that dieting rabbit hole again after having WLS is beyond me.

Depends. We were allowed more or less all foods after 4 weeks were over. One should introduce new foods with caution though.

No.

1.5 years of mandatory therapy? Offering therapy, yes. Mandatory, no. Nobody should be forced into therapy or counseling.

Something came to mind regarding the Tzatziki: before I had to quit dairy I used to use either a really thick greek yoghurt or Quark or a mix of both so it would be kind of thick despite the watery cucumber.

Oh, IIRC I saw this at a German ALDI once (they carry some Trader Joe's products). Was it good?

Nope, but I guess this could be from a cookbook called "The Lazy Bachelor (age 20-25)". 1 400 g pot Alpro Skyr style 1 cucumber (not too big) fresh garlic to taste spice mix "Tzatziki" to taste Cut cucumber very small or grate it not too fine, press garlic, mix everything together and let sit for at least an hour. ETA: don't use too much cucumber or it will get too runny, even when using a very thick yoghurt (substitute)

I think people give a rat's ass about your or my or anybody else's weight loss. They simply want to know your strategy so they can use it to lose weight, too. Oh, it seems like you forgot to mention the game changing thing here. Maybe they were too polite to ask any further. Maybe they were also smelling some kind of bullshit. Pretty judgmental. Must be that high horse you're riding on right now. GL...

Looks boring but it's going to be a keeper: self made batch of tzatziki using Alpro Skyr.

Oh wow, now finally someone "explains" obesity and enlightens the masses! WOOHOOO!!!! Well, a few too many claimed to have "it all sorted out" and "being able to provide a solution to the crisis" in the past. I wonder what the big hype will be 5 years from now. ?

I think this is good advice. We're living in a environment that provides food in excess and everyone has to find a sustainable way to deal with this. Preferably a way that doesn't end in some kind of insanity.

Damn, I feel hot these days, LOL! Heat wave in Germany. It's most likely the not-eating that makes one feel cold, the body producing less heat to save energy. Later the loss of insulation is a factor, too, but the calorie restriction seems to be the culprit for feeling cold. Ask anyone who's fasting, no matter the weight.

Being young enough for fusion means you're going to have one or two segments fused and a year or two later the segment above or below (usually above as it seems) has decompensated and you'll need another segment fused and if you're still young enough a few years later some more segments... And many patients still have pain after fusion. Spine surgery seems to be a real royal b***h.

Seems to be a bit controversial. Where I had surgery patients are cleared for coffee and real tea after four weeks are over (finally real coffee again after 28 days). Before that no real coffee, decaffeinated or not, and no tea. However, this really wasn't about the caffeine but about that the above said beverages can irritate the stomach.

I'm always curious about these "specific reasons" though.

It depends on the powder, if it's still unopened or not and how it was stored (cool place, warmer place). I consumed plant based protein powders that were some months over the expiration date and they tasted just fine. However, I also had a plant based protein powder that wasn't even over the expiration date but open for quite a while and it was not really powdery anymore. So if in doubt, throw it out.