stacyrg2

A grande light frappucinno has 23g of sugar and 24g of carbs. That would not be acceptable on my plan, well ever. A Protein shake by Premier, Quest or Syntrax would be a much better option. I know to be successful, I had to become much more selective about what I eat and drink. Again, this is all as it relates to me (I'm 2 and a half years post surgery I wouldn't drink anything with that much sugar or carbs. That drink has more carbs than a eat some days. Just a bit of advice, because I want people to be successful, you really should become a smart consumer and read before you consume. If you were aware of the stats of this drink and still are considering it post op, I apologize for trying to foist my beliefs regarding successful behavior post surgery, on you. Good luck!

I agree. I met with my program's dietitian on Friday (I'm a sleeve to bypass revision because of severe reflux) and she feels I'm walking down the slippery slope again. since my revision in July, my calories have been below 1000. With my activity level and the fact that my surgery didn't really change my capacity much, she's concerned I'm not eating enough. So, it looks like I'm going down the path I walked last year and hoping to reign in my eating disorder before it again starts to impact my health. It was really eye opening to talk to the program's therapist the first time. I can't remember the exact conversation, but I said something and his response was "and there it is . . . would you like to say hello to your eating disorder??" It took that conversation to shake me mentally awake and realize all I was doing was exchanging one eating disorder (overeating) for another (exercise bulimia/severe calorie restriction) I do believe, and have expressed this to my surgeon, that patients should be required to have some sort of therapy post surgery (if not required, then it should definitely be made available.) The program's therapist said that approximately 15% of patients end up with some form of disordered eating after surgery. In my mind, this number is too high.

It seems everyone has interpreted the original post differently. My take on it was that she wasn't ranting about people asking questions about excess skin or researching the issue - she was talking about people who are contemplating losing weight and using excess skin as a reason to stay overweight and not take any action. I have seen a lot of those posts too and they make me sad because that person is not ready to make changes yet.
I love that this community is so brutally honest. I am clearly a food addict and a dose of reality (or a swift kick in the pants) is oftentimes sorely needed. Those messages can be a bitter dose to swallow and hard to hear sometimes, but I really want to succeed this time and I want to be called out when I am rationalizing.

@@Christina.Rose
I, like @@Djmohr had the surgery for health reasons also. Young people just don't understand that although you may think you're 'healthy' and fat, it DOES and WILL catch up to you once you hit your 40's.
I went up and down with my weight most of my adult life, all the while touting I was 'healthy' fat. Once I reached 47, my blood pressure was sky high, I became diabetic and had a fatty liver. My mom had died 3 years earlier at 68 of heart disease from high blood pressure. I wasn't about to go down that road and die relatively young like her.
So yes, people do have the surgery for health reasons. Once they lose the weight, the benefit of looking slimmer and healthier is just icing on the cake.

@@Christina.Rose
Did you read your original post where you called people liars?
Pot/Kettle......just saying.

I can honestly say that when i had WLS it was 100% because of my health. My kidneys were failing and I was headed for dialysis and possibly a transplant down the road.
My nephrologist suggested WLS knowing that I had been trying to lose weight on my own for years. I was also 51 when I had my surgery and the concern was losing and keeping it off to give my kidneys a break.
Never once did it occur to me that I would lose all of my excess weight nor did i care even a little about what i would look like after.
Not until the 3 month mark did it even occur to me that I would care. Once the fat was gone, I started to feel fantastic. My kidney function was better, no more diabetes, high blood pressure, severe GERD, sleep apnea. My knees and feet no longer hurt. I could walk for miles and miles.....after only about 3 months!
What people dont realize is how that extra skin makes a person feel. The possibility of looking as good as you feel finally begins to hit you. (It takes a while because your brain needs time to catch up with your body)
You are finally at goal but now the extra skin is pulling on you and it is ugly so plastics then enters your head.
I get it you are 30, you probably do not have the health issues many other morbidly obese patients have so you can not relate. And i totally understand your concern about loose skin because I am living it and would not want to be as young as you are and know that it will happen.
But, all that being said. I NEVER EVER thought about having WLS for any other reason than my health issues. Getting thin and now caring about how I look came after i realized that I could lose all my weight and not only be healthier but look halfway decent too.
Please dont assume that everyone who has had WLS is doing it for non health reasons. It simply is not true.

You seem nice.

I think Premier Protein is a much better choice. Less sugar and much more Protein. They don't taste half bad, either!
It's important to get into the habit of finding things with the most protein that will give you the best bang for your buck so to speak. When you have so little room in your new tummy and you need to get 70, 80,100 grams of protein in a day, you're going to understand

This is something that is WAY overlooked in the WLS world! Post-Bariatric Eating (counting every single carb and calorie you put in your mouth) is awesome and helps us be extremely successful with weight loss, but also re-engages perhaps dormant eating disorders or swings binge eating the other direction to anorexia. I've been in therapy with an eating disorder therapist since 10 months post op (am now 3+ years post op) and that has been a huge issue for me. Right now I would consider myself in a "maintained recovery", but it's a constant struggle. Get support - talk to a therapist - this is not uncommon and I wish we as a community addressed it more.

You can. I have, for the most part, overcome this compulsion/obsession. Yes, I'm careful with what I eat, but fear does not dictate my life. I know if I eat a cookie, I'm not going to die, I'm not going to gain all my weight back, and things will be ok. Yes, I'm 2.5 years post surgery and at goal, so I can ease up a bit. It will take work for you, but yo can do it.

Nope it's air. Carbonation stretching the sleeve is a myth.
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I drink rite the way up till I eat then after I eat I wait 30 min it has been so much easier I use to wait before and after my surgeon said not needed to wait before it has been a game changer for me I can now get more fluids in.
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Why is it that there is always one person who reads things into the original post that aren't there and then viciously slams the poster whit their own self righteous rant?
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It's actually pretty easy and doesn't take very long. As for meats, I just measure into 3-4oz portions and wrap and freeze what I won't immediately use. Veggies, I tend to buy very small amounts of fresh veggies (keep in mind, I'm significantly farther out than you are) A single broccoli crown, a handful of brussels sprouts, the smallest bunch of asparagus I can find. Even now, I can only eat a few bites of veggies, so I cook accordingly.
Also, you don't have to cook it all at once. I tend to cook more than I can eat in a single meal, but I don't mind leftovers, and I don't feel the need to have "breakfast" food in the morning. This morning, I had leftover steak for Breakfast. Earlier this week, I cooked up some chicken breast tenders and made some cauliflower "fried" rice. I've had that for lunch all this week. So, cooking more than I need doesn't bother me. If it bothers or overwhelms you and you don't mind cooking every meal, you can buy the package and freeze, or like I said previously, buy at the butcher counter and purchase individual items. At this stage, a single piece of chicken will likely last 2 meals for you

I found a produce store that will allow me to purchase 3 asparagus spears or 4 broccoli trees etc. you can also go to the meat department and ask for small packages of meats or get the regular size and freeze in single servings. if a store has a salad bar you can also buy just the portions you want at a time. I no longer go to a store that only sells prepackaged veggies and huff if asked to cut it down. Walmart will even cut a speg squash in half for me now. it is like in a restaurant you have to ask for what you want and need. good luck

I had loose skin as a fat man to start with! I agree that the mentality of I will just stay fat because of skin issues is ludicrous. Even with the weight that I've already lost I can see that a Tummy Tuck is in my future because of a Betty Crocker apron of skin. I do believe that the OP wasn't intending this in a negative way for post op, just for those with their craniums up their rectum who would choose to stay fat because THEY are so vain that they don't want to risk saggy skin.

Eat dense Protein. Liquids aren't going to satisfy you or sustain you. Reset your pouch with grilled steak or chicken.
13 years later your RNY benefits are basically gone. Why not try a different way of eating like Keto? There are lots of Keto groups on Facebook that will help you get started.

I have been on this forum for about a year and a half. I have seen so many posts of people worrying about excess skin after weight loss. I find this to be incredibly trite and shallow, a roadblock thrown up in the mind to justify the subconscious reasons why we put on and hold the weight to begin with.
First of all, there are of course permanent consequences for getting so big that your skin has to stretch to be twice the size it would be if we were normal weight. It doesn't go back to a state in which it was as if we never were overweight. And so what? What is often unspoken in these forums is that a very overweight person worrying about how they are going to look if they lose weight because of sagging skin, is silly in a society in which obesity is considered ugly to begin with.
More importantly, most of us have the surgery because our bodies and lives were becoming unmanageable due to excess weight, not to look better at speed dating.
For those who are asking the question I have seen posted on this forum a million times, no your skin will not go back to being how it was before your weight gain. There is no cream, no wrap, no swanky magic that's going to make it be as if you were never overweight. The only real option for getting rid of excess skin if you are very overweight when you start, is plastic surgery.
And that comes with its own price. I am not knocking people who choose to have that, I might even choose that eventually, as vanity is one of my flaws. That said, plastic surgery is very very serious, and fairly savage. And still, your body cannot look like it would have if you had never put on weight. They will be scars. Big ones. Surgery of any kind is a serious injury to the body.
The point I am trying to make is that if you are considering having weight-loss surgery to save your life, stop worrying about your skin. Worry about the inner conditions that have led you to the point where this is necessary. Focus instead on changing your behaviors. Focus instead on health, not looks. We have such a distorted view of bodies in this country. Body diversity is beautiful! Stop thinking that you have to look a certain way. Be healthy. Be you.
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Honestly, I can't understand the frustration behind your decision because I didn't experience it. I knew it was exactly what I wanted, I didn't feel forced into it. It was MY choice and I couldn't wait to begin. If you're feeling forced or frustrated surgery, at this time, may not be the right decision for you.
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Why does it matter if your husband pooh-poohs what the nutritionist (I hope that's really an RD) told you? It's your attitude about low-fat and fat-free foods being "gross" that's your greater obstacle. When we want to do "A," it may require doing "B." It happens all the time. It's a choice and you are the one who has to make it. That he's your husband is second to your being your own grown-up.
Fine, you yelled at your mother for being negative toward you. If she has no basis for saying what he said, ignore her from here on; don't discuss the subject with her. If there is some basis, think it over. There may be something you can learn. That she's your mother is second to your being your own grown-up.
Losing weight, as most other things in life, is about choice and what we want for ourselves. Your comment, "...I know I have to listen to her..." is false. You don't "have" to do anything other than what you choose. Surgery is unlike being marched to the guillotine. It's an option for doing good for one's self. As long as you don't see it that way, you need to think it through some more.
It would be nice if the people close to you were encouraging and knew when to keep their mouths shut, but you can't have everything. Getting through life in reasonable shape requires getting what we want or need where it's available. Lot's of people do therapy as one of the sources. It can go a long way toward sorting ourselves out if we do the work.

You have to go back to basics. I'm guessing that some of the foods you've gotten complacent on are carbs. You're going to have to do a carb detox. Cut them all out. Go back to 2-3 ounces of DENSE Protein for a meal... chicken, beef, pork, tuna... maybe with a tablespoon or two or non-starchy veggies/ cottage cheese/ salad. No potatoes, Pasta, rice, sugars.
You'll have to white knuckle it for about 5-7 days. It's not easy... but use those times that you are craving crap to get your Water in.
Get your Water intake to well over 64ounces... I shoot for 100.
Measure your food. All of it. Record your food in something like My Fitness Pal, daily.
Talk to yourself. Really, honestly have a long talk with yourself and ask yourself why you're not following your plan to get thin, and why you keep going awry.
I haven't fallen off the wagon for more than a few tastes during a meal (with the exception of a can of whipped cream that I may have lost my mind over for a few days ). I like the way I'm feeling much too much to mess it up. We only have so many months of the honeymoon period. You still have time (we are close in surgery dates!)
Good luck! Get serious with yourself, and just go to basics, you can do it!

I don't mind freezing meats, so I buy the package they way it comes and when I get home, I portion it out and freeze what I won't immediately use. I know at the grocery stores where I live, you can buy a single chicken breast or thigh, or ask them to cut you a 5-6 oz steak (the cooked portion will be less than that, but I can eat about 3.5 oz of beef at a time) There are ways to get what you want, the way you want it. You just have to ask!
As for veggies, you can buy the frozen steam in the bag veggies in the single serving size. I prefer fresh, and I buy the smallest amount possible and just cook what I need.

Don't think about what you CAN eat... think about what you are supposed to eat.
At a few weeks out, you are healing. Please don't experiment to 'see' what you can possibly eat, just weigh it and eat it.

I had mine out 8 months after my VSG. I continued to lose weight steadily after surgery. If you stay on plan, you should be fine.

You can't detox your liver, it doesn't work that way. And you can't strengthen it, it isn't a muscle. The best things you can do for your liver are to avoid excessive alcohol and lose weight. Also, limit tylenol and don't do stuff that will give you hepatitis.