Meryline

I need to join this thread, lots of inspiration. Will post stuff as well, but I was already eating my lunch as I discovered the thread hehe
My new favorite carb right now is this. I add it to a lot of meals, 50g max. So easy, love the texture, and filling. Having some with my chicken right now.

Energie 606 kj / 143 kcal Fat 1,1 g Saturated 0,2 g Carbs 27 g Of which are Sugar 0,3 g Fiber 3,1 g Protein 4,8 g Salt 0,69 g

Honestly, food. You need to get more food in you. Something muschy. Try mashed potatoes, Soups, something that will give you energy. With your weight being so low already, drinking only shakes and Water at this stage is too little.

Not true. Here in Austria we start normal food at day 4. It has to be chewed to mush, and there are restrictions, like no seeds etc, but we start solid food on day 4. Day 1 is Water, day 2 is Soup, 3 is yogurt and 4 is solids. But, you can't eat the amount the OP mentions. You have to eat within a 20min window and follow all the rules etc.
I started the gym 4 weeks post op. Cleared of course.

You need to up your Protein hon. Exhaustion at this time is normal, but you do need to eat more and advance your diet as you tolerate. Try going to mushies or even thicker cream Soups. Blended veggie soups work great at this time of year. ((hugs)) I wouldn't bother working out until you can get your diet and sleep taken care of. They are way more important to long term health. And if exhaustion continues, see the doc. They need to do blood work to see if you are low in anything.

Thanks!

@FluffyChix it's spelt. It's pre cooked so I just add it to my meal that I meal prep, and then when I heat it in the micro, it's all the cooking it need. Or the last 3 min to a stew of sorts.

I need to join this thread, lots of inspiration. Will post stuff as well, but I was already eating my lunch as I discovered the thread hehe
My new favorite carb right now is this. I add it to a lot of meals, 50g max. So easy, love the texture, and filling. Having some with my chicken right now.

Energie 606 kj / 143 kcal Fat 1,1 g Saturated 0,2 g Carbs 27 g Of which are Sugar 0,3 g Fiber 3,1 g Protein 4,8 g Salt 0,69 g

I need to join this thread, lots of inspiration. Will post stuff as well, but I was already eating my lunch as I discovered the thread hehe
My new favorite carb right now is this. I add it to a lot of meals, 50g max. So easy, love the texture, and filling. Having some with my chicken right now.

Energie 606 kj / 143 kcal Fat 1,1 g Saturated 0,2 g Carbs 27 g Of which are Sugar 0,3 g Fiber 3,1 g Protein 4,8 g Salt 0,69 g

Honestly, food. You need to get more food in you. Something muschy. Try mashed potatoes, Soups, something that will give you energy. With your weight being so low already, drinking only shakes and Water at this stage is too little.

This is the first time I have ever heard anything like that. We were told from. One protein source. So we should count from fish or cheese or meat, tofu etc, but not count the protein that was in a none typical protein source. If you understand what I mean.
Also, you are suppose to get of the shakes st one point. Solid protein will keep you full for way longer than any shake will.

I relied so heavily on this forum and others in the months leading up to my procedure that I promised myself I would provide a 12 month update, FAQ and experience summary for others planning the same thing for the same reasons. I recently posted this to Reddit and bariatricpal rounds out the plan.
My story is positive – overwhelmingly positive – but I think most importantly my story is not emotional. I don’t have a psychological problem with food. I was never tormented or made to suffer for my weight (beyond finding flights uncomfortable and shirts being too short). I made this choice on statistical grounds – it would extend my life on average and go a long way to improving my diabetes. I wanted to provide a vanilla story to remind everyone this pretty survivable and the majority of people have non-descript and unexciting recoveries. My lift is pretty much the same - I just eat a lot less, dont shoot insulin and hopefully will live longer. Forums tend to have an over representation of negative outcomes - that makes perfect sense and it's absolutely fine for people to use them to get some reassurance and communicate with people in the same situation. For everyone else - just remember you're less likely to jump on a forum and tell your story if nothing went wrong or it wasn't any different from other people and as a result it can seem like a higher proportion of people are suffering than maybe is the case.
I was a lower-BMI diabetic, not quite type 1 or type 2, but insulin dependent nonetheless. My BMI was 31, my surgeryweight was 126kg (277lbs) and I’m 196cm tall (6’5). I was diagnosed at 100kg (220lbs) but assumed type 1 as I wasn’t visually overweight. However in the 5 years since diagnosis I’ve continued to produce some insulin suggesting I’m not a pure type 1 or 2 - but closer to type 2. I gained 26kg in a year after diagnosis once i started on insulin. I’m broad shouldered/chesty with skinny legs - like an apple jammed on some chopsticks. Maybe like the fat Mr Incredible. My intention for having the bypass was not solely weight loss – I suspected that my diabetes was closer to type 2. I suspected the improvements people see immediately in diabetes management post bypass may apply to me. It was a gamble that paid off, My decision making process was quite straight forward – I had a young daughter at the time (now have a son too) and had lost my father to a heart attack when I was 7. He was fit and not diabetic but had a heart condition. I new statistically I was due for a similar fate carrying excess weight plus diabetes onboard. This was the best way to knock out one of those (the weight side) and hopefully improve the diabetes. I went from 126kg to 83kg (180lb), my BMI is low end of healthy. My biggest positive is my immediate cessation of insulin shots and a current HBA1c of 5.8 with oral meds only. It took about 6 months to get to my goal weight of 90kg. I'm still slowly losing and need to stop.
Lead-up and Prep
I was not obese to look at visually. The majority of healthcare professionals I spoke to did not think surgery, let alone Gastric Bypass, was necessary. In the end – my PCP, endo and surgeon all agreed that, while not essential, bypass was a prudent decision with potentially long-term benefits. The surgeon did not want me to bother with a gastric sleeve – if the endgame was diabetes improvement then the gold standard was a bypass. In Australia you need to be over 35 BMI or over 30 with a comorbidity to be eligible. I had slightly elevated Blood Pressure - that plus the diabetes made me eligible. I paid $2000 out of pocket, my private health insurance paid the rest. No psych required, I had a few meetings with a nutritionist and everything was greenlit. From first enquiry to surgery was four months. The fee I paid includes lifetime consults with the surgeon.
I did not need a pre-op diet as i was not that overweight and my liver was not a concern.
Surgery
My procedure was in June 2018. My anaesthetic recovery was rough, but otherwise the process was fine. The most discomfort was immediately in the 12 hours following – in part due to surgical site pain but mostly because the bed could not accommodate my height so I was forever crossing my legs or scrunching them up, only to have a nurse slap them and wake me up for fear of DVT. Nurses kept promising to find a bed extender - eventually I lashed out in a post-anaesthetic haze at a nurse who slapped my feet - she took the end off the bed with a flourish. My feet shot out, I cried in relief, apologised profusely and slept for eight hours. Day two was stiff and sore but i was mobile, able to shower and sipping fine. I went home the morning of day three. I had PHENOMENAL life ruining headaches from day two. I went home with some serious opiates because I lived 90 minuts from my surgeon and couldn’t drive to get a script if they hit again. On day four my dietician cleared me for coffee and it immediately wiped out the headache – turns out I’d been in caffeine withdrawal. So I really recommend you taper that off in advance if you have a problem with coffee like i do.
If you're diabetic then buy a freestyle libre glucose monitor for the procedure if you dont have a CGM. They want hourly blood glucoses, instead of being woken and pin pricked every hour I could just show them how to use the scanner and they'd take it while i slept.
I had some minor aches 6 weeks out and one of the surgery sites oozed a little clear Fluid. It subsided immediately.
I was home for two weeks. I could have gone back at one week. I'm an accountant though and my starting weight was comparatively low so i was mobile quick. I completely understand if you're starting form a heavier weight then you should plan to take the full time.
Food/Eating
The normal progression of foods was fine and unremarkable from what is described on most forms. I graduated to solids a little earlier than I should have. I cheated like mad and was feeling fine, it was only when I snuck a tiny piece of casserole beef and vomited violently did I start to behave myself. I was vomiting once or twice a week from eating too much or too fast. Savoury ricotta bake, hearty Soups and coconut Water were my saviors. The vomiting subsided, 18 months out I vomit maybe once every two or three months and only when I do something stupid. My problem before surgery was eating very fast and taking large bites – that has been hard to deal with post surgery. In fact I tend to still eat large bites and then sit unable to eat for extended periods. I was very sensitive to sugar post-op and frequently had dumping. That subsided in a month with changes in eating, changes in my appetite and better food/liquid rules. I currently only get dumping in the morning, and only if I eat something sugary. I do get nauseous easily in the morning too – it’s something I’m working with my nutritionist on to find out why. Otherwise I can eat whatever I want within reason. I don’t drink soda, but had quit it before my procedure. Milky Protein makes me nauseous too (any type of creamy protein really) so I use a water protein additive from costpricesupplements. This helps me hit 2L fluids daily.
I can eat about a cup and a half food. Liquidy foods – stews, soups, casseroles – I can eat a lot more than that. Tougher foods like steak or dry chicken much less. I gulp liquids.< /p>
I had a sensitive stomach before the surgery and took Metamucil religiously to keep my gut regular. I have not had any issues post op with flatulence but have had looser bowels. Metamucil still helps – but no worse or in any way less manageable than pre-op.
Diabetes
I went off insulin immediately after my surgery. It wasn’t a cure – I’m still diabetic – but metformin and trajenta keep me in an aggressively managed hba1c. I have a so-so diet – I eat too much sugary junk food and carbs. I could go without diabetic meds I believe but my diet would be depressing so ive truck a compromise.
On this basis alone this was the best decision I could have made for my physical wellbeing. My blood pressure is fine, my cholesterol is non-existent and I'm able to even job a moderate distance without discomfort.
Random observations
• I’m cold. So cold. It’s 35 degree outside where I am (90’s Fahrenheit) but as soon as I go into any office I need a sweater. I really became dependant on sweaters, long johns and socks this last winter. Im not cooler in summer – just as hot and bothered as before. Maybe a better way to describe it is that I feel the temperature more in general, like I lost my insulation.
• I am too skinny. Clothes don’t fit that great – most men this tall have a bit more chest/gut on them. Australia has limited/no tall clothing ranges domestically so I’m importing loads of stuff from the UK/USA. i still think i look fat when i look in the mirror.
• My bum is bony and I need cushions to sit comfortably. I also had a cyst on a butt cheek I didn’t know about – now im so bony there I’ll need to get it removed so I can sit on kitchen chairs comfortably again.
• I gained about 1.5” of penis length. It was a welcome addition. I needed to learn how to be more gentle and patient using it. With a young family and little sleep it's yet to be fully road tested – but I’ll be ready when we start to sleep again.
• I have a little loose skin. nothing dramatic. mostly around the gut and love handles.
• I am very sensitive to meds and drugs. I'm not much of a drinker but i like weed edibles - what would give me a mild buzz before gets me quite high now. I sober up quicker now too. I take xanax on flights to help sleep - i take a quarter of the dose now.
• I drink red wine socially and now cannot really get drunk. I sober up quite fast but get a mild buzz pretty quickly too.
• Dumping sucks but it should not be a discouraging factor. Its not life ruining – anyone who’s had a hypo as a diabetic it’s a bit like that with some gastro thrown in. It resolves pretty fast (30ish minutes for me) and is a self-reinforcing feedback loop for shitty food behaviours. For this reason alone I consider the bypass as the better choice for me.
• I’ve lost a fair bit of muscle tone and will need to somehow up my protein and start some weight training to recover it. This needs to be balanced with not losing for further weight.
• I have to remind myself to eat. Not just because of low appetite, but because once my pouch shrinks for a day then eating again can be uncomfortable and time consuming. As long as I eat fairly frequently my pouch is all good and I can eat quite a lot pretty fast – forget about it for 2 or 4 hours and I’ll need to take some time to eat a bit and get my appetite back.
• I was hungry for 33 years and bordered on a pathological inability to waste food. I ate my meal and anything my wife or kid didn’t eat. I’d eat a meal out, go home and have a sandwich. We ate at bars and pubs because the servings were larger. I would eat until I was very uncomfortable if the portion was large enough. Now I still can’t bring myself to leave food – so I have this silly aversion to ordering anything more than something off the appetisers list. I don’t like asking for to-go containers (it’s an Australian thing – it’s really stupid because we pay so much for food out we should keep every bloody morsel) but have started to now order what I actually want instead of what I think I can finish. It’s funny – I went from ordering what I thought would be the biggest portion so I didn’t feel hungry (instead of what I thought looked good) to ordering what I thought I could finish and not waste.
Regrets?
None to speak of specifically. In a very minor way travel is less fun. I looooove travelling to southeast asia and the USA and love eating all the different things. My appetite is so low now, and eating can be so inconvenient, that I don’t get to eat anywhere near as much variety when I travel. I was recently in SE Asia and looking forward to a huge array of currys. I ate only two in five days as I had no appetite at all. I just need to travel differently now - actually plan to stop for meals instead of just charging all over a city and snacking on the way.
I wish id been more sensitive to my wife's emotional processing of the scenario. She's gone from having the tall, chubby guy that was the physical build she was attracted to, to having a skinny beanpole. This was while she was having our second kid and all the very natural weight gain associated. She's not overweight and is, objectively i reckon, absolutely gorgeous but definitely feels marginalised by the process and is quick to colour me as vain or obsessed with my image now I am buying new clothes. I think i could have been more mindful of what I said or did. She was overwhelmingly supportive though and agrees this was worthwhile.
Closing thoughts
If you are considering this process and maybe you're on the margins of eligibility my experience would say go for it. my hope here was to give a vanilla experience to the mix, unique only in my taking the more permanent bypass on despite my lower starting weight.
Sent from my SM-A705YN using BariatricPal mobile app

Sounds like you had quite a big surgery. For them to say it isn't enough is ridiculous. Your body is healing. It scares me how calories driven it is in the US. Here in Austria we started normal food with restrictions after 4 days. Everything had to be chewed to mush, but it was food. And there was no counting calories, only counting Protein to make sure you got 60g. There was a lot of stuff that was forbidden for the first 6 weeks, but no liquid diet before or after surgery.
You are doing great. Keep up the good work.

Sounds like you had quite a big surgery. For them to say it isn't enough is ridiculous. Your body is healing. It scares me how calories driven it is in the US. Here in Austria we started normal food with restrictions after 4 days. Everything had to be chewed to mush, but it was food. And there was no counting calories, only counting Protein to make sure you got 60g. There was a lot of stuff that was forbidden for the first 6 weeks, but no liquid diet before or after surgery.
You are doing great. Keep up the good work.

A quick google search gave me this program, where you don't need a lot of machines, but your gym should have what you need.
https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/strength-training-beginners
Not too complicated, explained well and works everything.
Strength is such an important step for your success. Good luck.

Never forget leg day as they say.
Strength training for your legs is what you need.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/5-leg-workouts-for-mass-a-beginners-guide.html

I'm 2.5 years post op and I about 130-150g of Protein a day. My protein levels are too low if I don't, and I still get tested about every 3 months. I do work out a lot though, 5-8 times a week with mostly endurance sport, which is why I need so much.

A quick google search gave me this program, where you don't need a lot of machines, but your gym should have what you need.
https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/strength-training-beginners
Not too complicated, explained well and works everything.
Strength is such an important step for your success. Good luck.

A quick google search gave me this program, where you don't need a lot of machines, but your gym should have what you need.
https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/strength-training-beginners
Not too complicated, explained well and works everything.
Strength is such an important step for your success. Good luck.

If you are below target weight, and you want to add muscles, you need to increase your calorie intake. Muscles need calories, and if you don't up the intake, you'll continue to lose. I'm not talking adding 1000 kcal, but 200-300 kcal on days you work out.
At this point, being 2.5 years out, I eat 2500-3000 kcal a day (sometimes even more). But I also do endurance sport.
I lifted weights the first year post op, now it's mostly mobility work and weights targeted for running.

You'll feel amazing about your progress if you don't compare yourself to everyone else. Easie said than done, but very important. We all go at different pace, just emprace it and Celebrate your achievement.

Wow, congrats to you @AZhiker. I'm actually Norwegian, but I live in Austria.
So my issue is that I don't eat any legumes, tofu, or soy, (I have tried them all in so many varaiations) which limits my protine source if I were to go WFPB.
I have found a good electrolyte that my stomach accepts, but it's Austrian. Will be bringing it to my race in the States for sure.
When I run, I have issues chewing a lot, so so far the bars I have tried are too much chewing hehe. I guess I just need to keep experimenting. I think i need to add more nuts for post race consumption, easy to grab and I think it's something I would have no problem eating.

Wow, congrats to you @AZhiker. I'm actually Norwegian, but I live in Austria.
So my issue is that I don't eat any legumes, tofu, or soy, (I have tried them all in so many varaiations) which limits my protine source if I were to go WFPB.
I have found a good electrolyte that my stomach accepts, but it's Austrian. Will be bringing it to my race in the States for sure.
When I run, I have issues chewing a lot, so so far the bars I have tried are too much chewing hehe. I guess I just need to keep experimenting. I think i need to add more nuts for post race consumption, easy to grab and I think it's something I would have no problem eating.

Thank you @anaxila. I did one triathlon back in 2012, before back went out on me, and I hope one day I'll get back there. And even though I have always said I'll never do a marathon, I have been toying with the idea in the past weeks.
It is recommended that you eat within 30 min after a run, especially if it's a fasted run or if you do as I do, wait 2 hours after I eat to go running. Also when I do 2 workouts a day, I need to regenerate for the second workout.
I haven't talked to anyone on what nutrition I should follow, and I'm probably not getting enough of what I need. For now it's been fine, but I think as time goes, it's going to tear on my body. I am having more and more episodes of lack of energy and having to drop workouts.
Right now I'm training for a Disney in February, 10k and half Saturday and Sunday. Another challenge in September with 5k, 10k, half on consecutive days. Between there I want to do a half under 2h. My last one, 2 weeks ago, was 2:05.

I'm 2.5+ years post op. For the first 1 year or, so I did weight, then I added spinning instructor with two days a week. For the past year, it has been less weights, and at the end of February I added running.
Up until now I ran 3 days a week, with 2h as my long runs. Since February, I have done 1x4.1k, 1x5k, 1x7k, 1x10k and 2x half-marathon races.
It took a while to figure out what works during my long runs, and the best combination is sour candy and electrolytes. I still go spinning twice a week, but now run 4 days a week. Strength 1-2 days.
My issue is, I'm not hungry after runs, even if I do fasting runs in the morning. I struggle to get food in me. I'm also not eating nutritional enough.
I often do a Protein Shake after a run, but that just postpone eating for even longer. smoothies are easier than food, but I struggle with those as well.
If anyone have any suggestions for me, I would be very grateful.

Wow, congrats to you @AZhiker. I'm actually Norwegian, but I live in Austria.
So my issue is that I don't eat any legumes, tofu, or soy, (I have tried them all in so many varaiations) which limits my protine source if I were to go WFPB.
I have found a good electrolyte that my stomach accepts, but it's Austrian. Will be bringing it to my race in the States for sure.
When I run, I have issues chewing a lot, so so far the bars I have tried are too much chewing hehe. I guess I just need to keep experimenting. I think i need to add more nuts for post race consumption, easy to grab and I think it's something I would have no problem eating.