Berry78

I've only known one vegan and one vegetarian. (I don't get out much). Interesting story about the vegan. The first time I saw her (she owned a little health-supplement store.. homeopathics and the like).. anyway, I go into her shop, and she is something like 8 months pregnant. Rail thin, pale, sickly looking. She mentions she's Vegan. Second time I go in, she has her baby, is lactating, and she looks no better. She was planning on raising her daughter that way. I left the store, feeling sorry for the babe. Skip forward about 5 years (I didn't frequent the store). Her daughter is as cute as a button, dancing around the store, and the Mom looks MUCH better. She had put on 20-30lbs, had color back in her face.. she looked so much more healthy. I told her as much and she said, "I used to be Vegan, but it didn't agree with me". For all I know, she was a sugar-aholic, and didn't really eat well or take all the required supplements to sustain that way of eating.... in other words, the poster child for how NOT to eat a plant-only diet. But since our relationship was so superficial, I never could find out. Her store is closed now, so it will remain a mystery. The lacto-ovo vegetarian is quite healthy. My first college was an all-girls school. It was a very small college, but it had 2 dinner lines: vegetarian and meat-based. I always looked at both before making my selection.. and the vegetarian food always looked better!! Lol. I'll see what I can turn up about heme iron. Mercola isn't necessarily my favorite dude, but he has had some interesting things to say over the years...

We ate a ton of pasta.. spaghetti every week, and macaroni and cheese and spanish rice (basically spaghetti but rice instead of noodles). Money was an issue, so taking a pound of ground beef and mixing it into a bunch of starch was a relatively cheap way of feeding 5 people. We drank milk and orange juice and tea. According to Mercola: (It's good to research each nutrient to figure out how much we're getting, and how much we need). Eight nutrients you cannot get from plant foods include: vitamin B12, creatine, carnosine, taurine, vitamin D3, heme-iron, the omega-3 fat DHA, and sulfur

Apple.. sounds really good! Adding dried fruit to your salad will be a place to add calories easily. The true caloric superhero is nuts. So many calories bundled up in such a tiny package (and tons of nutrients to boot). When you are running 4 miles, I'd like to see you add an ounce of nuts in addition to your yogurt. I don't know what type you like.. sunflower seeds are wonderful sources of vitamin E. (When I say "nuts" I mean nuts and seeds and peanuts ). Mix them up because each type has very different nutrient profiles.

That sounds really good, Apple. What does a typical day look like for you?

Absolutely! And I'll give my hypothesis as to WHY they don't want to give them up. Mostly it stems from "how they were raised". I have the fortune to live with several other adults in my home, and learn about their eating habits as children and now. And however each of them ate as children has always been their "default". Sure, they can go on a "diet" and change their eating habits temporarily. But as soon as they stop paying attention, their diet invariably reverts back. The vast majority of us relied on animal products throughout our lives.. so to make the change is as difficult as changing religions (and Vegans tend to take on a religious-type zealousness in their enthusiasm). Devout Vegans will do things like purge the green beans they just ate when they find out there was butter on them. Stuff like that isn't appealing to the broader American public. Much like baseball and apple pie, milk and meat are part of our national identity (Ok, for US citizens, anyway). All those football players wearing their milk mustaches, etc. Personally, I really like the idea of moving in the whole, plant based diet direction. Here is my ideal plan: Like I mentioned before, the Okinawans ate an average of 4 servings a week of animal products. If we eat 4 times a day... 3 meals and a snack.. (not sure how often the Okinawans ate)... then that equals 1 out of 7 meals having animal products (15%). 85% whole food, plant based diet seems to be a really good, moderate approach. Animal products DO offer nutrients not readily available in plant-foods (at least in the concentrated amounts that bariatric folk need). And, the concept of WHOLE food kinda screams that protein shakes (even plant-based ones) aren't technically part of that diet either. Ripping the 8g of protein out of 120g of plant foods can't be a process for the faint of heart. (I don't know how they do this, I just figure it's probably pretty ugly). Anyway.. all of it is fascinating food-for-thought...

That's funny, Jess.. you'd think when we're heavy that we have a bunch of muscle built up to carry the weight around. (Maybe we DO.. but you've now just bulked up that much more! Lol!). But I've seen your pics, and you're not super bulky at all.. so me thinks the assumption that there is lots of muscle under the fat in heavy people isn't necessarily accurate... I do know one thing.. my metabolism was through the roof preop because I was eating 3000-4000 calories a day, (not exercising) and my weight was holding relatively steady. I guess I figured it was because I had lots of muscles in use, carrying all that bulk around.

Because I didn't really believe my size.. I actually didn't get surgery based on looks at all. I got it because my health was starting to be impacted by the weight. Living with a diabetic stroke patient, I realized when my blood sugars and blood pressure had risen, that I was seeing my own future in that patient.

Something I have noticed.. which may or may not be accurate in your case. Our bodies tend to lose at the same rate post-op as preop. When the typical person first starts a diet (take the first 2 weeks for example).. 10lbs drops off almost immediately. I refer to this 10lbs as a free "sign on bonus". Take that out of the equation. The losses above the 10lbs indicates your base rate of weight loss. So for me, I lost 16lbs in the 2 week preop diet. 16-10=6lbs in 2 weeks.. so 3 pounds a week. I could expect to lose an average of 3 pounds a week for the first 3-6 months postop.. and so far that is actually very accurate. (keep in mind I started 150lbs overweight). One caveat.. if your diet is already very restricted for a period of time before starting the "diet".. then you may not HAVE the 10lb sign on bonus, since you've already been on a diet. That weight is lost by those that have been eating whatever, whenever.. in a non-diet format. A relatively minor change in the preop losses, equates to a dramatically different result postop. For example 14lbs = 2 pounds a week, which is only 8-9 pounds a month instead of my 12-13lbs/month.

With a history of GERD, if you choose the sleeve, be sure you are willing to entertain the notion of a revision if the GERD doesn't improve or gets worse. If you would prefer a "one and done" operation, go with the bypass the first time.

Yeah.. that was me, too. I avoided mirrors and cameras, and when I did catch a glimpse, it was something to be embarrassed horrified about.. but even then, I didn't REALLY know how big I had become. I had to see myself on a video to really understand how my internal perception of myself was so much BETTER than my actual physical form. What doesn't help are all the people that say.. "Wow! I never would have guessed you're 300lbs! You look really good!" Because I heard that enough, without anyone ACTUALLY being honest.. that I believed it. Now that I've lose 83lbs, I hold up my pants that I wore the day of surgery, and I'm like, dumbfounded. They are so HUGE, and they just never looked that big when I wore them. And I'm not small now.. sitting at 16/18, I'm still a big lady. I think I now look close to what I thought I looked before. But now when I see myself in a mirror, it's ok. I'm not horrified. I don't look THIN to myself (and at 222lbs, I'm not thin).. but I look OK. I think of my situation like a solar eclipse. At first the moon (my perception) is far to the right, then it aligns with the sun (my actual physical form), and I am what I believe. I wonder what will happen as the weight loss continues, and I get close to goal. Will the moon then travel past the sun the other direction? Or will they continue traveling in tandem? Time will tell...

I pulled the quote out of your post, and didn't realize it attributed it to you.. good to know it will do that! You're doing great, Apple, too! Lol. It's exciting that you are only 1% above the "healthy" range, at less than 4 months post-op! Woo Hoo!!!

May have just been a bad test strip then. It can happen. Don't worry too much about sodium, worry more about the carbs in the soup. (Of course follow your doc's plan).. but for most of us preop, it's carbs and fat that are to be limited. Sodium, within reason, will help make the diet more comfortable. You don't have to go crazy adding salt, since most things have it in it anyway. Weight fluctuations are normal, even post op. Might as well get used to it early

Do me a favor. When you are 8 weeks post-op, buy some vanilla pepsi. Set it out so it goes flat, then taste it. I'll bet $20 that you'll be willing to kill a bus full of nuns to NOT have to drink that stuff ever again!!! Oh, and congrats on your surgery! Good luck!

That is amazing!! My body fat percentage (rough estimate) was about 65% to start with. We'll see if I can get 'er down to the healthy range

I agree with no stretchies at maintenance, but when starting out in the losing phase, it's no biggie. Keeps me from having to spend a fortune. Funny thing.. I've had the same stretchies for 10 years, and they are starting to get loose. Kinda makes me a tad sad...

First, I'd seriously consider drinking right up until mealtime. Liquids tend to leave the stomach within minutes. If it doesn't work for you, you can always go back to waiting. Secondly, try to eat your solid meals before and after work, have your shakes and soup during the workday. You'll consume what appears to be more normal "diet" portions, and you'll do better staying hydrated. You don't have to wait to drink before or after protein shakes, and only have to wait 30-40 minutes after soup. Good luck!

Oh, wowzers.. congrats?

"I'm 43 but only lost for the first 3-4 months- I'm 9 months out and haven't lost in 5 months! I was 326 on surgery day and now at 185- what's going on with this?" And then another post you said you'd started at 240lbs, so I'm a bit confused about what your starting weight was... (I would think it was a typo, but those #s aren't similar at all.) Also, how tall are you?

I started as soon as my normal clothes felt loose. It's good to try them on sooner rather than later, because you will KNOW they won't fit. And that is ok, because then, when you try again in a few months, you will remember just how far they were from fitting the first time.. and how that will have changed!

You might want to consider having the surgery around Christmas break.. that way you can avoid actually missing much work.

9/1 222lbs.

There are several different things that might cause that result. If it is an actual stricture, I will be surprised. It's more likely that it's a motility disorder (which can range from mild to severe). Yours is likely not severe since the liquids go down. Here is some info that may not even be applicable (I'm not a doctor! And I don't know what is happening with you.. these are just guesses)... but at least you can learn about motility disorders... https://ctsurgerypatients.org/lung-esophageal-and-other-chest-diseases/achalasia-and-esophageal-motility-disorders

This is a big question mark for me. I think we can get away with it because of the protein shakes and vitamins.. but most of us can still lose effectively eating 1200, so why not? Better safe than sorry.

Aww.. thanks! I'm happy to help! I'm learning so much by being here too!

I did want to interject a morsel. For those that find they still need a bit of animal foods, don't despair. The Okinawans of Japan DID eat a primarily vegetarian diet, but even so, they did also consume a couple eggs a week, the equivalent of one 4oz serving of fish a week, and two 3oz servings of pork a week. If you add that up, they had a full-size portion of animal protein 4 nights of the week. Which is substantial for us bariatric folks. (It's just not much when compared to the lumberjack that eats 4 eggs and 1/4 pound of bacon for breakfast, 8oz of hamburger patties for lunch, a 12oz ribeye for dinner, and a pint of ice cream for dessert.)