Audrey George - Owens

50 all together counting pre op diet, my doc was shocked.. I am to yesterday was my birthday.. And my weight loss was my greatest gift!!.. I sent this pic to my mom she was so shocker my face has slimmed down alot!!/& I have a neck now lol happy
Sent from my Z981 using BariatricPal mobile app

Firstly, your article was informative and empathetic at the same time. Thank you!
Nonetheless, many bariatric surgeons, dietitians and nutritionists never mention the concept of slider foods to bariatric surgery patients before or after their procedures. Many of these people find out the hard way...after a large regain of the weight they'd lost.
The protein-first way of eating is instilled into bariatric patients. However, many of them do not adhere because a number of high Protein foods cause early satiety and discomfort (which is the point...so we won't overeat).
So, some folks turn to sliders such as crackers, mashed potatoes, pretzels, biscuits, chips and popcorn without realizing that these foods do not challenge the surgically-altered stomach pouch or sleeve in the same manner that protein-rich foods do. In addition, no one ever warned them about sliders.
A person with a pouch or sleeve can eat a dozen of donuts in one sitting and feel no fullness or satiety whatsoever, while a dozen of ground turkey patties would be impossible to eat.
In summary, I think more bariatric surgery program staff members should instill into their patients the importance of moderating the intake of slider foods. Again, thanks for the article.

Feeling frustrated that you've stopped losing weight, or have started regaining? Check out these 3 ways to get back on track.


I was sitting in my office with a client the other day who’d had bariatric surgery several years ago. “It just didn’t work for me. I’ve tried everything. I don’t know what else to do.” She was looking down in shame, and I could tell she was feeling totally defeated.
“This is a really common struggle,” I said, “And I want you to know it’s not your fault.” She looked at me in disbelief.
The same advice over and over again
You see, most people are accustomed to seeing a dietitian and being silently scolded and told to “eat this, not that...blah, blah, blah.” It’s the reason that a lot of people avoid seeing a dietitian - because it feels like you’re in the principal’s office.
Truth be told, most people already know what they “should” be eating after surgery. Heck, they even knew before having surgery, but that knowledge wasn’t enough. And it still isn’t. If information were enough to solve a person’s weight problems, bariatric surgery wouldn’t exist.
Thus, here you are in a frustrating dilemma: Knowing what you should be doing, but not being able to do it consistently.
So now what?
It’s time to start thinking about things differently. If what you’ve been doing isn’t working then STOP DOING IT.
That same old dieting advice that didn’t work for you before surgery isn’t going to work after either. Don’t worry, I can help. I have worked with hundreds of people who have had weight loss surgery. From that work I have honed in on some key factors that will actually make a difference for you.
3 Secrets to Success
Do the things that matter. It’s easy to get bombarded with information and overthink it. You can spin your wheels doing things that don’t matter. I had a client who kept trying all these special protein-fortified foods and finally I told him, “You’re spending a lot of energy on these special foods, and you’re still gaining weight. Let’s look at some other factors that might be impacting you.” He wasn’t seeing that his lack of sleep and snacking were working against him. Once we targeted those issues he started losing weight again.
Implement a system. Don’t rely on willpower. Willpower doesn’t work because it’s finite, and it gets depleted by everyday stressors. You’ll inevitably find yourself lacking willpower with food when you most need it if you don’t have a system. Ever been through a drive thru on the way home from work after a stressful day? That’s because your willpower was depleted earlier at work. If you have a system for dealing with stressors at work such as automation of tasks, delegation, stress management techniques, and perhaps a wind-down ritual at the end of the day, you’re much less likely to hit the drive thru on the way home. And your dinners could be automated by a rotating monthly calendar or a delivery system such as Blue Apron. Make yourself a route to drive home that doesn’t go by any fast food restaurants, and BAM! we’ve created a system.
Develop habits. People who are successful at something have boring habits. It’s never quick and easy like we’re led to believe. You don’t accidentally win an Olympic gold medal. And you don’t win it with magical solutions either, like taking supplements.< span> Nope, it takes years of intentional and intense training. Same thing with your eating. You don’t accidentally or magically lose a ton of weight just by having surgery and taking Vitamins.< span> And you certainly don’t accidentally keep it off for the long run. You need habits that you stick to every single day. Things such as planning your meals ahead of time, grocery shopping on a specific day of the week, exercising at the same time each day. These are the habits that will pay off over time.
Systems and habits reduce the cognitive load of having to make lots of tiny decisions all day long. Just like willpower, our decision-making ability gets fatigued and we start to take the easy way out. If something is a habit you’re much more likely to do it - rather than sitting there trying to decide whether or not you feel like doing something. Chances are there are plenty of times you’re not going to feel like going to the grocery store, or cooking dinner, or exercising. If you only do it when you feel like it you’re probably not going to lose weight.
What to do today
Today, sit down and take a look at what you’re really eating. Don’t lie to yourself, it won’t help. Be brutally honest. Write it all down. Then identify ONE thing that you want to change. Something that if you did it, would actually make a significant difference. Find a way to implement a system around this change, and do it until it becomes a habit.
The result: You’ve now shown yourself that you can make sustainable behavior change. You can repeat this process over and over again to create new systems and habits. Keep doing it, and I promise you’ll start losing weight and feeling better, having more energy, feeling more confident. You’ll feel like you’re in control of your life. And that’s pretty awesome. If not, you can always check out this site for more in-depth help getting back on track.
Have you made any changes that made a big impact on your weight loss? What did you do to stick with it? Let me know in the comments.
Katy is giving away a free gift to help Bariatric Pal readers get moving, have more energy, and feel great.

She had it Feb 2016... she is doing great and has lost a lot of weight! Looks and feels great! We are all so lucky to have this tool to use!!

Sounds like you are due an upgrade in friends. True friends stick with you through thick and thin...

Hi. I feel for your struggle. I'm only 4 weeks out and have mixed feelings. I tried advancing to soft food but kept getting sick. Put myself back on puréed for another week. We'll see.. so looking forward to chewing.
About the alcohol. I quit drinking alcohol 6 years ago.. for a bit it bothered me but now I have found substitute liquids to order and I don't think my old friends ever notice. And I still have fun going out. You can order "virgin" versions of many drinks. I just tell any one who looks my that I don't like alcohol or prefer not to drink it.

I prefer to look at things from both sides. Is there something in your nutrition charts that makes your doctor assume your BMI won't go below 40? Is he basing his decision on your nutritional history or is he just trying to sell you a procedure?
I was asked why I didn't want a bypass, as it guarantees the best weightloss. I told them all I wanted was a reset. Something to get me back to where I can actively take control/charge of my nutritional life.
There are no fixed rules. Saying you won't go less than 40 is merely an assessment. Tell him what you want to do and psyche yourself up to follow through with your plans..
All the best..

Hi there, lizard. I'm sorry this happened to you. I had a similar experience back in December. I went into my surgeons office so excited to get the sleeve. I watched countless videos on YouTube and read so many testimonies that I was finally sold on weight loss surgery.
But when I met him and his nurse practitioner, I couldn't have been more deflated if you stuck a pin in me and I popped. They said the sleeve would still leave me obese with a high bmi. They urged me to have the DS procedure, which is like the bypass, but they sleeve your stomach then move onto the rearrangement of the intestines for the malabsorption aspect. It would leave me with a 90% total weight loss for life. And hey, that sounds great, but whenever I have to make a hard life decision, I base it on one thing. Don't laugh. I always ask myself, if I had to live in apocalyptic times, what would be my quality of life afterwards if I had no means for support with this procedure?
For instance, I have a chipped front tooth that happened in high school. I have a cap on it that has served me well for over twenty-five years. Every now and then, there comes along a dentist who wants me to put a crown on it, in place of the cap, because it lasts longer. To do a crown they would have to shave my tooth down to a little pointed peg just to fit a crown. The crown isn't permanent. What if something happened tomorrow where dentistry was just a memory and I needed a crown? I would walk around looking like a cannibal, scaring the masses, opposed to just having a chipped front tooth.
What does that nonsensical little story have to do with wls you ask? Well, with a DS surgery, I would have to take Vitamins to survive. Sure, with the sleeve I take vitamins too, but if something happened tomorrow, I'd still be ok without vitamins on the sleeve. The ds and bypass are malabsorption surgeries. That means even though you are absorbing less calories, you are also absorbing significantly less vitamins, and with the ds I could die without my vitamins.
So, that's a no go, no go.
Like I told the doctor, if I could get to 200 or 170 on the sleeve, I could get to 135 as well. I've seen it done. You know why? Because no matter the surgery, the hard work will always be up to you mentally to overcome, even on those darkest days when you forget why you did this at all. You're the one who has control. If you eat right and follow the plan, there's absolutely no reason you can't lose 100% of your total weight with the sleeve. So do what inherently feels right for you. What helped me snap out of my mini depression after my appointment was watching more YouTube videos of people losing 130,150, and even 250 pounds on the sleeve. It works if you do, so again, do what's right for you <3

Wow, she refused??? Crazy, if their fake she couldve just put them back on as soon as she got out of the hospital, now she could wait months for another surgery date. After jumping through all the hoops we have to, Id tell them cut them right off now.

93lbs gone forever!!!
Highest weight: 280lbs
Current weight: 187lbs

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I think you are all amazing!
I had 4 weeks off but near enough died at work when I went back (ok slight exaggeration but I'm sure you know what I mean). I was exhausted and was in bed at 6pm each night. I started feeling better after 6 weeks. Everyone is so different. Just take it as it comes and decided when you need to.
Kate
p.s: resting is good but get a lot of walking in between snoozing and best of luck !!