jo ann c troupe

I'm so far over the edge, the knot I tied in the end of my rope is unraveling. I need help, support and I'm back to no one believing how much I weigh because I "carry it so well and you're so tall." Thank you for the reminder that I did all of this for a reason:me. I just have to find me again along with a new support system or do it alone.

If I knew then, what I know now, I wonder if I still would have made the same choice to have weight loss surgery. I can wholeheartedly say, “Yes.” But, I would have invested more time and made the commitment to be better prepared for what my life as a bariatric patient would require. It has been quite a journey these 20+ years and I am pleased to share with you what I have found to be "3 essential things that you need to know and do BEFORE you have weight loss surgery."
If I knew then, what I know now, I wonder if I still would have made the same choice to have weight loss surgery. I can wholeheartedly say, “Yes.” But, I would have invested more time and made the commitment to be better prepared for what my life as a bariatric patient would require. It has been quite a journey these 20+ years and I am pleased to share with you what I have found to be 3 essential things that you need to know and do before you have weight loss surgery.
This article is not about choosing a surgeon, a bariatric program or a particular procedure. It is about you! About your knowledge, motives, and mindset as you embark on this journey of a lifetime. I had weight loss surgery in 1995 and it has been my privilege to work with thousands of weight loss surgery patients all over the world. I am excited to share with you what I have learned about the importance of these 3 things for your long term success. If you are just beginning to consider weight loss surgery or, if you are in the midst of what can be a very challenging pre-op process, please answer a few quick questions and get the instant download of this article.
Looking forward to sharing survey insights and more helpful articles.
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Even at 22 years post op, I still clearly remember that fateful day when I reached the "End of Invincible" That fateful moment when the honeymoon phase ended and the real work began. I am anxious to share with you what I have learned about the top 5 ways to recognize that your personal WLS honeymoon is over and what to do about it.



Even at 22 years post op, I still clearly remember that fateful day when I reached the "End of Invincible" That fateful moment when the honeymoon phase ended and the real work began. I am anxious to share with you what I have learned about the top 5 ways to recognize that your personal WLS honeymoon is over and what to do about it.
# 1 YOU START 'FREEWHEELING
We are so careful early on. We are committed and sure we will become the most compliant patient ever! We measure our food and Water, use a shopping list at the store, prepare meals in advance and eat what we plan, exercise, weigh weekly and take our Vitamins. Then, one day it seems that we can forego one or more of these good habits and still loose weight. "Hmm, this is awesome! This surgical tool is my answer, hooray!" If you find yourself boasting about how you ate... or how you don't exercise... or how get away with things you were warned not to do. BEWARE! I promise it will catch up to you.
Our Success Habits Research clearly shows exactly what successful long term patients do to reach and maintain their weight. Learn what they know and do what they did. It is important to realize that you will not be the exception to the rule and while you may feel invincible now - know that it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. There is a reason it is called the 'honeymoon phase.' When it ends, if you have not used the time to commit to, implement and own your Success Habits you will be in find yourself struggling to learn how to maintain your weight. Commit once to a specific set of daily habits and stick with them. All of them!
#2 PEOPLE STOP RAVING ABOUT HOW YOU LOOK
Boy, do I remember this. Of course I would, it was all about me! Like many of you I enjoyed months and months of friends, family neighbors, work associates and even strangers, raving about how great I looked. One of my favorite comments was “Look at you, you are going to blow away!” Loved it!
I think I even walked at little taller, and had a new strut and swagger as I showcased my success. When I knew would be seen by someone who didn’t know about the new me, I was ecstatic! Then over time, people started to get used to my new size. I slowly began to fade into normal, the newness wore off and all of the attention nearly stopped. I missed the rave reviews, I kept wondering to myself, “Do I look fat?” Am I gaining weight?” “Why doesn’t someone say something!” Messed with my mind to be sure.
If that has not happened to you yet, trust me, it will. And it is important to be prepared for the emotional and mental grief it may cause. When it does, it will be a good time to do a little evaluating of your true motives for choosing weight loss surgery. Ask yourself why you made this decision in the first place. Did you do this for someone else? To look feel better for yourself? For revenge? To improve your health? This is a time to reconnect to your personal why. Remind yourself of what motivated you in the first place. Pat yourself on the back and learn to improve your ‘self-talk.’
Then, move on. Rather than having it be all about you, now is a great time to turn and support those coming along behind you. Opportunities abound for successful patients who want to give back by paying it forward. Motivate, encourage and support new and prospective WLS patients. Help with an event or patient celebration, work as a hospital volunteer, share your story or become a Support Group Leader. Share your successes online and participate in one or more of the many Facebook Group discussions. You look great – now be great by helping others.
#3 THE scale STARTS TO GO IN THE WRONG DIRECTION
Perhaps like me, you spent many years not knowing what you weighed. I hated the scale and would avoid it at all costs. But, I loved nothing more than weighing myself during the first year after my surgery. It seemed as though I could weigh in the morning and lose even more weight by the time I returned home in the evening! Talk about motivating. For the first time in almost forever, the scales were tipping in my favor and it was exciting!
As many do, I reached a plateau a time or two on my way down to my goal. So, perhaps you too have plateaued along the way, but this time, you sense it is different. You have reached your goal, stayed there and celebrated your success, but then, your weight starts to climb back up. Panic sets in and you know that glory days are over. Thoughts like, “I was afraid this was too good to be true.” or “I knew this couldn’t last.” keep surfacing. Self- doubt sets in and you worry that like so many times in your life, you lose, then gain. (And often with a bonus). You hoped it would be different with a surgical intervention, you hoped it would be easy. And in some respects, it has been but now reality hits and you know it’s time to pay attention.
At this critical juncture. it is time to ensure that you have put into place the Success Habits you must rely upon every day for the rest of your life in order to maintain your weight. We all know how to lose weight, we have spent so many years on diets, off diets, thinking about a diet, researching a new diet, cursing diets, getting on and falling off diets. But learning how to maintain weight is a completely different mindset. Take this time as you transition from losing to maintaining to remind yourself that obesity is a disease. And one that you will struggle with for your entire life; surgery or not. You have a remarkable surgical tool to help you manage it as long as you learn to use it properly. Commit the time and effort to learn about your own personal metabolism, your triggers, and your relationship with food. It is up to you to evaluate your behaviors, stop doing what you might have gotten away with during the rapid weight loss phase and focus on everything you have learned. Memorize and internalize Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients.
#4 YOU REALIZE YOU SHOULD HAVE PAID MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR BARIATRIC TEAM
It seems that through the years the bariatric medical community has made great progress in ensuring that prospective patients are better educated and more prepared for surgery. As many of you know, there is a long checklist of todo’s prior to surgery. Consultations, evaluations, exams, tests, support groups and the list goes on and on.
An interesting thing happens though. When surgery is imminent, our focus is primarily on the details surrounding the actual procedure, hospital stay, pain management, how it will feel, etc. The classes and information are helpful, but unfortunately, we are not really listening. We are trying; we nod our heads at what our dieticians, nurses, mental health and exercise professionals are telling us. We commit to being compliant, eat right, exercise, take our vitamins and attend our follow up visits. But are we really listening? Are we learning? Perhaps not.
Following surgery, it’s “Whew, I am alive!” And once we are released from the hospital we begin our journey, sticking closely to what we have been advised. We start to really pay attention. Then, something magical happens. Our surgical tool starts to work, just like we had hoped. The weight starts to fall off! But, then we learn that no matter what we do, whether we follow the rules or not, the weight still continues to fall off. A dangerous realization. You see, once we think of ourselves as invincible – we stop listening.
Sadly, we see that it is only when people reach a plateau or heaven forbid, begin to gain weight that they are really ready to listen and learn. We are told so often, surgery is a tool, it’s a tool, it’s a tool. Again, we nod our heads. Now that our honeymoon is over we must be ready to learn. I mean really ready to learn.
We have “graduated” or are have been “released” from our bariatric clinic and may wonder if we missed our shot to learn. Surgery was a success; we have lost weight and now we need to learn how to maintain. Wishing we would have paid more attention earlier on, we might wonder where can turn.
For me, I turned to all of the successful patients I could find, to learn what they knew and do what they did. As I expected, there are very particular habits that those most successful have made part of their lives. In fact, I have spent the last 22 years seeking out the most successful wls patients, identifying their habits, learning from these long term losers and sharing my research all over the globe.
So often, we hear struggling patients comment that they did not learn these important principles during their initial weight loss. If that is the case with you, it is not too late. Read the book, take a class, participate online. Remember your surgical tool will serve you well for a lifetime as long as you learn to use it properly. Learn what you might have missed, learn what successful patient have to teach you, learn all you need to know about your own body, metabolism and food addictions. It’s never too late. Learn more about Success Habits Resources
Then, move on. Rather than having it be all about you, now is a great time to turn and support those coming along behind you. Opportunities abound for successful patients who want to give back by paying it forward. Motivate, encourage and support new and prospective WLS patients. Help with an event or patient celebration, work as a hospital volunteer, become a Support Group Leader. Share your successes online and participate in one or more of the many Facebook Group discussions. You look great – now be great by helping others.
#5 YOU STOP ATTENDING SUPPORT GROUPS THINKING THEY ARE FOR NEWBIES
We always suspected that those who regularly attend support groups after weight loss surgery are more successful than those who don’t. Thanks to our collaboration with Stanford University Medical Center, we now have the hard data to prove it. Put simply, “Successful WLS patients are 3 times more likely to participate in support groups than their less successful counterparts.”
Unfortunately, sometimes we find that support groups focus on and cater to the newbies, leaving the veteran patients bored, un-motivated and less likely come back. If the topics in support group are not of interest to you, suggest some that would be. Work to be part of the solution. Perhaps offer to do some research, share your experiences or even prepare and teach a lesson. If you have found that you have lost interest in your support group, please consider that if you don’t need the support group, perhaps the support group needs you.
I, for one am so very grateful to the two WLS patients who at 10 years post op volunteered month after month to share their story, coach, encourage and teach those of us coming along behind them. Perhaps it’s time to give a little back by paying if forward. Consider becoming a BSCI Certified Support Group Leader. There is nothing more motivating than having people look up to you, learn from you and help keep you on track as a good example.
For many, support groups go way beyond, “What is the topic?” People view support group attendance as a commitment to themselves to stay connected and accountable. Support groups offer opportunities to connect a network of like-minded people who understand your journey as many do not. So many life-long friendships are established at support groups.
Make support group attendance a must do on your calendar to help you stay on track and accountable. If you are unable to attend a live group, web-based forums, Facebook groups and telephonic groups are easily found. BSCI’s DreamTeam of educators host free telephonic support groups every week. Fun, easy and a great way to stay connected. Telephonic Support Group Schedule

Twitter
Do you know what the #BestProteinShake for #BariatricSurgery is? Hint: there is a #PremierProteinSettlement going on now! For great taste and #wheyProteinConcentrate try BariatricPal Protein One with 27 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. INSERTLINKHERE BariatricPal WLS Magazine is never misleading!
Premier Protein – Not Premier for Bariatric Patients!
The jury went to work on Premier Protein, and the verdict is in – almost literally. Premier Protein is in trouble for its misleading label claims on its Protein Shakes. Not only that, but the shakes may not be all they’re cracked up to be when it comes to helping you lose weight. Here is the story.
Legal Trouble for Premier Protein
Premier Protein sells all kinds of protein shakes. The ones whose labels state that they have 30 grams of protein per serving are the ones in the settlement. Analysis has found that they have 26 to 29 grams. The flavors that are in the settlement are vanilla, chocolate, Strawberries & Cream, banana & Cream, Peaches & Cream, Cookies & Cream, Mixed berry, Organic Chocolate, Organic Vanilla, and Caramel.
While the company is not admitting wrongdoing or ceasing the sale of these products, there is a class action settlement. You may be eligible for a cash payout if you purchased any of the misleading shakes in the past 7 years, since 2011. Pre-op or post-op, you need to know how much protein is in your shake.
Not Best for Bariatric Patients
Every gram of protein counts, but the deception in amount of protein per serving is not the only problem. Even if you are willing to overlook the shortfall in the amount of protein, Premier Protein has a problem with type of protein.
Read the ingredients carefully, and you will see that less than 1% of the product is “whey protein concentrate.” whey protein is the type of protein that you should be looking for because it absorbs more quickly than casein. Whey protein has been shown to increase weight loss and body fat loss in bariatric surgery patients.
Another glance at the list of ingredients of Premier Protein shows that “milk protein concentrate” and “casein” are the major sources of protein. Casein is slow-acting. If you had a bariatric surgery type, such as gastric bypass, that interferes with absorption, you may not get all the benefits from casein.
What’s Better?
We know that you need a protein supplement, so what can you find that has the amount and type of protein you need and the great taste that will encourage you to take care of your needs? BariatricPal Protein One gets our vote.
· 27 grams of whey protein.
· 28 Vitamins and minerals.
· Great-tasting French Vanilla, Cinnamon Swirl, and Double Chocolate Fudge.
It has a few more advantages over Premier Protein.
· Over twice as much dietary fiber for fullness and digestive health.
· Choose from convenient single-serving packets or multi-serving tubs.
· Comes in powder so you can add Water or your favorite beverage.
· Has an “unflavored” option so you can add it to anything, from Soup to smoothies.
When it comes to bariatric products, quality counts. Any purchase you make should be from a trusted source because there are a lot of poor-quality or misleading products out there. The few grams of difference between Premier Protein’s claims and reality may not be a lot, but along with the poor choice of casein instead of whey as the main protein source, you might want to seek another source for your protein. Look for a trusted vendor and name brand as you make your choice. What you put in your body really does matter.

Thanks for the responses, I guess I'll just have to accelerate that weight loss (or wait 6ish months).
I'll see what the surgeon says in January.

I lost feeling in a palm sized area of my hip/thigh after gall bladder surgery. I believe it was caused by an injection that I received in that area. My feeling returned after about 6 months. Good luck.

Meralgia paresthetica look that up. It’s likely a pinched nerve. Weight loss and weight redistribution will likely fix it. Ask your doc if you’re worried!

I haven't seen anyone else post about this so I'll put it out there. I'm 10 days post-op and don't see my surgeon again until January.
Almost immediately after surgery I noticed a palm sized numb area on my outer right thigh , at the time I chalked it up to the rock hard hospital bed. However it's persisted for 10 days and this past Saturday when slept on my right side I woke up with a really sharp pain when I moved my leg that went away in about 5 seconds. I also occasionally get "pin and needles" type sensations in the same area no consistency in what triggers it.
Anyone experience anything similar?

My taste buds changed immediately after surgery. But as time wore on over the next year or two, my taste returned back to near normal.
I found that mixing food groups together and by using spices definitely help in bring back the taste. So I recommend Soups and chili.

I think the dehydration really jacks with us as @Matt Z said. Also being in deep ketosis from low cals/low carbs can also jack with taste buds in the early days. But it does right itself. Adapt and adjust. Brush your teeth and tongue and drink LOTS of Water. If you can figure out a way to handle plain water, all the better!
If you don't like the taste of your Protein Drinks, try diluting them in other liquids of varying temps. Or make slushies or smoothies out of them. Or change up your Protein. Or eat savory Proteins. You just have to experiments until you find a rotation of things that work enough to "not suck". This isn't a permanent stage and you will soon be able to eat foods and get your protein in from foods.

Hormones, medication, the surgery itself, stress, etc all can cause changes in your tastes. Good news is, they typically go back to normal after a bit. Ensure you are getting upwards of 128oz of Water a day. Water is beyond critical to WLS.

I was trying to see if anyone has had a problem with there taste buds and why food taste so different or like rubber I’ve been trying to eat things that would help me get my taste back so I can start eating foods that I’m use to.

Yes. I had pain with swallowing and going down in the beginning if I swallowed too big a bite and didn’t chew enough. The pain was bad. I hope things gets easier for you soon.

Yes. You don’t realize it until you can’t chug. Ive been struggling with drinking. Getting my Water in. Just because you have to do it so slowly. 😩 I feel your pain

I’m sorry I hope it gets better. What does your doctor say ?

Thank you I do too. It’s more painful going down not the actual tummy once it gets there I’m fine. Lol I actually think I’m just not chewing enough. 😩

I’m 7mo post Gs and feeling discomfort in my stomach even if I don’t eat but much more when I eat or drink.???

Hope you all start feeling better. I’m five months out from being sleeved and I remember in the beginning how tender you have to be to your new tummy. It will get better and easier with time.

The only time I have difficulty is when I’m drinking. If I try more than a sip at a time it hurts. I just wanna chug water!

I don’t think it’s new life. Lol at least I hope not we’re stoll fresh. I haven’t felt full yet either which worries me too. I don’t feel hungry either. 🤦🏾‍♀️ Are you having difficulties swallowing too?

My surgery was 11/19 and I’m on soft/puree also. I’m having a really difficult time. I can’t eat anything I feel so full and sick immediately. Omg is this my new life??

hey everyone. I had surgery November 13. I just started actually eating things like chicken veggies eggs. And it still really hurts going down. I’m trying to chew forever and I feel like I’m chewing enough but it can get really painful to eat. Is this normal ? Is anyone else experiencing this?

It was my choice for the sleeve. She mentioned both and having gone to several of the seminars ,the sleeve just appealed to me. Also being over 60 I was concerned and the doctor who did mine had done several studies on people over 60 and the success rate impressed me.
For me the surgery itself seem less invasive than the bypass . I was sleeved 1/11/16 and I'm happy with my recovery.

Question for the Dr. Lang patients. ..
I am going to switch from sleeve to bypass.
In all my meetings with her we've only discussed the sleeve but after doing more research and thinking long term I feel that the full bypass will be my best option.
Did she reccomend sleeve for you all as well and what made you choose bypass?
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Tally resident here too!!
Dr. Lang is awesome and I am hopeful to have my surgery done in May or June.
Can not get here quick enough!!!
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