AZhiker

Fruits and veggies are not "empty" calories - they are loaded with Vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that are essential for good health. How do I handle them? With at least 10 servings a day, including the starchy ones!

There are tons of resources, but to start, please watch 3 documentaries: "The Game Changers," "Forks Over Knives," and "What the Health."
There is so much information in these, that I have actually watched them several times each, as well as reading the books of the sources. Forks Over Knives magazine comes out quarterly and is packed with great recipes. You can also get on their email list and get good recipes as well. Many are total hits with my non vegan family.
I can personally tell you that the claims made are true. Even a year after reaching my goal weight, my cholesterol was still 225-235. I attributed it to genetics. After going plant based for only a couple of months, my cholesterol dropped to 150! My triglycerides and LDL are off the charts on the LOW side now! I feel great, have better mental acuity, and the best thing is that I can eat all I want. It is such a natural, healthy way to eat and the numbers show it. Oh yes, I found that soreness after exercise is non existent. I can exercise very hard and never feel sore or like I need a recovery time. This has to do with blood supply and inflammation in the vessels of the muscles. It's pretty amazing.

I also found the first weeks pretty easy because everything is so limited. Protein Shakes, Water, and broth is all you need at first. Your program should give you a list of foods for the various stages, but your body will tell you which ones will work for you at that time. I wouldn't advise to prep lots of meals, because you will probably waste a lot. I prepped fish, chicken, and ground beef in 3 oz servings and froze them. But I could only eat half of that and it was just too much to handle. Then I kind of got sick about them and didn't/couldn't eat any of it. I stuck with cottage cheese, refried Beans thinned with broth, and yogurt for my soft stage. Really pretty simple and not a lot of work. Don't get too stressed by these stages. They pass quickly and you will advance to regular foods within a couple of months.

Since I transitioned to a Whole Foods Plant Based diet a year ago, I have maintained my goal weight without difficulty, and I eat all I want, with no counting or measuring. The center of WFPB are fruits, and veggies of all kinds, including lots of the starchy ones like sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, etc. I eat apples, bananas, daily avocado, and all sorts of fruit, but no juice. Whole grains and legumes play a big role for Protein, along with nuts and seeds. There is no sugar, added oils, or processed foods. I easily get 60 gm of protein a day, and the ability to eat unlimited volumes of food is so satisfying and filling. I eat at least 10 servings of fruit and veggies daily, and get about 60-70 gram of Fiber a day, and this is one key for feeling full all the time. Anyway, I am healthy and strong and love not feeling enslaved to macros or calorie counting. This has given me so much freedom in my eating, and I know it is healthy and sustainable. Just food for thought.

Children of alcoholic parents often get stuck in a care giving role of responsibility for the parent. They end up being thrust into a parental like role, which is enabling and unhealthy. You are NOT responsible for your mom, for her decisions, for her lies to the doctor, for her weight loss or lack there of, or for her long term success or failure. You are only responsible for YOU. For heavens sake, go to your OWN follow up appointments and let her go to hers. You are each on your own journeys in this. She is not going to stop drinking or smoking because of this surgery, and she may well develop complications because of that. You are not responsible for that - SHE is. She has you wrapped around her little finger. You can love your mom and wish the best for her, but you cannot live her life for her. You have one big job right now and that is to take care of YOU! Get yourself out of the house and back to college. You are putting your own success at risk by trying so hard to ensure your mom's success - but that is HER journey, not yours.
I strongly suggest you get to some Alanon meetings and learn how to be supportive without enabling, and how to take care of yourself. Please do this, or get some kind of counselling. Alcoholism is not a benign disorder. It deeply affects all members of a family in profound and damaging ways, You are on a whole new path now - a path to a healthy, long, happy life. You will be making many dietary and lifestyle changes, and I can tell you are determined to do this well and be successful. I truly believe you will achieve your goals in this. Be warned that your mom is probably going to try to undermine you, as her own progress slows down because of her compromises. You need to be as far away as possible so you can disconnect yourself from her issues. Your own life is complicated enough, and a responsible young lady like you does not need to be looking out for Mom. She is a grown up and can look out for herself and make her own choices. Please use this time to get healthy in every way - including mentally and psychologically. Some counselling regarding the alcoholic influence will be very helpful. Very best wishes to you.

Oh my goodness - so many options out there. There are lots of plant based Protein powders, both flavored and unflavored. For shakes, I use the Orgain brand. Beans are super foods - just smoosh them up and thin with vegetable broth. Refried beans were my go-to in the soft stage. There are plant based yogurts (Silk is made from soy, and there is a great one made from oat milk that is high in protein - Nancy's is the brand.) Tofu is also a go-to. You can scramble it, put it in smoothies, make dips and sauces from it - lots of options. For "milk" I use the unflavored, unsweetened Silk soy milk and also unsweetened Ripple which is pea protein based. These have the highest protein content.

Since I transitioned to a Whole Foods Plant Based diet a year ago, I have maintained my goal weight without difficulty, and I eat all I want, with no counting or measuring. The center of WFPB are fruits, and veggies of all kinds, including lots of the starchy ones like sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, etc. I eat apples, bananas, daily avocado, and all sorts of fruit, but no juice. Whole grains and legumes play a big role for Protein, along with nuts and seeds. There is no sugar, added oils, or processed foods. I easily get 60 gm of protein a day, and the ability to eat unlimited volumes of food is so satisfying and filling. I eat at least 10 servings of fruit and veggies daily, and get about 60-70 gram of Fiber a day, and this is one key for feeling full all the time. Anyway, I am healthy and strong and love not feeling enslaved to macros or calorie counting. This has given me so much freedom in my eating, and I know it is healthy and sustainable. Just food for thought.

Since I transitioned to a Whole Foods Plant Based diet a year ago, I have maintained my goal weight without difficulty, and I eat all I want, with no counting or measuring. The center of WFPB are fruits, and veggies of all kinds, including lots of the starchy ones like sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, etc. I eat apples, bananas, daily avocado, and all sorts of fruit, but no juice. Whole grains and legumes play a big role for Protein, along with nuts and seeds. There is no sugar, added oils, or processed foods. I easily get 60 gm of protein a day, and the ability to eat unlimited volumes of food is so satisfying and filling. I eat at least 10 servings of fruit and veggies daily, and get about 60-70 gram of Fiber a day, and this is one key for feeling full all the time. Anyway, I am healthy and strong and love not feeling enslaved to macros or calorie counting. This has given me so much freedom in my eating, and I know it is healthy and sustainable. Just food for thought.

You are right in that bypass won't cure the addiction. It never promised that. It is a tool that limits intake and creates a bit of malabsorption, but does not cure the head part. That is the work you have to do and it will probably take a good amount of therapy. You are clearly getting the endorphin/serotonin/dopamine release from the sugar. Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as cocaine, which is why it is so addictive in its own right. The good news is that if you can avoid all sugar for 3 solid days, the cravings will actually decrease. But you can't let it creep back in, or the cravings come back as strong as ever. The bad news is that you are going to have to work on figuring out another way to relieve stress, boredom, anxiety, or whatever else might be triggering the need for this sugar hit, and to find better coping mechanisms for dealing with the triggers.
You are not alone. Many people deal with this and are able to overcome it. Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. The tool is working for you, but it can only do so much. Best of luck and I really do encourage you to get some therapy to gain some insight and tools to help you be successful for the long term.

Don’t fret too much about not reaching your Protein goals at first. It’s hard because you’re consuming so little. Just slowly increase your intake as you’re able. It’s much easier when you start eating solid foods. Don’t forget your Protein Shakes count to your daily fluid goals too.
Congrats on your surgery.

Today is my 1 year surgeversary and despite everything going on in the world, its been a pretty good year. Since 12/31/2019 I am:
- Down 120 lbs from surgery (161.5 total)
- in the "normal" BMI range, for the first time in my adult life
- almost half of my weight (and will be when I reach goal)
My favorite NSVs
- My knees, what finally got me to have the surgery, feel SO much better
- I'm walking most days, anywhere from 1.5-2 miles and it feels so good both physically and mentally
- I want to be out and experiencing life again, v. being so tired at the end of the day and just wanting to sit on the couch
- I eat completely differently from before, and I have so much more energy
- Clothes fit so much better! From 2x-3x to a Medium in tops.
- Standard bath towels fit

I wonder if you have developed something like Raynaud's syndrome.

I agree that adding nut butters can easily add calories, but I think adding complex carbs in the form of whole grains and starchy vegetables gives more nutritional value, They are also filling and satisfying. Small amounts of nuts, nut butters and seeds also add healthy calories, but adding more variety will add more nutrition.

Start adding whole grain carbohydrates (oats, quinoa, brown rice, and lovely grains like buckwheat, millet, teff, and amaranth.) Mixed together, these make a really nice cooked Cereal, Raisins, banana and cinnamon add sweetness without sugar. You can also add more starchy veggies like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pumpkin.) You can also start adding some small amounts of nuts and seeds. Doing these two things (complex carbs in the form of whole grains and starchy vegetables) and a small amount of nuts (raw nuts or nut butters) and seeds (raw sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, chia) will add calories to help slow the weight loss, but with a lot of nutritional bang.
When I need to lose a little, I just back off the grains and nuts/seeds. It's an easy way to regulate weight without compromising nutrition. If you need to slow weight loss, just start adding them in,

I was down to 284 before my first try at VSG but wasn't meant to be as Band had to come out first and took too long to remove for a safe VSG. So I knew I had to wait until after May this year for my Medicare and Supplemental was active. Well, I gained all that weight back. So 8/10/20 I contacted a health coach I knew from before and at 304 began a 3 month journey so I could have VSG by 11/30/20. By second week in November I was down 33lbs. I am now 1.2 lbs from 50 lost.
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First of all, this has nothing to do with WLS. And you need to be seeing your doctor right away, or go immediately to the ER if you are actually losing that much blood. With all due respect, I have to wonder if this a trolling post, as the obvious answer you will get from everyone is to go to your doc or the ER right away.

First of all, this has nothing to do with WLS. And you need to be seeing your doctor right away, or go immediately to the ER if you are actually losing that much blood. With all due respect, I have to wonder if this a trolling post, as the obvious answer you will get from everyone is to go to your doc or the ER right away.

refried Beans, thinned with broth was a lifesaver for me.

Tiny bites and wait a little bit between bites. It's a hard stage, but you'll make it. Try to make every bite a mindful bite. Taste and enjoy the experience of each bite thoroughly. I remember feeling so confused because it could be different from day to day. One day I could only eat 3 bites at a time, and the next day, everything would go down fine. So strange. Almost 2 years out, and I will still get the foamies from time to time if I eat too quickly or too much at a time. It's so hard to break the habit of mindless gulping.

WHY? Weight loss surgery is weight loss surgery, with the same challenges and victories for everyone. We don't need to know someone's race, age, gender, or sexual preference to offer encouragement, advice, and support.

Just pick yourself up and get going again. But think about it and try to learn from the experience. If you can learn what triggered the problem, you can figure out how to avoid another call. As long as you keep learning from failure, you set yourself up for success.
For example, I remember twice after riding my bike that I absolutely craved french fries. I gave in both times and got sick both times. Then I realized it was the salt I was actually craving. Once I added some electrolytes to my water bottle during rides, I never experienced that again. So try to think it through - was it boredom, stress, or something else? What can you do during those times rather than eat? One of my big temptations is munching while watching TV. Now I have some sewing hand work to finish up before Christmas and I do that instead of eating. So much more productive! You can do this. You are not alone.

You are right in that bypass won't cure the addiction. It never promised that. It is a tool that limits intake and creates a bit of malabsorption, but does not cure the head part. That is the work you have to do and it will probably take a good amount of therapy. You are clearly getting the endorphin/serotonin/dopamine release from the sugar. Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as cocaine, which is why it is so addictive in its own right. The good news is that if you can avoid all sugar for 3 solid days, the cravings will actually decrease. But you can't let it creep back in, or the cravings come back as strong as ever. The bad news is that you are going to have to work on figuring out another way to relieve stress, boredom, anxiety, or whatever else might be triggering the need for this sugar hit, and to find better coping mechanisms for dealing with the triggers.
You are not alone. Many people deal with this and are able to overcome it. Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. The tool is working for you, but it can only do so much. Best of luck and I really do encourage you to get some therapy to gain some insight and tools to help you be successful for the long term.

Lisa, please put your stats in. It will help people know how to respond to you better. Go to your profile to fill in the numbers. What was your starting weight? How much did you lose? What was your goal weight? What is your weight now? Did you have regain since surgery? A lot of your questions seem to be more like what a new post op patient would ask, so please give us a bit more history. Tell us how you are eating now. Are you able to eat full sized meal? If so a lot of bloating can be from carbs or foods that you are not digesting completely. How is your simple carb and sugar intake? What does a day's menu look like for you? Are you still following up with your nutritionist?
Sorry for all the questions, but it's hard to know how to offer answers without more information.

By day 60 post op, I had lost 54 pounds, which includes 15 pounds lost on the pre op diet. BUT EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT! It doesn't matter if you lose fast or slow. You cannot control that as long as you are following your plan. I lost fast, but had terrible body dysmorphia from the rapid change. I think losing slower has advantages in that area. But we really don't have a choice in how we lose - just the choice to stick with the plan. Hang in there! Don't get caught up in comparing your numbers with everyone else. It is interesting, but the journey is unique for each person.

I cannot use whey based Proteins, and for the life of me I cannot remember the brand of the pea based, unsweetened, unflavored one I use for Soups. I got it at Sprouts. Sprouts also has some in the bulk food section and I've used that just fine, also.