The Greater Fool

Congratulations. Tek

Be sure to discuss this with your Doc. I would expect your liquid diet to go straight through. It's annoying, but it also allows your surgery to heal. The firmer the content the more your new surgery is stressed. I would expect it to change once you are allowed to go to food. If your Doc is not concerned I wouldn't be. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. Can you share your answers to the below? I think it would be fun to see your experiences. Can you remember your pre-op goals? The things you wanted to do? How did this compare to the reality post-op? Did you do those things? Other things? What happened that you did not expect? Keep up the good work. Tek

My thoughts are with you and your family. On getting back to weight loss, don't think the below as a weight loss diet because weight loss diets end. Then one returns to the 'normal' diet which results in weight gain. This is just the old habits reasserting. Get back on your post-op plan. Return to the good habits you learned during the early post-op months. Whatever you do now, it won't be fast weight loss, but if you are consistent you will get where you want to be. Then you need to continue on plan consistently for the rest of your life. If you're inclined increase your activity or even :gasp: exercise. Exercise is not my thing, but I am active(ish). Good luck, Tek

I recommend you do your plan as your Doc/Nut require. Do NOT chew, chew, chew in the first few weeks because when you don't chew enough, and you won't, your food will stick in your tender surgery, you're gonna wretch, and you be in pain, and you could cause bad things to happen to your surgery. Don't do it. I thought puree would be yucky but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went for high flavor profiles. Following your Doc's plan is about both learning to eat appropriately AND actually following through on a plan. We got to needing WLS by not following plans. Invariably, if we didn't abandon the plan completely, we started making changes, which made other changes easier until we were, well, needing WLS. Losing weight by following the plan gives us positive reinforcement for good choices, and for actually following through on our commitment. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. Now you will learn why WLS is not "the easy way out." It's hard differently. Rest, recover, and be patient. You won't be running marathons in a week. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. When I was 30 days from surgery I started creating a list of "50 things I want to do," I added it to my WLS journal which I updated every two or three days. After surgery whenever I accomplished something on the list, I would cross it off and add a comment. For instance #1 was "wake up after surgery." On 3 April 2003 I crossed it off with the comment "I did, in fact, wake up after surgery." I included what I call odometer goals, like weighing 4--, 3--, 2--, and clothing sizes. The fun ones where things like running, kayaking, dancing, etc. It was fun. Review your plan documentation. You should understand everything about your plan. If you're doing protein drinks, what are you going to do if they don't taste right, or they make you gag. Have options available, even ones you don't think you'll like. Be ready for the worst. Then your eventual food plan. Do you understand the principles of your plan? When you are out somewhere and your normal choices aren't available you need to be able to apply the principles to make a good choice. When you post a thread here asking for ideas on what you can eat, be sure to tell us your plan so that we can offer suggestions within your plan. In the first few months you can't not lose weight. If you go off plan and make bad choices, you will still lose weight. Your weight loss will be a positive reinforcement of your bad choices. When the weight loss stops the new habits you've built will be the bad ones. if you stay on plan consistently the weight you lose becomes a tremendous positive reinforcement for your new good habits. This helps make your new habits your new normal. You have some rough times coming up. Surgery hurts. Healing takes time. It will be hard. You will get frustrated. You will have to learn how to eat again, both mechanically (small bites chewed ridiculously well) and your plan. Be patient. In a short time things will start getting better. And better. Wow, this post sorta got away from me. Enjoy the ride. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Mostly I just wanted to say "Hello" so you don't feel ignored. Hello I'm sure someone will be along that can give you feedback. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. Do your research, understand your surgery choice, understand the pros and cons, and understand completely the plan involved. Good luck. Tek

I don't recall the details, it was nearly 18 years ago. Your Doc will map it all out for you today. Be patient. Tek

Dumping is no fun. Which is why I'm glad I dump. Do you think the folks above that dumped on sugar (or fat) want to repeat the event? What better negative reinforcement for eating wrong things could you ask for? Yep, dumping helped me get where I am today. Tek

Really, we are not Doctors. *AND* our Docs tell us different things. So don't make any decisions based on what a bunch of random voices say on the enterwebs. My Doc has NO general prohibitions on ANY medication. We all have different issues and different needs the same as non-ops have different needs. We along with our medical team need to evaluate our needs, the drugs available for those needs, and the pros and cons of taking those drugs. Just like everyone else. For instance, I take NSAIDs as a backup to narcotics for my chronic pain issues. I monitor and am monitored carefully for the possible complications of each. I also have liver issues, so I must be very careful with acetaminophen but even so I do take it occasionally. If I didn't take these so called off-limits drugs, I would be in constant pain, which would be untenable. So, again, every medication for every person as possible negative side effects along with the intended effects. DISCUSS it with your Doc. If they don't give you a solution for your issue, find a new Doc. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. In such a case, since they both end with (theoretically) the same result, I would take the Doc's perspective of plusses / minuses as which is easier or more appropriate. All any of us can give you is the perception of a single operation, which we slept through. Good luck, Tek

Just a wild guess on how you could do such a horrible, horrible thing... You're human. And I'd bet you make killer cookies. And you got caught up in the moment. And you are getting right back on the horse. THIS is the lesson. We should all screw up once in 4 months. You will be OK, Tek

We are all different. Tek

I know my restriction is in place, but could easily eat a bag of popcorn if I chose. Popcorn, chips, and such chew down to practically nothing and slide right through. Of course, I don't do this at all often because 1) It's not on my plan; and 2) such generally makes my stomach unhappy for a while afterwards; I focus on staying on plan consistently because when I don't it causes me problems. By this I mean eating badly or not at all, both create problems. There are days when I have no appetite where I have to push myself to eat at least a couple times. There are days when I have a good appetite and eat to plan. The trick is to stay on plan consistently. No one is perfect, least of all me. But if I can do it right the vast majority of the time, the times I can't aren't going to end the world. You are still young in the process. It's still almost impossible not to lose weight. But, you can eat well and the weight loss becomes positive feedback for doing it well, or you can eat badly and losing weight becomes positive feedback for doing it wrong. Your choices now will be your choices later when the weight loss wanes. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. I don't have much to say about protein shakes since I eat, you know, food. But there are many protein shakers about who will be along to give you advice and experiences. Vegan shakes are going to be interesting to get information on. But, mostly here to help you not feel ignored. Good luck, Tek

As an alternate perspective, I have never counted calories as a post-op. My Doc's plan is simple: 3oz protein, 1oz veggies, 3 times per day. It's probably ever so slightly more some days, less other days. Which has always suited me fine as I did not want to spend the rest of my life eating calories rather than meals. As always, follow your plan, what we do is beside the point. As mom used to say, "If everyone jumped off a cliff would you laugh?" or something like it. Good luck, Tek

I'd be interesting in seeing your source for 5% of WLS patients. Also, not all WLS patients are created equal. VSG would be least likely to have issues as all absorption mechanisms are in place. RNY/DS on the other hand, might make more sense. I look forward to learning from your sources. ETA: this looks interesting: https://n.neurology.org/content/37/2/196.short Tek

I still have my restriction. It hasn't really changed for me. Any time I try to eat one bite too many it's a huge mistake. So I don't try to do it anymore. Apparently this is why my restriction is the same. I have had pizza, nachos, both the bog-standard types. I just can't eat much. Or often. I still stay on plan consistently, but not perfectly. I *think* I focused on doing it as good as I could the first year while losing weight. Doing the right thing and being rewarded with weight loss is a terrific form of positive reinforcement. Now it's my normal. Hope this helps, Tek

Welcome to the forums. Dumping happens to 20-50% [source] of post-ops, depending on the surgeon, specifics of the operation, and individual variations that can be dramatic. So, no one can predict if you will get it or not. The source above will describe the symptoms. I am fortunately a dumper. It is a terrific negative reinforcement tool: Eat the wrong thing, dump. It takes an amazingly few times to learn lessons. It's not an E ticket ride. "Accidents" in the pants people describe are flatulence that isn't quite flatulence. That's as specific as I care to get. I know non-ops this happens to, but we tend to be a bit more gassy, so such is slightly more likely for it to happen to us. I live a normal life, or as normal as someone as 'off' as me can have. I've lived a normal life since I healed from surgery 17+ years ago. Of course, the meaning of 'normal' has changed dramatically. Normal used to mean binge eating and doing nothing. Now it means generally eating good food on plan and doing amazing stuff. You need to evaluate your surgical options to determine which issues you want, which you are willing to risk, and which food plan you think you can sustain joyfully the rest of your life. That last bit it is the critical part. Good luck, Tek

Have you ever been on a diet (or not) and had someone telling you constantly that you are doing it wrong. Even when you were doing it wrong? If not, I have, and it is something I rightly or wrongly resented. The crappy thing for you is from the 'helper' side, you are pretty much in a no win situation. You feel you just must 'help', but any help will be interpreted as nagging. Oh, and it get's crappier: At the stage he is in it's almost impossible not to lose weight. He is learning that he can do what he wants and lose weight. In a few months he will learn this is not true and then it will be too late to build success with weight loss as a positive feedback. Really, you have a bunch of bad choices to choose from. I have a relationship that we can sit and talk about these sort of things, but then that's it... it's up to us do to it. Frequent reminders do not go well, we work at supporting the right things, but don't force or push. It's an almost impossible balance that we often don't manage. Good luck, Tek

Wow, this is horrible. Correlation is not causation. We humans tend to think that thing-a causes thing-b if they happen in apparent sequence. It's just not always so. It's like vaccines and autism. Vaccines are given to kids around age 2-3. This age is when Autism usually presents, with or without vaccines. So some parents relate one to the other when they happen close together by chance. This is what is going on. The VSG happened by chance a few months before the ALS symptoms began. It doesn't make anything better, though. My thoughts are with you and your brother. I really wish I had some form of hope to offer. Tek

At such times, there are quotes to help me get through: "No, not those quotes, new quotes" There is a quote for every situation. Let me rack my mind for new ones: Well, obviously, "you'll get by with the help of your friends." This has already been in play. You are and will be getting great advice. For instance... "Variety is the spice of life." I don't usually shill for BariatricPal, but they have protein variety packs, give it a shot and go through them until you get a hit. "Careful what you wish for." This should be self evident, but remember why you are doing this to yourself. And, as always, "wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas" because by then you will be well past all this. Good luck, again, Tek

Well, it seems like you are doing the right things, the main one is talking to your Doc/team. You just had surgery. It's gonna hurt. Some of us hurt more than others, and in different ways. Isn't like just a hoot! Hang in there, it will get better. Good Luck, Tek