lizonaplane

Avoiding seeds, etc has been studied and has not been shown to improve outcomes in patients with diverticulosis/diverticulitis overall. Meaning, it will not prevent a recurrence of symptoms to avoid seeds and grains. However, many docs still don't know this because many practicing physicians are not up to date on the latest research.

I like iced mint tea and iced peach herbal tea. I steep them hot, like how I've always made iced tea.

I have NOOO problem getting liquids in. I make herbal iced tea by boiling water in a tea pot and pouring it over some tea bags in a carafe, then I put it in the fridge after steeping. Not sure if that's a cold infusion? Hint water is okay but way too expensive to buy a single bottle of it and if you buy it in bulk it always has the flavors I don't like, like lemon.

Okay, so I love me some fake sugar, but it makes me pee like every half hour! I was reading that at least some of the artificial sweeteners are diuretics, but they are ALSO bladder irritants, so they are even more likely to cause you to run to the potty. I also intersperse my diet juice/iced tea/crystal light with water throughout the day and drink a ton, so it's a struggle. Note: I'm not interested in your belief that aspartame/splenda/sucralose cause cancer or weight gain. Those theories have been fully debunked.

That's too bad. It doesn't go bad, so maybe you can make a trip and buy a whole bunch to stock up for a few weeks/months?

Completely forgot about Hint! Very much agree with this suggestion.

I agree, I much prefer my water cold, and I drink much more now that I'm not drinking a ton of soda. However, since I only have a small fridge/freezer, I don't have a way to store ice or big bottles of water, and the water in my tap isn't very cold. I will usually keep a refillable bottle of water on my desk when I'm working and also a glass of a beverage I prefer (like 5 calorie juice or diet iced tea) and alternate them. I also have a small bottle of water I bought and I refill it and put it back in the fridge. My mouth is always dry from meds, so have to drink all day... might as well be water!

Well, you can either learn to like water, or you can try some of the other suggestions people have given you...

Thanks for sharing your journey so far!

Just curious, did they ask for food logs or anything? Would that be helpful? So hard that you can't lose weight because your BMI is already on the low end.

Also, I feel your pain. I was a Coke Zero fiend until a few month ago, but when I decided to have surgery, I quit cold turkey. I didn't think I'd be able to, but then after a month I tried a soda again and I didn't even like it much! It's terrifying to make real change but I hope it's worth it! (I haven't had my surgery yet... still jumping through hoops)

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Insurance companies are the worst! I hope your appeal is successful.

I don't mind fake sugar, but my primary beverage is tap water. You could try unsweetened iced tea. I brew mint or peach flavored herbal tea and then cool it in a pitcher in my fridge for caffeine free iced tea. You could squeeze a lemon, lime, or orange wedge into water for a drink. You could drink coffee or tea, decaf if your surgeon prefers it. You could drink fairlife high protein milk You could use ReaLemon or Realime in water or tea. You could put a pitcher with cucumber slices and or mint leaves and keep it in the fridge. I could go on. Hope some of these appeal!

Oh, yeah, well, obviously that too, but I was hangry all the time I was dieting until the last few months when I discovered protein (I'm wondering how I'll be after I actually have surgery...)

I did intermittent fasting for a while but I was SO DAMN COLD all the time.

Also, just in general, unless your doctor says it's a concern, don't worry about a lab value that's just slightly above/below normal. I work in oncology research so I look at blood test results all day long and it would be highly unusual for a patient to have everything perfect normal in their blood work (obviously not talking about tests related to their cancer). People aren't machines, we have normal variation. The doctors will say it's just "not clinically significant", and we move on.

My CO2 levels have been around 19 for as far back as I have records, and my doctor has never brought it up as a concern. I would think that CO2 poisoning would be HIGH CO2 levels, not LOW CO2 levels, so I don't think that's likely to indicate sleep apnea, but I work in oncology, so it's not something I have familiarity with. In fact I just found this: "People who suffer from the nighttime breathing disorder known as sleep apnea may develop high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood during the daytime -- a condition known as hypercapnia," - (Reuters article) So, a CO2 level of 19 is not caused by sleep apnea.

Yeah, when I re-read it it was totally clear, but you know how this site underlines random words, that's what through me off

I just saw the underlined "sugar free water" and I was so confused. I thought maybe some people's taps were dispensing sugar water!!!!! ?

Thanks, this is a different study; the study I was referring to was more recent and also looked at people going against their normal breakfast "inclinations", but it's the same overall results.

Your choice to support gun rights is just that. A choice. My being genderqueer and asexual is not a choice. It's who I am. And those two factors of my core being affect the way health care providers treat me and therefore my bariatric surgery journey. That's why LGBTQIA+ is relevant here.

I can't speak to post-bariatric surgery specifically, but the latest research for the general community is that people should only eat breakfast if they are inclined to eat breakfast. If people who are not generally breakfast eaters start eating breakfast, the latest studies show they will eat more calories throughout the day, whereas the reverse is true for people who are naturally inclined to eat breakfast. If "natural breakfast eaters" skip breakfast, they will compensate by overeating later in the day. No, I do not have the citation for this study, I read this a number of years ago but read that there were a number of similar findings from other studies. And I don't recall this being tested in bariatric surgery patients or people with diabetes, etc.

Dihydrogen Monoxide... don't get out of bed with out good old H2O! (water) After that it varies depending on my mood. Could be a protein drink or greek yogurt with fruit and chia seeds, or eggs (I hate eggs but sometimes I forget, like this morning). Sometimes I have cheese and ham in a low carb wrap toasted in a pan.

This... especially your last sentence. I have to remember that even though I'm excited and proud of myself for taking these positive steps, not everyone understands what it's like to be obese for decades and to gain and lose hundreds of pounds, and I've had really weird comments and questions when I'm as open about preparing for WSL as I am about all the other weird things I've done in my life.

There might be stuff that I will have to do right before surgery they said but I won't know until I get initiated into the secret society... Or whatever