Jacks133

Don’t be scared to drink. Just let your stomach settle for a little while. It sounds like you had no room for the Water, and it simply tried to expand your stomach further. Well done for sorting it out - it doesn’t sound like dumping syndrome however, which is the effect of the food being processed in your gut. It sounds like you’d eaten something too indigestible or got a block from the food - maybe not chewed enough, or something clogging together. This is why when you vomited it felt better immediately. After my daughter had her bypass she had a number of times when she ate the wrong thing and it ‘clogged’ and the pain was awful, she said. It put me right off doing that when I had my operation. I have always remembered to stop eating before you feel full, and leave it for a bit to see how well your stomach deals with the food before eating more. Never eat to feel full… Feeling full after bypass or sleeve surgery is NOT a nice feeling at all.

I think you’ve probably answered your own question in that you realise you’ve gained a bad habit, and why. It’s going to take determination and willpower to break that habit and eat differently. If you’re now getting enough food and your weight loss has stopped, you don’t need to snack - it’s as simple as that. The stopping of snacking is not so easy, because you have to retrain your brain. It may be that you need to construct some other ‘habits’ by working out something to do instead of snacking. If you DO want to snack, put aside small portions of healthy Snacks you will allow yourself, but only so many in the day. Calorie count them if necessary. Avoid making your snacks sweets and chips. You must have other, healthy things, you could eat. But don’t allow yourself to snack too much anyway - find a strategy. Sticking to it at first will be hard, but like with any habit, it can be broken and a new habit can be achieved. You do not want to start gaining again, because it’s demoralising and you don't want that. Your brain is telling you that you NEED these unhealthy things - you don’t. You can retrain it!

I wish there were an easy answer to your question but there's not.
In the near-term, you can substitute less destructive Snacks to limit the damage. You can eat Quest chips instead of potato chips, sugar-free pudding or Jello instead of ice cream, etc.
But for lasting change, you're going to need to understand how you can relate to food in a healthier way. Are you eating as an emotional coping mechanism? Are you eating out of habit? Are hormonal fluctuations causing cravings? Some people find a therapist helpful to explore food issues (especially a bariatric therapist). Journaling might help - what's going on around you when you feel the urge to eat? Are you watching TV? Arguing with someone? Worrying about the future? Do track all your food every day - even when you eat the bad stuff. It's hard to deal with a problem you won't confront so bring it out into the open.
Most of us who are/were obese have had issues with eating for reasons other than nutrional need. Getting to the root of why that is can be difficult, but lifechanging. Hugs and best wishes!

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I really appreciate the advice, it was helpful. I typically keep how I feel to myself or I'm not 100% honest with myself, and I know I shouldn't.

I'm just having a hard time distracting myself, or telling myself no When I get a craving. Or I'll tell myself no and just eventually give in.

I think it's more out of boredom than anything. I do eat my feelings sometimes, but I feel lately I think about eating because I'm not doing anything, or just because I can.
I feel I've just been more embarrassed and ashamed to talk about it. But I think maybe seeking out a bariatric therapist might help me. Maybe help develop ways to distract myself too.

Dalila you are doing great! You’ve reached your goal and you need to be a bit kinder to yourself. It sounds like you’re making very sensible food choices. Everyone stretches their pouches - you would not be able to sustain enough nutrition for a normal life if you didn’t. You are a success story! Enjoy your yogurt with strawberries and Peanut Butter - it must slip down very easily and sounds nutritious, tasty and highly digestible. Brilliant!

I think you’ve probably answered your own question in that you realise you’ve gained a bad habit, and why. It’s going to take determination and willpower to break that habit and eat differently. If you’re now getting enough food and your weight loss has stopped, you don’t need to snack - it’s as simple as that. The stopping of snacking is not so easy, because you have to retrain your brain. It may be that you need to construct some other ‘habits’ by working out something to do instead of snacking. If you DO want to snack, put aside small portions of healthy Snacks you will allow yourself, but only so many in the day. Calorie count them if necessary. Avoid making your snacks sweets and chips. You must have other, healthy things, you could eat. But don’t allow yourself to snack too much anyway - find a strategy. Sticking to it at first will be hard, but like with any habit, it can be broken and a new habit can be achieved. You do not want to start gaining again, because it’s demoralising and you don't want that. Your brain is telling you that you NEED these unhealthy things - you don’t. You can retrain it!

Hello, vegan bypasser reporting!
The struggle to eat solid food is real, and so I haven't been able to explore food like I might have. I get my 60+ grams of Protein currently via my morning shake and afternoon protein Water (I loathe both, but have to do it). I make sure I bump that protein up with Vitasoy Protein Plus soy milk, which is 10g of protein per 250ml. So I use that in my shake, and also in my daily unsweetened matcha latte. That covers my protein so I don't have to worry about it - all other protein via food is a bonus.
I relied on Soups and blended stews in the liquid phase, and in the soft food stage I've been eating scrambled tofu with vegan bacon and scallions (added nutritional yeast), eggplant shakshuka (our fave vegan cafe does a delectable one), hummus and fresh veg, tvp bolognaise without the Pasta, and vegan sausages and seitans. My dietician supplied a nice vegan plan that included high protein vegan burger patties, curries, vegan yoghurt ( which I cannot eat because they're too sweet for me now), kiwi fruit, homemade baked Beans, vegan cheese, teriyaki tofu etc.
I can barely eat a 1/4 cup at a time, and at most 3 times a day, so I often times will just eat what I crave - a slice of fresh Tomato, or a bean, or just a spoonful of whatever I've prepared.
And honestly for non-vegans: vegans have no trouble finding enough protein. The only thing we struggle to get enough of is Vitamin B, plants have us covered on everything else!

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I think maybe you need to talk to your surgical team about a diet sheet and guidance - plus there are posts on here about cook books for bariatric surgery. I suspect a change of food mindset is required - you may have loved Greggs pasties before your surgery, but Greggs pasties maybe have contributed to your problems in the first place - I don’t know. But melted cheese and onion sounds very dense and clogged to me, and not the sort of thing your small stomach will find easy to deal with. I used to love getting a spaghetti bolognese if we were out for a meal and picking the mince and sauce out of the Pasta when I was further down the line - a tiny bit pasta, well chewed, may be fine - but the prize was the Protein and the Tomato sauce… in easily chewable and digestible forms. You started this thread saying you are 9 days post op - you shouldn’t really even be thinking about pasties - please get your surgical team to do their job and give you guidance on what to consume. You are in this for the long hall and you need to take things slowly. All the best.

Don’t be scared to drink. Just let your stomach settle for a little while. It sounds like you had no room for the Water, and it simply tried to expand your stomach further. Well done for sorting it out - it doesn’t sound like dumping syndrome however, which is the effect of the food being processed in your gut. It sounds like you’d eaten something too indigestible or got a block from the food - maybe not chewed enough, or something clogging together. This is why when you vomited it felt better immediately. After my daughter had her bypass she had a number of times when she ate the wrong thing and it ‘clogged’ and the pain was awful, she said. It put me right off doing that when I had my operation. I have always remembered to stop eating before you feel full, and leave it for a bit to see how well your stomach deals with the food before eating more. Never eat to feel full… Feeling full after bypass or sleeve surgery is NOT a nice feeling at all.

I think maybe you need to talk to your surgical team about a diet sheet and guidance - plus there are posts on here about cook books for bariatric surgery. I suspect a change of food mindset is required - you may have loved Greggs pasties before your surgery, but Greggs pasties maybe have contributed to your problems in the first place - I don’t know. But melted cheese and onion sounds very dense and clogged to me, and not the sort of thing your small stomach will find easy to deal with. I used to love getting a spaghetti bolognese if we were out for a meal and picking the mince and sauce out of the Pasta when I was further down the line - a tiny bit pasta, well chewed, may be fine - but the prize was the Protein and the Tomato sauce… in easily chewable and digestible forms. You started this thread saying you are 9 days post op - you shouldn’t really even be thinking about pasties - please get your surgical team to do their job and give you guidance on what to consume. You are in this for the long hall and you need to take things slowly. All the best.

I take zoloft as well and trazadone and Topamax and I have had nothing but issues with any of my meds working right. I barely sleep at all and it's been worse since covid hit.

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Thank you for sharing your daughter's story. I was a normal weight until I started the meds for bipolar at age 14 and gained 100lb in 2 years. My PCP/GP (who works exclusively with patients who have a mental illness) actually recommended weight loss surgery for me. My psychopharmacologist also agrees it is the right move for me. I'm not expecting to go off my meds due to surgery, but I'd like to be more comfortable doing the thing I love like hiking and traveling. I have been in the hospital a number of times for bipolar disorder, so I don't think just losing weight or exercising will solve my problems. I am also (at 41) a bit old to start jogging.

Thank you for sharing such a personal heartfelt story. My brother is bipolar and schizophrenic and he gets great relief exercising outside all year, particularly winter. He has been able to reduce his meds and loose weight as a result.

One thing I got early on was a set of body composition scales - like Tanita. There are lots on Amazon. This tells you a lot more about yourself that just your weight. As you’re small like me (I’m 5ft 1 inches) we need a lot less ‘maintenance’ calories than the average for a woman. It’s not hard with an unmeasured calorie intake to be having too much. Equally, if you deprive your body of maintenance calories too long your body will try to conserve rather than spend your fat reserves. Starving yourself is not a good option. It may be that some of the foods you’re eating are too high calorie for you. Because you’re a sleeve patient rather than bypass you won’t have the same issue with malabsorption and it is possible a year out from surgery that you’re simply eating too many calories. The gas and nausea doesn’t sound nice though and I would not have expected this a year out, so good to have a talk to your physician about this. Maybe you’re just going through a difficult period - you’ve lost over a third of your body weight from your start date, which is amazing! I wish you every success getting to your goal.

I’m 64 now, and had RNY surgery 8 years ago when I was 56. My surgeon told us that you have a window of about 1 year to 18 months to lose the weight you want - thereafter the ghrelin levels in your stomach and gut (which are disrupted by the surgery) increase. Ghrelin is known as the ‘hunger hormone’ because (amongst other things it does) it triggers hunger. Shortly after RNY surgery you may feel hungry, but this soon passes and you have a ‘honeymoon’ period where you don’t, where you need to build up to a health and sustainable diet. The other thing is that your tiny pouch will stretch in time (the stomach acts as a muscle) and if you consistently eat too much you’ll get a bigger appetite back. It is unusual, but not unknown, for someone to put all the weight back on that they lost from RNY surgery. Of course, why do that to yourself? Probably because you have not sorted out an unhealthy relationship with food.
Another thing I was told was to exercise, to prevent muscle loss and encourage weight loss. To be honest I didn’t do enough of this. However, from BMI of 35.7 and weight of 190lb (at 5’ 1”) I dropped to my lowest weight of 105lb and BMI of 19.7 at 14 months after surgery. That was nearly half my bodyweight lost. I stayed at 112lbs or under until April 2015, when very, very slowly I put on a bit of weight over each year, I guess as my appetite and tolerance grew. By January 2021 I had been just under 140lb for 3 years, but wished I could be less. Then came cancer treatment and radiotherapy to my entire abdominal area. Left with nausea and no appetite at all, I gradually built back up to eating a healthy diet. I lost 16lb in a few weeks with sepsis in March, but after recovery have lost more through cutting back on carbs and walking every day, to get back to my prime 112lb - and this is where I want to stay!
It may be harder to lose weight after the menopause but the equation is still the same - too much food in and not enough energy out = slow inevitable weight gain; keeping to what you need (or slightly less) and more energy expended = slow loss. We have a wonderful tool to help us achieve this - which is very hard for an individual with a normal stomach. Plus we have absorption issues, and potential to suffer if we eat too much fat and sugar (especially at once). We can use this tool to achieve our goal, and use it alongside lifestyle changes to maintain it, whatever our age.
😊

Lizonaplane,
My daughter may be atypical, but she is bipolar and had a RNY bypass over 10 years ago. She was on three meds; antidepressant, psychotic and anxiety. They tried crushing the tablets which made her throw up, so they changed her to Epilim as it was a liquid. Part of her weight gain had been the bipolar drugs. After her surgery she started to lose a lot of weight. Unknown to me, she weaned herself off the drugs, going cold turkey with the anti anxiety meds, because she started running. She found the endorphins from running made her feel good and moderated her condition. At her peak running she was doing 2 marathons per weekend many weeks. She is highly unusual as a Bypass patient in being able to do this! She injured her hip, and couldn’t run, so now she lifts weights. She was determined to take control of her life in every way. She has been drug free for years and is fit, healthy and active. I wanted to share because her psychiatrist at the time said the Bypass would not help her with her mental health, and refused to sanction the op. We paid a psychiatrist to assess her and they concluded she was sane enough to make her mind up. As a person who had previously attempted suicide on more than one occasion, she is an example of the positive outcome possible from gastric surgery. It saved her life, literally, and has given me my daughter back.
I wish you all the best.

my dietitian thinks I should be losing about 4 lbs a week… your dietitian is probably thinking that if you’re walking 10km a day they would be losing 4lb a week…. You are doing great! You’re probably converting fat to muscle as well, which is heavier. You don’t want to lose as much as 4lb a week, you want your weightloss to be steady and healthy. You’re going great. You’re in this for the long term - it’s not a competition. Xx

Hang on a tick, I'm stuck on something here. Let me see if I have the facts correct:
1. Your dietitian thinks you're not losing weight fast enough.
2. You have lost 25.5 kg (56 pounds) in 7.5 weeks.
3. Your dietitian refuses to give you guidelines for what or how to eat beyond 60 g of Protein and 2 L of Water.
4. You're still on shakes at 7.5 weeks out from surgery.
I think it is high time you tell the dietitian to shape up or ship out. There are plenty of dietitians out there who don't require their clients to be mind-readers. And who understand how bariatric patients lose weight. I mean, is this dietitian brand new off the wagon from dietitian school?
You should be extremely satisfied. Most bariatric patients lose 7-11 kg (15-25 lbs) in the first month and then about 5 kg (11 lbs) a month thereafter, with several stalls that can last a few weeks. Expecting you to AVERAGE 2 kg a week when you have lost 25.5 in 7.5 weeks means that you could be stalled for 3-4 weeks and lose not a single gram and still come out okay. Expecting you to lose 2 kg EVERY SINGLE WEEK is—and I said what I said—daft.
If you are stalled, try increasing your calories by about 100 a day for a week to see if that breaks the log jam. Even just 15g of Peanut Butter or something along those lines could do it. 100 cal a day times 7 days is not enough to make you gain weight.

Sorry you feel this way, Pookie, but try to be positive. Thinking you should never have had the op 5 weeks afterwards is not helpful. This is a life-change, and a life change that is not immediate, but takes time, like the opening of a lovely flower. I am 8 years down the line. There have been times (like when I’ve had serious dumping syndrome from stupidly drinking a few mouthfuls of sugar-laden milkshake) when I’ve thought I never want to eat or drink again IN MY LIFE… but it passes. From being a little short, depressed ‘pudding’ who couldn’t walk down the stairs in the morning because of the pain in my joints, and would refuse requests to go out because a couldn’t walk anywhere without discomfort and pain, who had to by huge clothes to get over my ginormous bosom, I am now a normal woman, who can look in a shop window and see a slim lady who can walk without pain, without her thighs rubbing together, who has the energy to enjoy life and likes what she sees. Who no longer has to take blood pressure and heart drugs, who has a normal pulse rate and no more GERD. I could not have done this, and kept it off, without the op. How could I regret giving myself a chance of a healthy life being the person I want to be? You must keep your eyes on the prize as well. That’s why you’re doing this. It will work, but it’s not a magic wand, it takes time. But you can do it! X

Sorry you feel this way, Pookie, but try to be positive. Thinking you should never have had the op 5 weeks afterwards is not helpful. This is a life-change, and a life change that is not immediate, but takes time, like the opening of a lovely flower. I am 8 years down the line. There have been times (like when I’ve had serious dumping syndrome from stupidly drinking a few mouthfuls of sugar-laden milkshake) when I’ve thought I never want to eat or drink again IN MY LIFE… but it passes. From being a little short, depressed ‘pudding’ who couldn’t walk down the stairs in the morning because of the pain in my joints, and would refuse requests to go out because a couldn’t walk anywhere without discomfort and pain, who had to by huge clothes to get over my ginormous bosom, I am now a normal woman, who can look in a shop window and see a slim lady who can walk without pain, without her thighs rubbing together, who has the energy to enjoy life and likes what she sees. Who no longer has to take blood pressure and heart drugs, who has a normal pulse rate and no more GERD. I could not have done this, and kept it off, without the op. How could I regret giving myself a chance of a healthy life being the person I want to be? You must keep your eyes on the prize as well. That’s why you’re doing this. It will work, but it’s not a magic wand, it takes time. But you can do it! X

My daughter had a RNY bypass up 2011 and went on to run over 100 marathons in a year… She loved it. She found she eventually tolerated the gels, although they wrecked her teeth! She ran most weekends until her dog pulled her over during a walk and she hit her hip and damaged the cartilege. She found she needed to eat almost every waking hour if she wasn’t running to keep her weight up. It was hard work managing as she also couldn’t eat much before she ran. Taking on fluids was the most important thing and she would need the salt tablets too. She was also a vegan at the time… It can be done!

Sorry you feel this way, Pookie, but try to be positive. Thinking you should never have had the op 5 weeks afterwards is not helpful. This is a life-change, and a life change that is not immediate, but takes time, like the opening of a lovely flower. I am 8 years down the line. There have been times (like when I’ve had serious dumping syndrome from stupidly drinking a few mouthfuls of sugar-laden milkshake) when I’ve thought I never want to eat or drink again IN MY LIFE… but it passes. From being a little short, depressed ‘pudding’ who couldn’t walk down the stairs in the morning because of the pain in my joints, and would refuse requests to go out because a couldn’t walk anywhere without discomfort and pain, who had to by huge clothes to get over my ginormous bosom, I am now a normal woman, who can look in a shop window and see a slim lady who can walk without pain, without her thighs rubbing together, who has the energy to enjoy life and likes what she sees. Who no longer has to take blood pressure and heart drugs, who has a normal pulse rate and no more GERD. I could not have done this, and kept it off, without the op. How could I regret giving myself a chance of a healthy life being the person I want to be? You must keep your eyes on the prize as well. That’s why you’re doing this. It will work, but it’s not a magic wand, it takes time. But you can do it! X

I didn't really have an exact goal when I started. At my first surgeon visit he told me he thought I could get to 140. He asked me what my goal was and I told him I wasn't sure but once I got to 140 then we'd figure it out. It had been so long since I weighed that and it seemed so far away. At my first post op visit he said he thought I could get to 130. I said ok, I'll shoot for that and we'll reassess then. I reached that in 9 months. I told him since I only needed 7 more pounds to be a normal BMI, I was going to shoot for that. I told him I didn't come that far just to still be "overweight." He told me not to lose too much or I'd look sick. A friend of mine that had WLS told me "your body will figure it out. You'll stop losing when you body is done." It took me 2 more months to reach 123 but apparently my body wasn't done. I finally stopped losing at 108 lbs. And that is an appropriate weight for me because I'm only 4'11." I don't know why but this week I'm weighing in the106 range. I'm not trying to lose more. I think as long as I'm 110 or less I'm good. I'll be 3 yrs post op next month and I don't look sick...I look normal.

I’m 64 now, and had RNY surgery 8 years ago when I was 56. My surgeon told us that you have a window of about 1 year to 18 months to lose the weight you want - thereafter the ghrelin levels in your stomach and gut (which are disrupted by the surgery) increase. Ghrelin is known as the ‘hunger hormone’ because (amongst other things it does) it triggers hunger. Shortly after RNY surgery you may feel hungry, but this soon passes and you have a ‘honeymoon’ period where you don’t, where you need to build up to a health and sustainable diet. The other thing is that your tiny pouch will stretch in time (the stomach acts as a muscle) and if you consistently eat too much you’ll get a bigger appetite back. It is unusual, but not unknown, for someone to put all the weight back on that they lost from RNY surgery. Of course, why do that to yourself? Probably because you have not sorted out an unhealthy relationship with food.
Another thing I was told was to exercise, to prevent muscle loss and encourage weight loss. To be honest I didn’t do enough of this. However, from BMI of 35.7 and weight of 190lb (at 5’ 1”) I dropped to my lowest weight of 105lb and BMI of 19.7 at 14 months after surgery. That was nearly half my bodyweight lost. I stayed at 112lbs or under until April 2015, when very, very slowly I put on a bit of weight over each year, I guess as my appetite and tolerance grew. By January 2021 I had been just under 140lb for 3 years, but wished I could be less. Then came cancer treatment and radiotherapy to my entire abdominal area. Left with nausea and no appetite at all, I gradually built back up to eating a healthy diet. I lost 16lb in a few weeks with sepsis in March, but after recovery have lost more through cutting back on carbs and walking every day, to get back to my prime 112lb - and this is where I want to stay!
It may be harder to lose weight after the menopause but the equation is still the same - too much food in and not enough energy out = slow inevitable weight gain; keeping to what you need (or slightly less) and more energy expended = slow loss. We have a wonderful tool to help us achieve this - which is very hard for an individual with a normal stomach. Plus we have absorption issues, and potential to suffer if we eat too much fat and sugar (especially at once). We can use this tool to achieve our goal, and use it alongside lifestyle changes to maintain it, whatever our age.
😊