Memoryissues

Hi All,
Just posting here hoping for some ideas, I am currently training for a marathon/half marathon and my long runs have reached 2 hours. This means I have started to need to eat mid-run.
Luckily I don't suffer too badly with nausea my issue is dumping. Normal times I don't suffer too badly with dumping but when running I think the movement pushing things through my system that bit faster and refined carbs make me feel awful! like really really bad, worst dumping of my life. It passes but it's hardly helpful. This rules out all the off-the-shelf running supplies/typical refined sugar-heavy suggestions.
I have tried sweets, bread, ect but have the same issue unless I stick to more "wholefood" options. My only success has been sultanas paired with cheese, but the cheese made me feel nauseous, but the fat and extra bulk did prevent dumping. So I need something high in carbs, but also a decent amount of protein/fat, which is easy/at least possible to eat while running and will survive in a plastic bag at room temp. I don't care if it's processed or not, I am happy to cook/bake, but as I need to use it once a week would prefer it not to be too much of a hassle.
I really need to start refueling mid-run so any ideas are very welcome!

Hi Fedup, good luck low Iron sucks! I have very very heavy periods and with that have continuously low iron so will dump a load of generic advice I have researched over a couple fo years, sorry in advance (and obvs take doctors' advice first!)
Firstly don't even bother trying/thinking about getting more in your diet, even iron-rich foods hardly have enough unless you eat liver or black pudding especially if you are already low. Supplement away.
Secondly, it is possible you have an absorption issue, but as you have a sleeve (which unlike the bypass don't skip the first bit of the intestines) I think it's much more likely that it's just the small amount of food combined with what sounds to me like way too little supplementation and possibly safe but low levels pre-surgery (NOT a doctor).
Things that help the absorption of iron: Vitamin C, things that obstruct it, Calcium and caffeine. So when you supplement make sure it is not with caffeine or other supplements like calcium or magnesium, it should ideally be along with either fruit juice or a Vitamin c pill or Gummy. Multivitamins with iron combined often dont help as teh iron is just blocked. If your diet is anything like mine post-surgery... there was a lot of dairy! Also... im pretty sure i used to get most of my iron from chocolate, white bread and sugary Cereal beofre surgery.
I also paid privately in the Uk so might have a slightly different perspective to those from the USA above. They won't just do infusions here the way alot of people have been discussing above, they arent covered privately with the cost of surgery, and NHS will supplement first and you need to be ILL. I used Nuffield so your package may differ, but the surgery cost covered the dietician for that year, but not costs from them, so they can ask your GP to prescribe stuff but cant directly. Hopefully its all sorted now but in teh future I would not rely on them to get stuff actioned, get on the phone to the GP get an appointment and get them to prescribe you what the dietitian recommended. I just demanded a repeat long-term prescription of iron pills.
As I say my deficiency is chronic (I prefer iron to birth control at the moment) but I have been on 305mg Ferrous Fumarate every other day for a couple of years, you can also ask for the more expensive ferrous compound if that gives you issues. Maybe try floradix if you can stomach it 🤢. But anything below 100mg or so a day just cant combat the deficiency.
I would up my dosage, check when/the combination of supplements, and keep on chugging, iron deficiency is really normal and very fixable and not down to your diet.

Hi Fedup, good luck low Iron sucks! I have very very heavy periods and with that have continuously low iron so will dump a load of generic advice I have researched over a couple fo years, sorry in advance (and obvs take doctors' advice first!)
Firstly don't even bother trying/thinking about getting more in your diet, even iron-rich foods hardly have enough unless you eat liver or black pudding especially if you are already low. Supplement away.
Secondly, it is possible you have an absorption issue, but as you have a sleeve (which unlike the bypass don't skip the first bit of the intestines) I think it's much more likely that it's just the small amount of food combined with what sounds to me like way too little supplementation and possibly safe but low levels pre-surgery (NOT a doctor).
Things that help the absorption of iron: Vitamin C, things that obstruct it, Calcium and caffeine. So when you supplement make sure it is not with caffeine or other supplements like calcium or magnesium, it should ideally be along with either fruit juice or a Vitamin c pill or Gummy. Multivitamins with iron combined often dont help as teh iron is just blocked. If your diet is anything like mine post-surgery... there was a lot of dairy! Also... im pretty sure i used to get most of my iron from chocolate, white bread and sugary Cereal beofre surgery.
I also paid privately in the Uk so might have a slightly different perspective to those from the USA above. They won't just do infusions here the way alot of people have been discussing above, they arent covered privately with the cost of surgery, and NHS will supplement first and you need to be ILL. I used Nuffield so your package may differ, but the surgery cost covered the dietician for that year, but not costs from them, so they can ask your GP to prescribe stuff but cant directly. Hopefully its all sorted now but in teh future I would not rely on them to get stuff actioned, get on the phone to the GP get an appointment and get them to prescribe you what the dietitian recommended. I just demanded a repeat long-term prescription of iron pills.
As I say my deficiency is chronic (I prefer iron to birth control at the moment) but I have been on 305mg Ferrous Fumarate every other day for a couple of years, you can also ask for the more expensive ferrous compound if that gives you issues. Maybe try floradix if you can stomach it 🤢. But anything below 100mg or so a day just cant combat the deficiency.
I would up my dosage, check when/the combination of supplements, and keep on chugging, iron deficiency is really normal and very fixable and not down to your diet.

Not quite what you asked but, by far my favorite has been collagen/Bone broth powder, 20g Protein for 20g powder 90 calories, and unlike whey protein, it doesn't curdle at high temps. Has a very mild "dusty" flavor which you can't taste at all, I put it in everything, coffee, Soups (broth, Tomato, chicken), recipes with sauce like pulled pork, cooked fruit, apple sauce, mashed potato, jelly(jello), spagettios, Beans. You name it I add it. 3 weeks out I was having it added to mashed potato, strained chicken noodle and broth a lot (plans vary).
Protein shake-wise, not sure if you have it in the US but I like Ufit shakes a lot, especially the Fudge Brownie. Grenade is more calorie-dense but there very good. No Premier Protein in the UK always jealous as it's the most youtube recommended.

Well... 🤣 how does fate always know these things.

Well... 🤣 how does fate always know these things.

Hiya, not at 6 months yet, but at 5 months I have lost 61lbs, results may vary I've always lost weight easily and I struggled with nausea initially and basically only ate cheese and Protein Shakes for the first 2 months so was very in Keto.
Ive heard that typically people lose between 30-40% of their excess weight by the 6 month period, anecdotally, from stalking others' posts on this, most seem to lose about 70lbs who started high 200s low 300s.

Hiya, not at 6 months yet, but at 5 months I have lost 61lbs, results may vary I've always lost weight easily and I struggled with nausea initially and basically only ate cheese and Protein Shakes for the first 2 months so was very in Keto.
Ive heard that typically people lose between 30-40% of their excess weight by the 6 month period, anecdotally, from stalking others' posts on this, most seem to lose about 70lbs who started high 200s low 300s.

Like everyone else, no doctor, but that sounds like bad advice and is def not a long-term solution.
Sounds like you've tried everything pill-wise. Maybe ask your team if they can prescribe you a liquid Multivitamin? I'm in the UK so not sure how it would work for you or how much it might cost, but my RD had me on Forceval effervescent for the first month and I had no issues with it and unlike non-prescription liquid supplements it has everything. You could try drinking it spread it over a couple of hours with other things to avoid nausea and or chugging it.
Alternatively, could you maybe get multivitamin gummies (I know they say to avoid the sugar but... you gotta do what you gotta do)/chewables with no Iron, just the "easy" Vitamins which are more palatable, and supplement iron separately? I used a spray iron supplement for a while (Better You Iron Spray), which worked ok and was not gross. This might be less reliable nutritionwise though.
Or you could try multivitamin pills which you can split (pill cutter or wire cutters work well) and try taking them in much smaller quantities across the day 1/4 or even smaller bits?
good luck !!

Congrats I love reading your posts, to add on I also had no goal given and stuck around 600/800 the first 5 weeks (I had a lot of nausea), after that, I have been around 1000, which I think is likely where I will hang out for the foreseeable future assuming my hunger stays about the same :).
My RD was very keen for me to eat cheese or another source of fat such as olive oil or avocado as early as possible, so I say go for it to your comfort! I found it didn't cause any craving issues or head hunger either, only carbier things do that for me. I have seen other people given a limit of 35g for fat intake, which I gently try to remain below for calories at this stage, but generally good fats are exactly that nothing but good and very vital for lots of stuff including brain function.
I can't rave about cheese enough tbh, even though its high fat it never makes me ill and its stomached really easily, it was the only food that didn't make me nauseous. I love the light baby bells, cheddar, light laughing cow triangles, cheese sticks and eggs baked with (full fat) cottage cheese. I mostly ate cheese from week 3 to week 5... sometimes 5 portions a day, it had no effect on my weight loss (8lbs). (I know it wasn't the best but anything except cheese and yogurt made me want to hurl!)
Personally, (you seem fine but adding for any others reading) I would avoid nut butter for a bit longer or have a very small amount with something you know you tolerate well at first, they make me very ill still for some reason (I was fine before surgery).
Good luck! whatever you do will be fine in the end!

Congrats I love reading your posts, to add on I also had no goal given and stuck around 600/800 the first 5 weeks (I had a lot of nausea), after that, I have been around 1000, which I think is likely where I will hang out for the foreseeable future assuming my hunger stays about the same :).
My RD was very keen for me to eat cheese or another source of fat such as olive oil or avocado as early as possible, so I say go for it to your comfort! I found it didn't cause any craving issues or head hunger either, only carbier things do that for me. I have seen other people given a limit of 35g for fat intake, which I gently try to remain below for calories at this stage, but generally good fats are exactly that nothing but good and very vital for lots of stuff including brain function.
I can't rave about cheese enough tbh, even though its high fat it never makes me ill and its stomached really easily, it was the only food that didn't make me nauseous. I love the light baby bells, cheddar, light laughing cow triangles, cheese sticks and eggs baked with (full fat) cottage cheese. I mostly ate cheese from week 3 to week 5... sometimes 5 portions a day, it had no effect on my weight loss (8lbs). (I know it wasn't the best but anything except cheese and yogurt made me want to hurl!)
Personally, (you seem fine but adding for any others reading) I would avoid nut butter for a bit longer or have a very small amount with something you know you tolerate well at first, they make me very ill still for some reason (I was fine before surgery).
Good luck! whatever you do will be fine in the end!

If you feel unsteady make sure to beep for a nurse to help you up especially as you are so early post-op, but yes walk. The only way I could get any Fluid in initially was to walk from one end of the room to the other take a sip, walk, sip, walk, sip. (and I mean sip! basically 1 tsp) The movement seemed to help the liquid go through, otherwise, I was so nauseous (might be less urgent for you though my surgeon doesn't like to put you on IVs fluids... so it was just me against dehydration). Try different fluids as well, warm, room temp or ice cold. In the beginning, I could only manage red hot and ice lollies. If you feel nauseous try fluid other than Water, water can make even well post-op people feel ill. Peppermint tea is very good if they have it, that was all I could manage the first night.
You will feel twice as good every day, on day 3/4 you will feel human again, just try to sleep as much as possible, it will pass!

Weight management has always been an issue my entire life, I have gained and lost over 100 pounds THREE times in the last 15 years, hoping the FORTH time post-surgery will be the last.
Whatever diet program, book, shot or pill that has come along in the last 15 years, most likely I have already tried it and unfortunately failed. If your “considering” non-surgical alternatives to weight loss surgery feel free to ask me, most likely I have used it at least once and have accurate records of what was used and what were the results and pros / cons of each. The “pill of the month” currently is Contrave Blue which I have been on since December 2019.
I have been avoiding weight loss surgery for years. My sister had full bypass surgery 20 years ago and unfortunately, she has suffered complications for many years.

At the end of 2018 I had ballooned to the heaviest I have ever been, started January 1, 2019 I was a “Big Mac and Large Fry” away from 400+ pounds. My blood pressure was extremely high, and my new primary care physician was very blunt during my first visit, “lose weight or die” was the basic theme of our health conversations.
Even with that much bad news and new physician pushing for weight loss surgery, I still was trying to avoid surgery. I decided to take an alternate route, take some time off from work and attend a Weight Loss Boot Camp for 10 weeks at a cost of over $15,000 self-payed of course since health insurance does not cover this type of activity. Unfortunately, life has ways to make things difficult at the worst time and I only was able to complete 6 weeks
For those interested I have a blog that chronicles my weight loss efforts at the weight loss bootcamp last year, good reading for those thinking about that route.
https://vin1959.blogspot.com/
For reasons I will expand on in future messages, the weight loss boot camp adventure did not get the job done and weight loss surgery has now become necessary. At this stage I am not going to play the “pre-approve documentation game” and wait for my health insurance company to say I am covered, I am simply going the SELF -PAY route and will plan for the Gastric-Sleeve procedure hopefully in April this year.

I’m not exactly sure of your requirements as I was only on Protein Shakes, broth, cucumbers and celery for 2 weeks but I’ve been putting together a meal plan for my sister and thought I’d share some of the things from it. Apologies for the numerous photos.

Hi sorry for never saying thank you for the reply was really helpful!
Just updating for any future searchers, by huge coincidence, my surgery is now also scheduled for the 10 November 2021, wait times are about 6 to 10 weeks apparently average for Nuffield, and NHS had gone up to 5 years atm. Mines a bit on the quicker side as I am incredibly boring health-wise with no medications, risks other than obesity, or history of digestive issues of any kind.

My thighs don't rub together when I walk anymore and this has never happened to me, even when I weighed my lowest adult weight of 150. I'm 225 right now. I don't understand why they're not rubbing together. Maybe because of the loose skin they have kind of fallen down? Lol. I don't know, but I'm not complaining!

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I dropped into the 100's this week. I'd been looking forward to it for so long that it almost seemed unreal that there was no trumpet fanfare when it happened 📯. I haven't shared it with anyone and am savoring it. The last time I remember being this weight for certain was just around high school graduation. But just so my ego didn't get too big, surgery kicked in the next and gave me foamies and pain when I didn't eat slowly enough. That hasn't happened in a long time. I think it was a poetic-justice reminder.
On a slightly less exciting note, "the girls" have dropped to a size I don't recall since early high school . I've always been well-endowed, even before being morbidly obese, so it is quite a change. I have broken down and purchased some new clothes. I realized for myself, despite being told, that I look terrible in all my too-big clothing. I think it was a security blanket of sorts. For so long, nothing was ever too big or too loose. I still hate shopping. I have no idea what size I need from what store.
I asked the doctor in my program for a suggestion for a therapist. I couldn't get an appointment until February. But I was able to get into a cancellation next week. I'm excited as I had some very specific criteria for a therapist, experience with bariatric patients was only one. I'm looking forward to having someone to process changes with as well as the road ahead. I again want to thank all of you on this board for the ongoing advice and support. I'm grateful for having found you. I belong to a few FB groups and am astounded by the misinformation and lack of preparation/education that is out there.
That's all ❤️