lgrey

I get the gurgling too, but mostly when I'm horizontal for some reason.

I had something weird happen last night, couple hours after going to bed, several hours after eating. Major belly pain and violent dry heaves, then it would fade away, only to start up again about 10 minutes later. Thought I'd have diarrhea, but...nothing. Went through this FOUR times, then it stopped. Fine today.

Anybody experience this and know what caused it? Something I sure want to avoid in the future!

Among other videos on this site, I watched this particular video (http://drmatthewweiner.com/lifelong-success-after-bariatric-surgery/) and it's totally changed how I decide what to eat now, even only 5 weeks post-op. The first two and half minutes are especially meaningful.

Now before I eat anything, I'm thinking "is this how I'm planning to eat long term?".

Having had WLS, we've been giving a clean slate. We get a do-over. How cool is that??? The first year when our normal cravings are obliterated, we can re-train our bodies and our minds to mirror that "ideal" lifestyle we wanted all along.

I just had a small bowl of homemade pea Soup with shredded ham hock, a dollop of (real) sour cream, and some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) sprinkled on top. Went down fine, and yes, this would be a healthy meal I'd eat long term.

Still supplementing in between with highly processed Protein supplements since I'm only 5 weeks post-op, but as I can eat more volume I'll be phasing those out.

I can live with this. Again, thanks everybody for your valuable input and helping me get to this point. I say we give it a rest now, eh?

@@Carriejess - I see you're in the UK. I just bought Isopure natural whey unflavored yesterday. It's simply whey isolate and nothing else. I tried it with diluted juice yesterday and added it to my coffee this morning. So far I am really pleased! I cannot taste the difference. I would recommend this to anyone looking to follow a clean bariatric diet.

Stats are 110 cal, 26 gms Protein 0 fat, 0 carb, 0 sugar.

I did a quick check and it appears that Amazon UK sells this.

I just found Teras Whey (teraswhey.com), GRASS FED Organic Whey Protein unsweetened unflavored. Doesn't say anything about mixing in hot foods like Soup though. The Isopure says it does, has anyone actually tried this?

@@Stevehud Well said Steve. When I first started blogging on here after my hospital discharge, I felt like I was the weakest person on earth. Why? Because many on here stated they had no pain, no this, no that, and made it seemed as they just did headstands and flips when they got home. Made me feel like I was weak and a failure for a nano second. Then I said to myself screw it. Not everyone is the same. We all do have a different journey.

I come on here to read about other people's thoughts. If it applies to me and I think it will do me good...heck why not. Otherwise, my surgeon and dietician are the educated ones at the end of the day because they were the ones to prep me, cut me, fix me and then guide me.

So yes, let's try to respect some boundaries.

@@Stevehud Well said Steve. When I first started blogging on here after my hospital discharge, I felt like I was the weakest person on earth. Why? Because many on here stated they had no pain, no this, no that, and made it seemed as they just did headstands and flips when they got home. Made me feel like I was weak and a failure for a nano second. Then I said to myself screw it. Not everyone is the same. We all do have a different journey.

I come on here to read about other people's thoughts. If it applies to me and I think it will do me good...heck why not. Otherwise, my surgeon and dietician are the educated ones at the end of the day because they were the ones to prep me, cut me, fix me and then guide me.

So yes, let's try to respect some boundaries.

im going to play devils advocate here and say simply "listen to your doctor and weight loss team" no one here has a medical degree that I know of. so do not vary your prescribed diet because someone else said so. Here's a little fact, a lot of people here on BP ate no chemical , all natural stuff and they were still morbidly obese. So take that to heart. I can guarantee you no one here got obese eating organic broccoli.

no one should tell you to ignore your weight loss team, and listen to them, PLEASE PEOPLE STOP IT. Unless you are willing to take the consequences if they fail, stop telling them to ignore their team. you are not them. to say what you do is fine, to blatantly say, oh your person is stupid or any such is ridiculously negligent to the extreme.

Every person has a separate journey, let them have theirs, you are on yours because you are not perfect either, stick to your journey, it should be hard enough for you to make your journey without trying to control someone else's.

I am sorry if anyone feels offended by this, but its the blind honest truth.

I appreciate you playing devil's advocate, Steve. I agree, nobody should be ignoring their weight loss team, but I do feel it's important to question authority if what they're asking you to do just doesn't feel right. In my case I've got a not-so-helpful NUT.

I'm so glad to have everybody's input here (59 reponses!); I got some great information, most especially the referral to Dr. Matthew Weiner's website and all this videos. Another doctor; director of the bariatric program at his hospital and author of "A Pound of Cure".

Because I realize I am by no means an expert, I ran Dr. Weiner's ideas by the director of the bariatric program at my hospital.

This is his response: "My opinion has always been that there is no one "right" way to do things. I am certain there are patients out there who are miserable on Dr. Weiner's diet! Having said that, as long as you are meeting the macronutrient requirements I am fine with you getting your Protein mainly from plant sources. You know your body better than anyone and listening to your body is the best guide."

Of course I'll have to focus on Protein first these first few months as my stomach heals, since I can't possibly eat the volume I'd need for that from plant sources. But I am encouraged that I can safely start replacing my Protein shakes with better, healthier options, and begin eating more veggie and fruits. Dr. Weiner invests a lot into your post-operative and long term diet and has a ton of helpful videos on his site. I have the feeling this is the direction that future post operative diets will be taking. And as my contact says (as does Dr. Weiner): "listening to your body is your best guide."

But listening to people who have been there done that provides a wealth of information to help you make wiser choices. So again everybody, thank you for your input.

Here is the website of videos by Dr. Matthew Weiner a bariatric surgeon who is also in line with eating healthy, minimally processed foods and even, advises that after 3 months post surgery, switch to vegetables first-drmatthewweiner.com. I hope with the advance of nutritional therapists, eventually we'll see more traditional nutritionists get on board with whole food nutrition, especially for bariatric patients who need maximum nutrition due to our limited food intake, but like all things it's a way of thinking process that takes time to gain acceptance. Meantime thanks to everyone who makes the effort to bring this healthy food information to us.

OH thank goodness! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! SO much healthier and the way I want to eat long term. I can't thank you enough for sharing.

@lgrey- I am vegetarian and I have a zillion food allergies & multiple med allergies. Since my allergic reactions vary from severe hive to anaphylaxis, my nutritionist and I sat down and we discussed alternatives. In the end I went with whey isolates. Isolates are better than concentrates because it's a more potent form of Protein. I drink almond milk and yes it is a lower Protein source. Thankfully I can eat Greek yogurt made from milk. Of the non dairy milks I believe hemp milk has the highest amount of protein. It's not very high, but when you are working around allergies and intolerances every little bit helps.

Since you have an intolerance I would do whey isolate combined with an non dairy milk to lesson the impact on your system. I also supported my protein needs with Beans and almond butter. A tbsp of almond butter in my Protein shake in the morning, blended smooth. I black Beans are lower in carbs so I use a lot of them. In my all liquid stage I pureed them and made them into Soups. I also added chopped spinach which is a plant based protein source and also has lots of Iron. I also used Prosource No Carb Liquid Protein during the 2 week all liquid phase. I was given this in the hospital. It's protein sources are collagen Hydrolysate and Whey Protein Isolate so it's not strictly a vegetarian product but it helped get me through those 2 weeks.

If you can tolerate whey concentrate. Orgain organics has a high Protein Drink that has a good amount of protein in it. I used the regular Protein Drink because the high protein has stevia in it which I am allergic to. (FYI -The regular uses sucralose which I can tolerate.)

Here is a list of protein sources. Like I said, it took being really creative. I literally spent a week going to going to Whole Foods, drug stores and Vitamins stores reading labels and buying samples. I am 4 mths in and 55lbs down. I still manage to eat a mostly clean vegetarian diet with no artificial sugars or food dyes. I use Myfitnesspal to monitor my carb intake, drink my Water and workout 4 -5 days a week. I average about 800 calories a day.

Wow, great info BLERDgirl! I checked out the website the protein chart came from, TONS of good info on protein sources here! https://rebeldietitian.us/eat-clean/protein-101/.

This is YOUR journey, not your nut's. Has she had WLS? If not, then all she's doing is trying to fit you into one of her textbook molds. Seriously, it's not that hard to figure out what to eat. Read labels, research online and eat what's obviously healthy. Some people can do carbs, some can't. Some need to limit calories, some don't. Some do the whole low fat thing, some dont. Some do sugar free everything, some stick with the real thing. Some rely on Protein shakes and bars, some dont. There are dozens of "right" ways to be successful. You need to experiment and find what works for YOU. Not only what works for short term weight loss, but also what you can live with for the next 20, 30, 40+ years of maintenance.

Personally I spent exactly 15 minutes with a nut to go over the postop recovery diet. Everything else since has been MY choices, and I have been very successful. But this is MY journey, not anyone else's. If you feel you really need the support of a nut, then find one that is more in tune with your wants and needs. After all, they work for you.

Thank you and everybody for your input. Not only has my NUT not had WLS, she's a naturally thin person who I believe doesn't GET obesity and all the myriad of reasons for it. I'm going to talk to the director tomorrow about switching to one who's more supportive, and do a serious re-evaluation of my diet right now to see what healthy foods I can eat at 4 weeks out to get the Protein I need. At only 1/4 cup a meal (all I can handle so far), pretty sure I'm going to have to supplement with gelatein20 until I can get my portions up a bit. But I can live with that, knowing that so many of you are eating "clean" and still losing or have lost all your weight.

So thanks everybody!

For those of you who don't want to eat "chemicals" and who favor "clean eating" .... what's stopping you?

Just figure out how you will meet the daily Protein level requirements and go for it.

What's stopping me is that the diet talk and fake foods is so prevalent that I keep thinking I must be missing something. Plus my NUT really pushes all this diet stuff too, tries to make me feel like I'm not serious about this if I'm not willing to get with the program.

@@Karenlrn - Choose a Protein powder that uses soy isolates instead of milk or whey. Drink unsweetened almond, rice, cashew, soy, hemp or coconut milk instead. So Delicious makes a non dairy yogurt, so does Rice Dreams or Almond Breeze (I forget which one). These are the kinds of discussions to have with your nutritionist. They will offer suggestions if you make them aware.

@@Karenlrn - Choose a Protein Powder that uses soy isolates instead of milk or whey. Drink unsweetened almond, rice, cashew, soy, hemp or coconut milk instead. So Delicious makes a non dairy yogurt, so does Rice Dreams or Almond Breeze (I forget which one). These are the kinds of discussions to have with your nutritionist. They will offer suggestions if you make them aware.

unfortunately all the milk subs (and I can't tolerate soy) have FAR less Protein.< /p>

I don't eat "diet" foods, nor am I "low carb". I am 4 months out, I've never stalled, and I'm 90lbs down. I eat whole, real foods. I eat my Protein first, but I do enjoy small amounts of *gasp* rice, bread, and Pasta. Eating Thai food tonight, and I'm going to enjoy the hell out of my 1/2 cup of grub. There is no point to diet food...especially when at the early stages we struggle to get ENOUGH calories to not go into starvation mode (weight loss stalls, Hair loss, etc). Add to that the unnatural chemicals, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners that can't be good for you. Maybe farther down the road when I am able to eat more volume it might matter, but right now I enjoy being able to eat normally, for the first time in my life!

were you able to eat like this right away, or more recently since you're 4 months out? My loss has slowed way down for the last week or so and I'm only 4 weeks, so thinking I'm not getting enough calories on this crap anyway.

I want to follow this thread too. I wondered about all the emphasis on diet food when the amounts are so small. I had surgery 12/29/2014 so I'm still on pureed diet. My nut wants me to have a lot of milk and I wondered what lactose intolerant patients do.

I'm lactose intolerant AND mildly allergic to milk, soy and egg white. My NUT has been no help whatsover on alternatives; she didn't even tell me there's a difference between whey concentrate (has lactose) and why isolate (trace lactose). Found out about gelatein20 Protein Jello on this site which I can handle. Still eating some of these products just to get my Protein in since I'm only 4 weeks out and can't tolerate much else right now, but feel like crap. Probably overdosing on foods I used to be "mildly" allergic to.

Yep, me too. 4 weeks out. My doc says he here's this even in summer. Rapid weight loss and low cal diet. Not sure how long this lasts.

I'm two weeks out from surgery and the shakes are killing me. UGH. I don't know if it's psychological or my body is rebelling, but every day it gets harder to swallow them down; getting nauseous from them. I'm lactose intollerent, and finally figured out that whey isolate barely has any lactose in it so switching from powders and drinks that are whey concentrate to isolate. However, I think the bigger culprit is the soy, which has always made me queasy. Seems like they all have soy. Found one powder brand RAW, doesn't list soy as an ingredient but also doesn't say soy-free, only dairy-free. Like drinking chalk, also nasty.
Any other options? And is there an easier way to get your protien than all these awful shakes?