Hello, everyone!

I had my sleeve on August 31, 2011, so I am about 2 months shy of 2 years. There have been lots of events in my life the last few months, that have added to my stress, and disrupted my eating routine, and I'd like to write a little about it. Primarily to get feedback if anyone has had a similar situation, and secondarily to put my thoughts out there into a world where people can relate.

Since I had surgery, I have had lots of time to fall into a very well planned eating and drinking routine. As a student, I have had loads of time to find what works for me, and what doesn't.

However, there were many events that took place in the month of May and June that sort of disrupted that routine. In May, I gave one of the biggest exams of my life. My appetite wasn't very good, and my calorie/protein intake dropped a bit. Following this, I was in classes from 8 to 7 for a week (also a wonky eating and drinking routine), and then I was off to India - this is where things really went downhill. I was barely hitting 50-60% of my nutritional goals, and was running around all day long.

By the end of these 2 months, I had dropped 2.5 pounds below my healthy weight range. Here's the thing, many of us might even be a little happy about going below the range, but no one wants to look sick or undernourished. Losing weight with a healthy lifestyle still leaves you glowing and energetic. I, however, looked anorexic, pale, and dull. It was seriously ridiculous, and people were commenting on how unhealthy I looked every single day.

This was new for me, because I didn't realize how easily I could become malnourished if I wasn't adequately planning out my meals. (I'm vegetarian, by the way). After coming back, there was a huge function at our house, and I was eating the bare minimum for another 2 days. This put me at 3 pounds below weight. In the meantime, the low nutrition caused a bit of muscle loss around the hips, and I started having symptoms related to a pinched nerve.

So, I started pilates and yoga classes to help strengthen my core and ease the pain. At the same time, I decided I would add some more calories, fats, and carbs into my diet, to help bring back that glow and the lost pounds. On a daily basis, I added in half an avocado, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, and an ounce of nuts. All healthy fats and calories, no?

Well, here's the kicker. By the end of 3 weeks, I had gained back those 3 pounds, plus 1 more. 4 pounds in 3 weeks.

Yes, I'm back in my healthy range, I look well nourished, I have more energy, and no one is telling me that I look sick. I can even see the difference from the yoga. However, I am terrified at learning how easy it is for me to gain weight, even when eating healthy foods. Yes, I can convince myself that it was also easy to lose the weight, and that my body reacted quickly by replacing the lost nutrition... blah blah blah. In the end, I still gained 4 pounds with very little effort, in less than a month.

I always knew that my nutritional planning would be a lifelong process, and I have learned to enjoy it. Still, I didn't realize how quickly my weight and health could fluctuate if I did not make my intake a priority!

Interesting. I have been taking a lot of probiotics since about a year post-op. I'm not sure entirely what they do, but they seem to sorta help somehow...?

Interesting. I have been taking a lot of probiotics since about a year post-op. I'm not sure entirely what they do' date=' but they seem to sorta help somehow...?[/quote']

They help maintain good bacteria in the intestinal tract and help with elimination of waste.

The bacteria do lots of things...good bacteria may protect us from cancers, as well as other things...I know these articles are kind of long, but read them/watch them if you get the chance, and I will keep up my research... I think there is something important going on in this research...My hubby and I are talking about our intestinal flora like its a pet or something.

The bacteria do lots of things...good bacteria may protect us from cancers, as well as other things...I know these articles are kind of long, but read them/watch them if you get the chance, and I will keep up my research... I think there is something important going on in this research...My hubby and I are talking about our intestinal flora like its a pet or something.

Sorry...I shoulda said, I am totally reading all the articles, love the MoJo one, fascinating! Thanks for linking these. I just can't tell what the probiotics are doing for ME personally. I am sure they are beneficial, they just don't have any obvious benefits that I can feel. But the science is convincing enough that I take them anyhow. And having had prebiotics (the inulin one specifically I think?) in food before, which has totally messed up my system, I wonder what is going on in there. Not ready for a poo transplant yet tho. :ph34r:

Here is a short but sweet article.... http://www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Improve-Digestive-Health-Good-vs-Bad-Stomach-Bacteria

Intestinal bacteria need to eat, and mounting evidence indicates that beneficial bugs prefer nutrients called prebiotics, which are primarily found in high-Fiber foods including onions, garlic, bananas, artichokes, and many greens.

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Improve-Digestive-Health-Good-vs-Bad-Stomach-Bacteria#ixzz2bCTvGzLK

and...

http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2012/06/dr-oz-on-gut-flora-repair.html

You know, Quest bars claim to have pre-biotic fibre in them, and I used to be addicted to those! But they were causing me so many issues that I had to give them up. I take loads of probiotics and eat a pretty varied diet, I'm an omnivore...but I won't go back to the supplemented pre-biotics cos they were a nightmare for me. I do take high doses of probiotics, cos years of antibiotics, especially a week of a hardcore broadspectrum after salmonella poisoning, did my gut in!!

Do you think one would get the same probiotics and prebiotics from a pre packed green drink as from eating real fruits and vegetables? The reason I am asking is that on occasion (not so much anymore, maybe once a week), I take a scoop of Green Vibrance in water. It has essentially 74 different veggies, fruits and herbs. It also has at least RDA in vitamins and minerals. The label says it has 25 billion probiotics per serving. Whatever that means. I honestly cannot tell much of a difference in my digestion action when taking the probiotics versus not taking it. Is a probiotic different from a prebiotic? I get better results just from taking a chia seed / miralax combination at the beginning of the day. Anyways, I would love to hear what you think about probiotics versus probiotics.

prebiotic is what the microbes eat, and probiotic is the microbes themselves.

here is one list I found of ways to repopulate your good flora...Eat your Sour pickles!

Sources of Bacteria to Repair Damaged Gut Flora

• We must eat new bacteria in order to replace bacterial species lost by antibiotics or unhealthy diets.
  
• Probiotics -- specialized bacteria that grow in milk products
  
• Spices and herbs -- plant products abundantly contaminated with bacteria that digest plants
  
• Fresh vegetables -- bacteria are on the surfaces of plants unless the vegetables are cleaned or cooked
  
• Fermented foods -- Bacterial growth leading to acid or alcohol production has beed used in the preparation and storage of many foods and provides a rich bacterial resource.
  
• Environment -- Bacteria are transferred to our hands and face from other people, pets and surfaces, unless hands and the body are continually washed. Sanitizers and frequent washing of hands and surfaces eliminate acquisition of environmental bacteria to repair damaged gut flora. Social isolation and hygiene block repair of gut flora.
  
• Replacement -- experimental replacement of damaged with healthy gut flora (fecal transplant) has been very effective in curing many diseases without significant risks, but is restricted by the medical industry.
  

.... here is the rest of the list...

Generalizations about Gut Bacteria

Each healthy human maintains a subset of a couple of hundred of the couple of thousand different species of bacteria found in humans around the globe. The diverse community in each individual may differ in species, but has approximately the same complement of genes in people sharing the same diet.

• 1-200 different species of bacteria per person
  
• 1-2000 different species of human gut bacteria
  
• 1 million different genes among the different bacteria
  
• Most genes are involved in digesting plant carbohydrates, i.e. soluble fiber, inulin, pectin, fructans, algal sulfated polysaccharides, etc.
  
• Diet diversity, e.g. the Modern American Diet, reduces the diversity of the gut bacterial community, presumably because the rapid change in foods permits survival of only generalist bacteria that can digest many different foods.
  
• Simple diets produce gut flora diversity, but only if there is access to diverse bacteria.
  
• Health may result from diverse gut flora developed from a simplified diet and ample bacterial resources.
  
• Obesity and other diseases may result from simplified gut flora developed from a changing, complex diet and a sterile environment/isolation.
  
• Vegan and paleo extremes can lead to healthy gut flora diversity, if the gut bacterial community is permitted to adjust to the diet composition by avoiding rapid changes and providing diverse bacterial sources.
  
• meat contains complex polysaccharides, e.g. glycosaminoglycans, such as chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate proteoglycans, which are bacterial fodder equivalent to soluble fiber.
  
• Probiotics are unique bacterial species that do not persist in the gut of adults, but dominate the gut of milk eating babies and stimulate development of the gut and immune system.
  
• Probiotic bacteria can temporarily provide developmental signals for immune system development that are normally provided by a healthy gut flora.
  

Damage to Gut Flora is Not Repaired by Diet Alone

There is little or no effort being made by the medical industry to develop approaches to repair gut flora damaged by disease, unhealthy diets or medical procedures. This is similar to a surgeon stepping away from removal of a diseased organ without closing the wound. Antibiotics leave a gut flora that will remain permanently damaged without systematic, monitored repair. It might also be suspected that disruption of gut flora by antibiotics and the introduction of large amounts of new foods, such as high fructose corn syrup and vegetable oils may contribute to or cause the modern prominence of obesity. After all, gain or loss of weight changes gut flora, obese individuals have damaged gut flora, and trading gut flora between fat and lean animals, trades weight gain/loss behaviors.

Great information FYE! I have actually heard of fecal transplants before, related to certain diseases, but I have never thought of it in relation to bacteria.

I did read a lot about fermented foods being extremely good for your flora (pickles, saurkraut, etc). I am going to have to read all the articles you posted. Thanks so much for doing the leg work!

Im thinking those who have problems with constipation, this might really help in the long run....not to mention all the other things that its supposed to help!

Thanks for the information, Feedyoureye!! You're such an awesome wealth of information.