Welcome to the Popular Diet Forum!

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

Welcome to the Popular Diet Forum! I set this one up because a lot of us turn to specific diets before or after weight loss surgery. Before surgery, these diets may help kickstart your weight loss so you go into surgery with some momentum. After surgery, you may find that following one of these diets helps you stick to your weight loss surgery diet.

Just a few of the diets that are out there are:

• Atkins


• Gluten-free


• Jenny Craig


• Nutrisystem


• Paleo


• SlimFast


• South Beach


• Weight Watchers


• Vegetarian and Vegan diets

Feel free to discuss anything related to popular diets. Do they work? Can they improve weight loss? Are they good after weight loss surgery? You can swap recipes, exchange tips, and discuss products and foods. Enjoy the forum!

[funky_monkey800 242]

Thank you for posting this! I am curious as to what others are using in conjunction with WLS! I will definitely be keeping an eye on these threads!

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I'm a vegetarian. I have been a vegetarian for the past 15 years. I am fortunate enough to have a nutritionist who is willing to work with me to develop an eating plan that works for me. I also have the added challenges of multiple food allergies. I try to eat as unprocessed as possible since I am hypersensitive to overly processed foods. I prefer organic, whole foods. No artificial sugars or dyes since they tend to trigger my allergies.

It is challenging. I find it is necessary to constantly read labels. If necessary I will write a company for clarification.

[IcanMakeit 1,318]

I am very interested to learn what eating plan others will be following after they reach goal. It seems that losing weight after WLS isn't the hard part, maintaining the loss on a long term basis is.

When I decided to return to low carbing last year(pre-surgery), I did not actually "do Atkins" since I didn't do the testing and adjusting that you're supposed to and I never did the "induction phase". But Atkins is the diet which gave me the most success in the past, so I naturally returned to its tenets when I decided to lose weight.

I am currently planning to use the Atkins diet for maintenance. (I'm close, but would like to lose about 4 more pounds.) I'll have to modify it because I don't believe that I can consume the number of calories that are typical for the Atkins maintenance phase and still keep my weight stable. I just don't want to give my diabetes any reason to return, and my diabetes was very well controlled while I was on the Atkins diet.

[Stevehud 1,790]

vry similar to the Atkins diet is the eades diet a husband and wife doctor team that specialized in diabetic patients. ill get the link from Amazon for the book. its basically a lot of what you know except pretty might you throw yourself into ketosis with limits on carbs, very low , and the like. I likes it because it was much simpler than atkins and seemed a lot less fat too.

But I truly don't want to follow any diet that's why I had surgery ...right? ..isn't that how it works?..ha ha ha ha ha.

just joking.

[Bandista 7,466]

I was such a restrictive dieter for so many years that now I find the best thing for me is not to be on any kind of regiment but rather to just listen to my body's true signals and respond appropriately. That said I have always been a healthy eater; I just ate way too much. The band allows me to enjoy small portions and to experience the wonder of a dimmed appetite. If I disallow foods it sets me up for the old on or off behaviors.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I don't really view my way of eating as a diet per se. I've been a vegetarian for 15 years. I've been endeavoring to eat clean for 3. I do make allowances. I try to follow a 85/15 rule. For me that means I am eating clean at least 85% of the time. At this point I consider how I eat a true lifestyle so I don't feel restricted.

I may still be in the honeymoon phase because I really haven't had a longing for of the more decadent things I used to eat. I've been able to indulge in chocolate 3 times since I've been sleeved without overdoing it. I've had a cookie once.

I am just really happy that I have made it 4 months without and allergic reaction or a trip to the ER for an allergic reaction. This lifestyle works for me.

[gowalking 10,790]

Where's the relationship forum you promised Alex? I'd like to see that up and running...

[mi75 1,235]

My surgeon told me that at goal, i could use either Zone or South Beach to help maintain...ironically, when I decided to go ahead with surgery, I donated ALL the Zone books I had and tucked my South Beach into the basement. Got those out now, there are some great recipes that I am able to use right now!

[Keeper 218]

When I met with my nutritionist pre-op, she told me that I would basically be doing (should do) Atkins for the rest of my life because of its emphasis on high protein/low carb. I've never done Atkins before so that was a bit scary to hear!

Fast forward 3 months post-op and for the month of February, my sister and I have committed to doing Whole 30. It is stricter than paleo but it isn't meant to be forever - just a 30 day system reboot. I am doing this because you have to give up ALL sugar, in any form including sweetners. fruit is the exception but I am limiting my fruit intake as well since I do not want to encourage my sweet tooth. I am so tired of having a sugar addiction and I think if I am going to be successful long term then I need to be done with this. Today is only day 2, so of course I feel optimistic, but I really am excited to be doing this. I would love to know if anyone else has done this.

[Stevehud 1,790]

Keeper. i do almost no sugar in my dailylife now post op sleeve. thats my goal. i do zero carbs if i can help it, and I usually can. my carbs come from things like green Beans, but so few its not enough to worry about. other than that i only do Monkfruit in my coffee which is no sugar. paleo doesnt work for me because there is too much fat, but what i eat would fall into that category. im just tighter than they are and of course its hard to get in

enough doing paleo if you can eat more than 3 to 4 ounces.

[IcanMakeit 1,318]

@@Keeper, I've heard of Whole 30, but never looked into it. Perhaps it could help my sister who is struggling with a sweet tooth and a worrisome regain. Maybe (after investigation) I'll offer to do it with her.

[Swampdoggie 477]

The one time I was successful prior to surgery was using the Schwarzbein Principle. She's an endocrinologist who was working with diabetics and discovered the standard american diet wasn't working. Its kinda atkinsy but not as much bacon type fat. Emphasis on whole healthy foods, low carbs, leaner Protein (than atkins) and healthy fats like avocado etc. After I get out the immediate post op foods I'm going back to that. I still use her cookbook.

[debestmath 1]

Great perspective

[drmeow 323]

Atkins was the best thing that ever worked for me and I am trying to get back to it now in my pre-op diet, and plan to use it for maintenance after losing if possible. I have done a Whole30 before, although I didn't make it the whole 30 days. The good and the bad - good that it actually got rid of my sugar cravings faster than Atkins, b/c of not using any artificial sweeteners (I have unstable blood sugar and some of the fake stuff raises it just like sugar). The bad was I was tempted to eat more fruit for the sweetness, and I just really can't do that and lose weight. I can handle berries pretty well on Atkins but anything else is a problem for me. If I eat an apple I can literally feel my blood sugar fall in about 30 min when the big insulin dump hits. I'll end up eating junk just to stave that off, so apples have to be off-limits for me.

I am curious how things will change after surgery - the hormones change so I may be able to (eventually) handle things like that.