I am 34 year old male 6 ft 305 pounds I was wanting to find out if I can use a post op diet and force myself to follow it to lose weight or will this throw my body into a funk. Just not sure if something is changed during surgery that keeps ur body from going into starvation mode I need to do something but I am uninsured and don't really have the assets to self pay nobody in my area has in house payment plans

Well sure. It's essentially a low calorie/high protein diet, so you could lose weight on it with or without the surgery. I think the challenge would be sticking to it without the actual restriction of the smaller stomach. WLS is just a tool to make it easier for you to restrict your food consumption. It can also have the added benefit of reducing hunger. But weight loss and maintenance is always a matter of calories in versus calories out, no matter how you achieve it.

If you can, then by all means, give it a try. I don't think I could have followed it without the surgery. It's pretty tough. You could try a pre-op diet version. Mine was 2 Protein shakes and a healthy meal (meat and veggies). Sort of sounds like the Slim Fast diet, LOL. Having at least one meal a day really helped keep me sane.

You can actually use the pre-op diet to lose weight without surgery, too. After sleeve surgery your tummy is 80% - 85% smaller and will only hold around a cup of food even after a year. I lost 22 pounds the two months I was on a 1000 calorie, very low carb pre-op, and another ten pounds on the liquid diet.

But here is the problem......I lost 50 pounds two other times on the Atkins diet and gained it all back twice, plus another 50 pounds after a stroke left me with mobility problems. The sleeve helps me keep the volume down, and I found out my body does not need nearly as much food as I thought it did in the past. Yes, my hunger is greatly reduced.

If you are hesitant about surgery and are willing to pay the price of consistency, try Mark's Daily Apple, or some other Primal or Paleo site that encourages a high Protein, low carb, nothing from a factory eating plan with strength training.

I have been on a diet since 1976 and finally decided to do something permanent about it. I had my sleeve on 12/23/2013 and am 14 pounds from goal.

I cannot imagine eating this little with a normal stomach, seriously if you could stick to my diet i would be amazed, i know there is no way i could do it. other than that if you can do a very high Protein, ultra low carb diet forever then by all means, but seriously if you do this,

Breakfast- one egg ( scrambled, boiled etc) with cheese. mid morning snack 4 apple slices lunch Protein shake afternoon snack 1/2 greek 100 calorie low sugar greek yogurt dinner 4 ounces of protein 1- 2 oz of vegetables. nightime snack ( optional) sugar free Jello or apple slices.

Now if you can do that without crashing your system and without being extremely hungry, more power to you.

@Brian45502......you can certainly do it. Eat 1000-1200 calories, 80-100 grams of Protein, and no more than 60 carbs a day and drink a gallon of Water a day. If you are a soda drinker.....try to wean yourself off them so you can stop drinking them Drink 16 oz of water, 30 minutes before your meal. One little secret tip that I used to use when I was dieting before surgery was IF I was still hungry......I would fix some sugar free Jello and drink it. It gives you a fuller sensation. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

If it helps, here's a typical day for me almost 6 months post-op:

Breakfast: Quest Bar (Protein bar)

Morning Snack: Reduced Fat String cheese Stick

Lunch: 2-4 ounces of meat (usually leftover from a previous dinner)

Afternoon/Pre-Workout Snack: Danon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt with 13 grams of Kashi GoLean vanilla Graham Clusters (I leave out the Cereal on my cardio rest days as I don't need the carbs to get through my workout)

Dinner: 2-4 ounces of meat (usually in some sort of sauce)

Late Snack: Quest Bar

That usually puts me just over 1000 calories and around 100 grams of protein.

Edited February 24, 201511 yr by JamieLogical

It is not necessarily my choice but rather a lack of options I don't have the finances to self pay for the surgery I would prefer to have sleeve it's just not a reality right now

It is not necessarily my choice but rather a lack of options I don't have the finances to self pay for the surgery I would prefer to have sleeve it's just not a reality right now

There are a couple of sub-forums on this site where you might be able to get some advice on cheaper surgery options or financing:

• Self-Pay & Mexico Gastric Sleeve Surgery
• Insurance & financing

I personally went to Mexico for my sleeve and borrowed against my retirement (I'm only 35) for the financing.

Going to Mexico I have seen ads about that but how do you do the post op apts and follow up with I assume u can follow up with a local surgeon for post op care right? I live close to Dayton Ohio sleeve runs roughly $15000 here

You can certainly try! 10 years ago I lost 92 lbs on Weight Watchers. To do that, I had to use extreme discipline and didn't cheat once in the year and a half it took me to get to my goal. But being on a restrictive diet for that long has its price. After I got to my goal, I started gaining weight back while still eating only about 1000 calories a day! It was incredibly frustrating to still be doing everything right and yet gain it all back along with another 60 lbs. I had done this same thing several times - lost large amounts of weight by restrictive dieting only to gain it back and more.

So that's what prompted my decision to have weight loss surgery. I needed something to happen that was different from all the times I had tried on my own to lose weight and keep it off. What makes weight loss surgery (specifically RNY) different than just dieting is (1) the smaller capacity which physically limits your calorie intake when your willpower gives out, (2) the drastic decrease in the production of hunger hormones, (3) the physical "reboot" of your metabolism, (4) dumping if you eat foods that are too high in fat or sugar, and (5) some degree of malabsorption. So all of these things together give me a much higher chance of long term success than dieting alone did.

You may be able to find some inexpensive insurance that will cover the surgery where the premiums are less than what you would pay in a payment plan for surgery. Good luck to you whatever you choose.

Going to Mexico I have seen ads about that but how do you do the post op apts and follow up with I assume u can follow up with a local surgeon for post op care right? I live close to Dayton Ohio sleeve runs roughly $15000 here

I just met with my PCP prior to surgery and she agreed to order my post-op blood work and have me check in with her regularly (had appointments at 2 months, 4 months, and another set for 8 months post-op). My surgical team had many post-op resources available to me via email and phone. So all of my post-op questions/concerns, they just addressed remotely. Had I had any post-op complications I would have either gone to the ER or gotten a referral from my PCP to a local surgeon.

Unless you have complications, there is really no physical post-op care required. I had a leak test during surgery and another the day before I left Mexico. As I said, my local doctor ordered blood work just to make sure I wasn't developing any deficiencies (I didn't). Not all Mexican surgical teams are created equal, though, so do your research! I had surgeons, doctors, and a nutritionist all available via email and phone post-op, not all surgeons offer that level of follow-up.

Check out the links below......they do medical finance loans:

www.americanhealthcarelending.com they do Bariatric lending at a lower interest rate

www.carecredit.com

I am 34 year old male 6 ft 305 pounds I was wanting to find out if I can use a post op diet and force myself to follow it to lose weight or will this throw my body into a funk. Just not sure if something is changed during surgery that keeps ur body from going into starvation mode I need to do something but I am uninsured and don't really have the assets to self pay nobody in my area has in house payment plans

I would not recommend it. It's far too long in calories for a person not sleeved to maintain. Not only would I be concerned about starvation mode, I would worry that your body would not get the needed nutrients ( which is why so many of us also take supplements and vitamins), but also that eventually it would lead to a binge.

There are other options:

• You could apply for the Affordable Healthcare. I believe currently they cover lap band and bypass surgeries.
• You can embark instead on a program of sensible eating and exercise. Just make sure you follow it regularly. Use one of the on line apps like Myfitnesspal or Sparkpeople to log your food and exercise.

A good example of someone doing it the old fashioned way is Sweating Until Happy.

I'm doing it right now, and I don't feel hungry at all. I'm eating five to six times a day.

My calorie target is 900, with 101g Protein, 25g fat and 68g carbs. I usually only get 60-80g protein, but I don't often go over the other limits. Usually my calories are in the 700s but I just don't want/need extra food.

In the old days when I went on diets, my calorie limit would be 1200 and I would try and keep fat to 30g, but I never considered carbs or protein. And I was always hungry and still craved junk all the time. I don't feel like eating crap at all now ("crap" includes carbs like bread and Pasta, not just the sugar laden stuff), and I don't even really miss it. It's lost its appeal. I definitely think keeping up the protein intake has made this happen.

Now to a disclaimer, of sorts - I have surgery booked for 8th December. Even though I'm going great guns at the moment, realistically I know it probably won't last, just like all the other times. If I could do this all the time, I wouldn't be here.

My pre-op diet was a 10 day liquid only diet, my daily intake: 3 Protein shakes, broth, herbal tea, water flavored with lemon & mint leaves, 1 Jello if I needed something extra. My daily protein intake was 90-100 grams and my daily calorie intake was around 500/day. I lost 17.5 pounds in 10 days. After the first 2-3 days I felt great and rarely felt hungry. While I do not recommend doing this long-term, you could do a 7-10 day liquid diet to jump start your new lifestyle and then opt for a low carb, high protein clean diet (lean & green), such as Paleo, South Beach, Atkins.

In the meantime, pick up some insurance through the Affordable Healthcare Act and maybe you can have surgery later this year or early next year.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do - losing weight is not easy no matter which road you take!