Advice

[Gaelsmom 100]

I'm scheduled for the sleeve in August. I am reconsidering whether bypass is a better option.

Biggest issue is that I can take in lots of food at one go and I have a sweet tooth which isn't as bad as it once was. And even though I know I'm full, I can eat to the point of feeling sick. So my question is to anyone with similar eating patterns, did your sleeve or bypass really help one year post surgery or was it easy to slip into old habits and regain the weight?

I can eat a large ny bagel with eggs bacon and cheese followed by a large latte and a visit to a bakery where i get several items.

Other goals is that i dream to run a marathon, and want to have a baby in a couple of years.

Thanks

[ShrinkingPeach 1,291]

I used to overeat but I am committed to this and I measure my food. I can only eat 1/2 cup and I make sure to eat only that. That being said I ate 1/2 cup of food the other day and it was about 1-2 bites too much and my new tummy hurt for about 10-15 minutes.

That may change later as I am further out but my plan to avoid that is to ALWAYS measure my food and only eat the amount that is okay for me to eat. I didn't go through surgery to mess it up and fail again.

This sleeve is just a tool and it also requires me to develop a new relationship with food. I had to change my mindset on what and how much I eat. If I don't respect the sleeve, the sleeve will make me pay.

[gowalking 10,790]

I'm banded but regardless, I also could eat a whole NY bagel at one sitting...and even another half if I wanted. These days, I eat a Bagel Thin (about 120 calories) or I cut a NY bagel into thirds and eat one third only.

Some of it is knowing you shouldn't eat as much as you used to...and some of it is knowing you can't. Or, if you can, you'll pay for it by being very full and uncomfortable...and maybe having to bring it all back up.

It's all about portion size, and healthy choices. If I was having the type of Breakfast you eat, I'd only have the eggs and one slice of bacon. Maybe half a bagel thin...or no bread at all. Then a piece of fruit...NO bakery visits. If the craving for a sweet was really bad, I'd have a 100 calorie snack.< /p>

That's what you're looking at if you have WLS. All I can tell you is that just like it says in my signature, 'nothing...and I mean NOTHING tastes as good as how I feel both physically and emotionally now that I'm a normal sized woman.

Good luck!

[Miss Mac 6,261]

Well, dear...it's GO time. You have to decide what is more important for your future and the ability to have a healthy pregnancy. Make yourself a pro / con list also called a cost / benefit analysis.

One list is: What are the benefits of continuing to eat the way I do? The other list is: What is the cost (financially and physically) of continuing to eat the way I do?

Now, do that again with: What are the benefits of having bariatric surgery? vrs. What is the financial and physical cost of having bariatric surgery?

Now, one more time. What are the benefits of getting pregnant at my current weight or higher? (and it will get higher eating the you descibe) vrs. What are the benefits of getting pregnant at my goal weight?

That little exercise will help you determine how important a healthy pregnancy and long future with your children and main man will be.

I, too was one of those who could eat up the whole room and the wallpaper, too. A year and a half post op, I can eat around a cup of food, and that is plenty enough. I found out that the mechanical dynamics of the human body do not require nearly as much food as my taste buds thought it did. In the process of preparing for and sustaining bariatric surgery, you will develope and new understanding of how the body recieves and processes these different types of food.

And I use the term "food" loosely. Most processed edibles are not real food. eal food is meat, vegetables, fuit, dairy - foods you can pick, catch, and dig. The best favor you can do for your human container is to quit fueling it with products made in a factory.

I had a serious food funeral with my beloved Twinkies. There was no Twinkie tree or a herd of Twinkies out in the pasture. Just for purposes of demonstration, here are the ingredients in a Twinkie, which is basically bleached out flour sprinkled with artificial Vitamins, oils, sugars, salts, artificial food colorings, and chemicals, and I am guessing the egg was a processed powdered egg. Now if I want something sweet, I will eat a piece of fruit. This walk is tough, no doubt about it, but you have many bariatric brothers and sisters for support. I wish you the best, and lots of healthy babies.

Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable and/or Animal Shortening (Soybean, Cottonseed and/or Canola Oil, Beef Fat), Whole eggs, Dextrose. Contains 2% or Less of: Modified Corn Starch, Glucose, Leavenings (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate), Sweet Dairy whey, Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium and Sodium Caseinate, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Yellow 5, Red 40.

[AussieSam 234]

All the procedures do a simular job they restrict your portion size. On the other hand they all have a honeymoon period which eventually ends so the key is to develop good eating habits. The third most important thing is they don't fix emotional eating you will have to work on that.

[*Lexie* 1,486]

I had the sleeve but right after surgery, I wished I had gotten the bypass. The reason is because I like sweets and the sleeve doesn't typically stop you from eating sweets. Luckily for me, I can't eat ice cream (I think I'm lactose intolerant now) or anything really rich. It's very helpful for cake to make me feel like crap. No desire to feel bad = no desire to eat cake or ice cream. But I can eat plain chocolate, luckily I do't eat it very often.

You keep that dream of running a marathon, you should be able to do that regardless of which surgery you choose. I am training for my first marathon right now. Excited and a little terrified.

[alicia54 36]

the surgery is just a tool, having said that why would you try and overeat just to see if you can if you continue with that mindset you will be large again go back and measure your food

[Gaelsmom 100]

I think I didn't ask the best question. So I have dieted since early childhood, I have great knowledge of calories,quality food, measuring etc. Every time I was successful at a diet for periods of 1-2 years, I returned down that terrible road. My intention is to stick to this. But my fear is that once the honeymoon is over, as it was with a plan I stuck to for 2 years, if I have a bad week, or bad month, will it render the sleeve or gb useless? Will I be able to increase my new sleeve and regain it all back or increase the pouch nullifying the loss?

I was paleo for over a year with only 2 cheat days. I never thought I would abandon the lifestyle but here I am. I'm scared that I will mess it up down the road.

[alicia54 36]

yep you can gain it back you have support here if you want or need it ali

[Babbs 14,680]

I think I didn't ask the best question. So I have dieted since early childhood, I have great knowledge of calories,quality food, measuring etc. Every time I was successful at a diet for periods of 1-2 years, I returned down that terrible road. My intention is to stick to this. But my fear is that once the honeymoon is over, as it was with a plan I stuck to for 2 years, if I have a bad week, or bad month, will it render the sleeve or gb useless? Will I be able to increase my new sleeve and regain it all back or increase the pouch nullifying the loss?

I was paleo for over a year with only 2 cheat days. I never thought I would abandon the lifestyle but here I am. I'm scared that I will mess it up down the road.

Sleeves, as a rule, don't stretch. As time goes by and the swelling goes down, you are able to eat more. When I say "more", I mean from a few tablespoons of food up to a cup or so (down the road). That's not a lot right? So how do people still gain weight?

Although at 10 months out, I may only be able to eat 1 slice of pizza in a sitting (if that), throughout the day, I can graze on that pizza and probably could finish the whole thing. I have now eaten a whole pizza (or cake, or pie, or bag of chips). Get the picture?

The sleeve is not a magic pill that makes you not want to eat. It just restricts the AMOUNT you can eat in a short period of time. You are still going to have to exercise some self control and will power. It's just a tool that helps with that.

Like the saying goes, they operate on your stomach, not.your mind.

[hikergirl14 80]

I had the DS seven weeks ago, and quite honestly I can't eat more than 1/4-1/3 cup of anything. So the chances of you gorging yourself is rather small. I, too, use to eat a ton of Pasta and pizza. I was a fast eater too thanks to the military. All I can say is now eating is out of necessity instead of pleasure. I never feel hungry per say, but my stomach lets me know when I have gone too long between meals. Also cravings aren't a big thing for me. One time I was craving a stupid gyro, and my wife happen to order one, well when I smelled it my cravings went away. A lot of our senses are intertwined so use them.

[Gaelsmom 100]

I think I didn't ask the best question. So I have dieted since early childhood, I have great knowledge of calories,quality food, measuring etc. Every time I was successful at a diet for periods of 1-2 years, I returned down that terrible road. My intention is to stick to this. But my fear is that once the honeymoon is over, as it was with a plan I stuck to for 2 years, if I have a bad week, or bad month, will it render the sleeve or gb useless? Will I be able to increase my new sleeve and regain it all back or increase the pouch nullifying the loss?

I was paleo for over a year with only 2 cheat days. I never thought I would abandon the lifestyle but here I am. I'm scared that I will mess it up down the road.

Sleeves, as a rule, don't stretch. As time goes by and the swelling goes down, you are able to eat more. When I say "more", I mean from a few tablespoons of food up to a cup or so (down the road). That's not a lot right? So how do people still gain weight?

Although at 10 months out, I may only be able to eat 1 slice of pizza in a sitting (if that), throughout the day, I can graze on that pizza and probably could finish the whole thing. I have now eaten a whole pizza (or cake, or pie, or bag of chips). Get the picture?

The sleeve is not a magic pill that makes you not want to eat. It just restricts the AMOUNT you can eat in a short period of time. You are still going to have to exercise some self control and will power. It's just a tool that helps with that.

Like the saying goes, they operate on your stomach, not.your mind.

So now I understand it a lot better and have more hope for the future. The potential of eating the entire pizza plus appetizer or dessert in one go will be difficult.

Thanks!

[gowalking 10,790]

This example might help. I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner tonight. I shared my appetizer which was mozzarella/roast pepper/prosciutto. I ate about half of it...so about a quarter of the full appetizer. Then had veal parm and spaghetti. I ate about 1/4 of the veal and two spoonfulls of Pasta. Then coffee and we split a chocolate mousse cake...which I did not finish.

I am now really really full. This is not alot of food..at least not alot of food before banding. It's waaayy more food that I can eat comfortably though.

Now...if I want to keep eating, I'll be able to in an hour or so. That's when self control comes into play. The band is not a magic 'pill'. It's still alot of work and dedication.

[SkinnyDown 409]

I'll be honest with you, because I think you may need to consider this. Therapy. If you have serious issues with food I think it's very beneficial to sort that out before you make drastic changes that might not work for you if you don't deal with your food issues.

I worked for almost a year, with a therapist before I had my surgery, because I knew I had serious issues with food addiction. I have had these issues for years. Trying to fill up some empty hole inside me, and it never worked. Using fat as protection. Deep seated issues there.

I had to get serious about why I ate, what I ate, the amount I ate,...etc. I especially had serious issues with sugar. Sweets, anything I could get my hands on.

Therapy got me into the right mindset to have surgery. I had all my little "food funerals" before my pre-op 10 day liquid diet. I was terribly disappointed with all the foods I thought were so important to me. Cupcakes and donuts and creme horns....on and on and on....and none of it mattered. All of it was garbage, and I finally admitted that. That's when I knew I was ready.

3 weeks out, and I haven't been hungry once, not sure if that will go away eventually or not, but all I know is I'm struggling to get half the Protein in I'm supposed to. I can only eat 1/4 C. of anything and am filled to the gills! Luckily I'm getting nearly all my liquids in. Still, it's work. Little afraid what my NUT is going say, about my little intake of food.

I went grocery shopping today, about to forge into soft foods, and I passed ALL those things up I used to load up my cart with, and what a great feeling to see my grocery cart today, and know that everything I am about to put in me, is actually good for me. For now, I'm eating only because I have to. That's the strangest feeling to me. But I'm loving it.

I wish you much luck, on your journey.

Edited June 10, 2015 by carolm1965

[Cupcake 801]

Hi first congrats on your choice on being healthy, discuss your concerns with your doctor, I had the option if both procedures but after going discussing my concerns with my surgeon and husband we all decided on gastric bypass , I had never had surgery and only wanted to have it once and get the best results . I. Did not want any revision do to ulcers or anything else . I am happy and healthy with my decision and just had a Tummy Tuck with muscle repairs done to address the loose skin and I am feeling like a million bucks . I use food as energy now . I don't us food for comfort , stress or boredom . I have replace stress and emotional eating with exercise and better communication skills will my family and friends and it works . You do not want yo hi through this procedure without making the necessary like changes. You got this I would suggest the RNy.