Do you still dump? How do you eat? Still losing? How hard is maintaining? I have a ton of questions and was hoping to hear from long term post-op people about what eating and maintaining weight is like 2, 5, 10+ years later. Thanks!

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Well I'm a bander so your mileage may vary... but it is still an everyday project to have the right foods available....daily.... protein... water.... some sort of exercise..... I mix it up with frozen yogurt for a treat. Jerky. Extra Protein milk, baked tofu ( much different than regular). Nuts. Eggs.. chicken thighs...protein bars and shakes for back up. And so goes the week

COMPLIANCE. Is my big buzz word.

Most of the time....

that is my 10 years out, 95 lbs list and maintained advice....

Some of us vets just keep trying....

I won't go back!!!

Ps. I'm having a love affair with whole grains. Split peas. Lentils. Beans.

I never would have thought I would crave those....

Do you still feel the restriction in your stomach? My biggest concern is stretching.

Two years out. RNY patient.

I've never dumped. Most of us don't.

I maintain on 1500-1700 calories a day. Most of the time this is fine. My stomach is small, so 1500-1700 works. There are days, though, when it's a struggle to stay within this range - like holidays or if I'm eating out a lot. I just know I can't go down any slippery slopes because people can - and do - put a lot of the weight back on if they're not careful. I still weigh and measure everything most of the time since "portion creep" is real...

I could probably still lose if wanted to, but my PCP told me to stop, and my body fat is at 22% - which is fine, but I was told not to go too much lower or I'd just be eating into muscle.

I still feel restriction if I eat dense protein

Thanks, cat woman!

Crazy as it sounds, I like the idea of having the threat of dumping as it acts as a natural incentive to avoid too many carbs and fats. I desire that limitation.

I'm hoping my stomach stays small for life as it will be easier to maintain that way.

3 years out. I feel like I eat small to normal size meals now. I still take a long time to eat a meal and usually just take leftovers home and eat in "chapters" as my other WLS friends say. The amount of restriction varies, sometimes I can only get down a few bites and sometimes I can eat almost a full meal.

I've only had actual dumping once or twice. If I eat a few bites too much or something too carb heavy I will feel a little bit sick for maybe half an hour. It's nothing serious, but it's enough to make me think twice about taking that last bite of something.

My biggest challenge is protein intake and blood sugar management. I don't eat meat much anymore, so I try to eat a lot of legumes. I have some instances of hypoglycemia and I have more frequent occurrences of reactive hypoglycemia after I eat. My body still makes too much insulin and drops my blood sugar. I keep a lot of juice boxes and small snacks around.

Thanks, cat woman!

Crazy as it sounds, I like the idea of having the threat of dumping as it acts as a natural incentive to avoid too many carbs and fats. I desire that limitation.

I'm hoping my stomach stays small for life as it will be easier to maintain that way.

I liked the idea of dumping too, but it really doesn't happen for me. I can overeat (slightly, I still have a pouch after all!) sugar and carbs, and while I don't feel great, I wouldn't call it dumping. But I'm not that disappointed, although I do need to be more responsible for my eating now that I'm two weeks away from being two years out.

It can be a struggle, but when I get back to basics, it's much easier! I have to be honest and say I have been far from perfect and even had weight gain. I'm learning a lot more about why I eat, things I'd never considered before. I admit this is something I've been working on for 30+ years but hey, I'm a slow learner!! And yes, I know I should have done that pre surgery, but I thought I had. Then I had to go back to work after a year of not working (nine months after surgery, and at my goal weight) and it took me a year of being back at work to realize how the compulsive urge to binge is directly related to work stress.

Stick with the basics for as long as you can, and if you ever stray or have regain, just get back to basics again. Most importantly, no liquids with meals or 30 minutes before or after (or at least 15 minutes), meet your protein and liquid goals (whatever yours may be) and eat your protein first. That's the rest of your life. I might not be the right person to answer this because I'm still taking two steps forward, one step back getting back on track, but I do know the rules, even if I don't always follow them!!

Bottom line? You absolutely have to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I wouldn't recommend following my path but if you do, don't beat yourself up. Just pick yourself up, and get back to basics asap. And stay plugged in to groups. Socialize with other bariatric patients, in all stages of the journey. You can do this!!

I liked the idea of dumping too, but it really doesn't happen for me. I can overeat (slightly, I still have a pouch after all!) sugar and carbs, and while I don't feel great, I wouldn't call it dumping. But I'm not that disappointed, although I do need to be more responsible for my eating now that I'm two weeks away from being two years out.

It can be a struggle, but when I get back to basics, it's much easier! I have to be honest and say I have been far from perfect and even had weight gain. I'm learning a lot more about why I eat, things I'd never considered before. I admit this is something I've been working on for 30+ years but hey, I'm a slow learner!! And yes, I know I should have done that pre surgery, but I thought I had. Then I had to go back to work after a year of not working (nine months after surgery, and at my goal weight) and it took me a year of being back at work to realize how the compulsive urge to binge is directly related to work stress.

Stick with the basics for as long as you can, and if you ever stray or have regain, just get back to basics again. Most importantly, no liquids with meals or 30 minutes before or after (or at least 15 minutes), meet your protein and liquid goals (whatever yours may be) and eat your protein first. That's the rest of your life. I might not be the right person to answer this because I'm still taking two steps forward, one step back getting back on track, but I do know the rules, even if I don't always follow them!!

Bottom line? You absolutely have to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I wouldn't recommend following my path but if you do, don't beat yourself up. Just pick yourself up, and get back to basics asap. And stay plugged in to groups. Socialize with other bariatric patients, in all stages of the journey. You can do this!!

Thanks for sharing my surgery date is June 21st and I'm constantly worried about my binge eating disorder. It scares me so much.

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Thanks for this thread. I'm just over one year out, and I did not get close to goal yet (I do think my insulin use is inhibiting me some) and I know that carby food has snuck back into my diet. I am exercising quite a bit, and doing both weights and cardio. I have gotten very discouraged as I've gained back about 10 lbs and I'm scared of gaining any more. I don't know what to do except really try to go back to basics. I just have to discipline myself to do this. I know I haven't stretched my pouch out, but I know I've relaxed way too much where food is concerned. Some of the same triggers that caused problems in the past are still there, and I don't really feel like those triggers were dealt with during the 6 month preparation for surgery. I feel very disgusted with myself, and I keep feeling like a huge failure. My diabetes did improve, but with more weight loss can come better control and less insulin, perhaps even no insulin at some point. I just feel like I have no where to turn to get it in my head that I can do this. Why is it so hard? Even after having surgery, it is still so hard. I'm not even hungry most times that I eat.

Thanks for this thread. I'm just over one year out, and I did not get close to goal yet (I do think my insulin use is inhibiting me some) and I know that carby food has snuck back into my diet. I am exercising quite a bit, and doing both weights and cardio. I have gotten very discouraged as I've gained back about 10 lbs and I'm scared of gaining any more. I don't know what to do except really try to go back to basics. I just have to discipline myself to do this. I know I haven't stretched my pouch out, but I know I've relaxed way too much where food is concerned. Some of the same triggers that caused problems in the past are still there, and I don't really feel like those triggers were dealt with during the 6 month preparation for surgery. I feel very disgusted with myself, and I keep feeling like a huge failure. My diabetes did improve, but with more weight loss can come better control and less insulin, perhaps even no insulin at some point. I just feel like I have no where to turn to get it in my head that I can do this. Why is it so hard? Even after having surgery, it is still so hard. I'm not even hungry most times that I eat.

It sounds like we're in the same boat. It's nice to know we're not alone!!

On 5/16/2017 at 9:22 AM, nomorefattypatty said:

Thanks for sharing my surgery date is June 21st and I'm constantly worried about my binge eating disorder. It scares me so much.

Don't be scared, it just makes more stress! I've had BED for many, many years. So far, I've found that RNY has almost completely squashed it for me. There have been a few times where I noticed it was a little *too* easy to eat something (for me it's crackers and chips). I took that as a HUGE red flag. I don't restrict myself from those foods, but I add on a very small amount at the end of a meal. NO snacks with those trigger type foods. But on the whole, the urges are almost totally gone.

PS--have you read Brain Over Binge? Game changer!

And to the OP--I'm only 4 months out, but my mom is 3 years out. She eats like a cow, meaning she grazes all day! ;p She eats pretty much whatever she wants. The only thing that has given her trouble is mixing cashews with oranges. Random! Neither she nor I have dumped really.

Ok never heard that

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Don't be scared, it just makes more stress! I've had BED for many, many years. So far, I've found that RNY has almost completely squashed it for me. There have been a few times where I noticed it was a little *too* easy to eat something (for me it's crackers and chips). I took that as a HUGE red flag. I don't restrict myself from those foods, but I add on a very small amount at the end of a meal. NO snacks with those trigger type foods. But on the whole, the urges are almost totally gone.
PS--have you read Brain Over Binge? Game changer!
And to the OP--I'm only 4 months out, but my mom is 3 years out. She eats like a cow, meaning she grazes all day! ;p She eats pretty much whatever she wants. The only thing that has given her trouble is mixing cashews with oranges. Random! Neither she nor I have dumped really.

Thanks for letting me know, what was your experience with diet soda, I'm having the hardest time trying to stop drinking it and I can say I'm not doing well with that at all.

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