Common pitfalls

[kjuno 53]

Hi. So my surgery won’t be until December I’m getting the gastric sleeve. however I’m trying to prepare as much ahead of time as possible. Changing diet exercising etc. I’ve seen a lot of posts about people not loosing the amount they wanted to and I was just wondering what was the most challenging issues and how you overcame them?

[RapidFirePickle 119]

The hardest part for me so far is hydration; I work a job in a biohazard area that usually is fast-paced. I rarely get time to take off protective equipment, wash up, walk to the clean area, sip, walk back, put on protective equipment. I am adjusting my intake to be more before and after work, and unfortunately I am relying on Protein Shakes for both nutrition and fluids more than I would like (I am still on soft foods but would like to have a little more variety. As for weight loss, I am right on track.

[scale 11]

Hi, my hardest was drinking Water. Now it's the liquid diet. Best wishes on your journey!

HW 405lbs
CW 318
SW
GW 160
Happy weight loss!

[animallover1247 249]

The average weight loss with the sleeve is 60% of ones excess weight. Again this is the average. Can you lose more? Sure you can. My surgeon states people who have wls have unrealistic expectations of how much weight they will lose, even with bypass. There are a lot of people who have reached their goal but it's not considered the norm. My surgeon says he considers one a success if they have lost 50-60% of ew in 18-24 months. If one develops GERD, many times they don't lose their weight and/or gain back what they did lose.

[Matt Z 4,140]

Common pitfalls.
Focusing ONLY on your weight and not including body fat %, overall composition, lean mass, physical body measurements. You will stall, there will be times when you just stop losing weight, or gain a little even. This is a problem when you are only looking at your weight. Because you could be losing fat, gaining muscle, etc... but if you don't pay attention to the whole picture, you can and most likely will be come frustrated and discouraged, because you "aren't losing weight"

Not prepping ahead of time. Start getting your Water intakes upward of 128 oz a day. Get your sugar intake down to as close to zero as possible. Start getting your Protein levels up. Start exercising now. Start all the habits you'll be forced to adopt after surgery now.

Get ready to avoid temptations, "slider foods" etc. There are a large number of bad foods that you won't have any trouble eating, get your will power ready now.

Be ready to not be "typical". All the numbers and %'s and everything you'll hear being tossed around. Those are simply averages and that's it. Don't expect to lose 100 lbs in 3 weeks (if you laughed, you haven't read enough of these threads), you might even gain weight right out of surgery. Be ready for your weight to be all over the place for a little while. But give yourself a break and take the time to heal first.

Take **EVERYTHING** in stride, focus on the long term goals and not the day to day.
Be sure to be strict with your diet and goals, but be flexible enough to give yourself a break if you slip up.
The Sleeve is a tool only, it WILL NOT magically make everything go away. Not everyone losses the hunger sensation so just assume you won't, that way if it does come back or never goes away, you won't be disappointed before you even get a chance to start.

All in all. Stay Strong, Focus on WHY you wanted to have the surgery and keep those goals reachable.

[kjuno 53]

Thank you I’ve been trying to read posts daily to maintain realistic expectations. working slowly on changing my lifestyle. I was a teacher before social work and wouldn’t drink many liquids since you couldn’t really take bathroom breaks so even getting up 32 oz as been challenging especially since you can’t drink with meals. I’m going to a very large family gathering today which of course revolves around food. So my will power will definitely be tested. I just keep trying to remind myself how much I truly want this.

[macadamia 591]

On 7/5/2018 at 6:08 AM, Matt Z said:

Common pitfalls.
Focusing ONLY on your weight and not including body fat %, overall composition, lean mass, physical body measurements. You will stall, there will be times when you just stop losing weight, or gain a little even. This is a problem when you are only looking at your weight. Because you could be losing fat, gaining muscle, etc... but if you don't pay attention to the whole picture, you can and most likely will be come frustrated and discouraged, because you "aren't losing weight"

Not prepping ahead of time. Start getting your Water intakes upward of 128 oz a day. Get your sugar intake down to as close to zero as possible. Start getting your Protein levels up. Start exercising now. Start all the habits you'll be forced to adopt after surgery now.

Get ready to avoid temptations, "slider foods" etc. There are a large number of bad foods that you won't have any trouble eating, get your will power ready now.

Be ready to not be "typical". All the numbers and %'s and everything you'll hear being tossed around. Those are simply averages and that's it. Don't expect to lose 100 lbs in 3 weeks (if you laughed, you haven't read enough of these threads), you might even gain weight right out of surgery. Be ready for your weight to be all over the place for a little while. But give yourself a break and take the time to heal first.

Take **EVERYTHING** in stride, focus on the long term goals and not the day to day.
Be sure to be strict with your diet and goals, but be flexible enough to give yourself a break if you slip up.
The Sleeve is a tool only, it WILL NOT magically make everything go away. Not everyone losses the hunger sensation so just assume you won't, that way if it does come back or never goes away, you won't be disappointed before you even get a chance to start.

All in all. Stay Strong, Focus on WHY you wanted to have the surgery and keep those goals reachable.

Well said! The only thing I would like to add is something my surgeon said to me: It's a marathon, not a 100-yard dash.

[Frustr8 7,886]

And" instant" only,works for cofee and a few other places I life.

[CrankyMagpie 509]

10 hours ago, Frustr8 said:

And" instant" only,works for cofee and a few other places I life.

And not even, I would argue, for coffee.

Thanks for starting this thread, @kjuno! Lots of useful stuff being said!

[smg 471]

On 7/4/2018 at 9:32 AM, kjuno said:

Hi. So my surgery won’t be until December I’m getting the gastric sleeve. however I’m trying to prepare as much ahead of time as possible. Changing diet exercising etc. I’ve seen a lot of posts about people not loosing the amount they wanted to and I was just wondering what was the most challenging issues and how you overcame them?

Glad to hear you are deciding to make changes pre-op. That mindset will certainly be helpful come post-op. It was one of the best things I did and I even lost 20 lbs before surgery so bonus!!

One of the biggest pitfalls I have seen from people is that they get 'tunnel vision' meaning they focus singularly on weight and weight alone. While we all love seeing the number on the scale go down, it's not the only measure of success. It's not uncommon to hear stories from people who were losing a few pounds per week hit a plateau and immediately shift gears and change their entire diet. In addition to weight, you should be focused on fitness. None of us want to hear this over and over but I can tell you it's probably the best advice I got. Everyone's different and not all of us can just walk out the operating room into the gym. Regardless of how you choose to exercise, it's absolutely crucial to LONG-TERM success that you do. Even if you start small, with some light to moderate walking/cycling/swimming. Do what you can and try to push yourself a bit more each week. It will payoff.

Other things to pay attention to aside from weight are the non-scale victories. Body measurements going down regardless of weight loss, getting in and out of a car easier, not getting winded when walking up a few flights of stairs. These are all positive and it's a real confidence booster when you take the time to notice them.

STAY HYDRATED!! This will help with EVERYTHING. It will mitigate the Constipation, help your muscles recover faster from workouts, allow you to get better sleep. Literally helps with everything. Super important.

The biggest change that I made, and it has worked for me for over 2 years now is that I switched to a whole-foods based diet and cut out processed foods as much as possible. I don't count calories, but I do track macros. I found a ratio that works well for me and my lifestyle which is MUCH more active now. My split is about 40/30/30. 40% of my calories from Protein, 30% from fats, and 30% from good carbs like fruits/veggies, brown rice, quinoa, oats, etc. I don't weigh my foods for exact ratios, but I do try to use those numbers as a guideline.

If you happen to give in to temptation, don't give up. I've seen others say they've had a bite of pizza and so now they're diet is shot so they "might as well have more". That's a common trap. Don't fall into it. If you have a moment where you give in to temptation, realize it, shake it off and get back to your commitment.

The sleeve is a powerful tool but it's ONLY a tool. How you use it is up to you! Best of luck!!

[TakingABreak 2,733]

On ‎07‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 11:32 AM, kjuno said:

Hi. So my surgery won’t be until December I’m getting the gastric sleeve. however I’m trying to prepare as much ahead of time as possible. Changing diet exercising etc. I’ve seen a lot of posts about people not loosing the amount they wanted to and I was just wondering what was the most challenging issues and how you overcame them?

This are the top tips I recommend to people getting started....

Here's my top 13 tips!

1. Start altering your diet now. Cut out processed food, or at the very least processed sugar. Practice eating your Protein first and then focus on non-starchy veggies. Also, start tracking your food. There are lots of apps that make logging very easy. I personally use MyFitnessPal, but there are others out there.
2. Find something that you like to drink that doesn't have calories. Try different caffeine free teas and Water additives. I still can't drink plain water....so you want to have something on hand that you know you like.
3. Cut out caffeine. Most programs allow caffeine back in relatively quickly, but caffeine can hinder your body's ability to heal. You don't want to go through caffeine withdrawal along with the aches and pains of surgery.
4. Don't use Protein Shakes before you absolutely have to! I made the mistake of supplementing some of my meals with shakes to "prepare myself" for the pre-op diet. Big mistake. You will get to the point where they are DISGUSTING, and you don't want to increase the timeline of that by drinking them before you need to.
5. Start incorporating exercising (even if it’s just walking) somewhere in your daily routine. It will make it easier if it’s already a habit.
6. Practice chewing your food at least 20-30 times before swallowing. Muscle has memory and it will be so much easier if you already have this habit. If you screw up and swallow too soon after surgery, you will pay the price.
7. Set timers and don't drink and eat at the same time.
8. I highly recommend having at least 1 visit with a therapist to establish with someone for after surgery. It’s not required, but everyone seems to have some emotional struggles afterwards. Whether its 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years you may struggle with the changes.
9. I personally wouldn't share with people, unless you know they will be 100% supportive. It is nerve wracking already and you need nothing but positivity. Plus it’s a lot of pressure from people who know you've had WLS, versus people who think you are on the weight loss track. People think that the weight is going to melt off after surgery, and sometimes it doesn't. You don't want the extra judgment. Don’t engage people with people who say “WLS is too dramatic” or “You could just diet and lose the weight” or “You aren’t big enough for surgery” or “It’s the easy way out”. SCREW THOSE PEOPLE, they don’t know. They will never know how triumphant our victory will be.
10. I would also remember that you need to make time for you! Make the time to shop healthy, meal prep, cook healthy, and plan ahead. And I’m talking to all the selfless mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives. We give so much to our families, but NOW is the time to focus on ourselves. We are doing it for them, after all. We are doing it to prolong our lives and improve the quality of our lives.
11. Come up with a reward system of sorts. You want to acknowledge your successes. For my 50lb mark, I went and got pedicures with my girlfriends. For my 75lb mark, I bought myself some new dresses. For my 100lb mark, I bought myself a really nice full length mirror.
12. Stalls happen and are completely natural. There are tons of threads in this community that you can search for suggestions or for advice.
13. Hunger happens. Some people don’t experience a decrease in hunger, but it is easily manageable with a small amount of the right foods.

[Frustr8 7,886]

Very good recommendations Ash Ash, doubt if I could improve on them.