Like weight loss before and after photos but of your new diet !

I'm especially interested in before and after meal photos (take a pic at the point you feel restriction) but it can be of recipe substitutions, your refrigerator/pantry/shopping cart/etc

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

9 hours ago, Mspretty86 said:

How much food can everyone eat now? Those of you further out? So many delicious food post but I can only enjoy about 1 cup of food at a time. I'm about 5 months out!

That seems about bright. I was eating about a cup at 6 months which is what my surgeon advised. Slowly I was able to eat more until I am where I am now. So about a good cup of vegetables and about 3 or 4ozs of protein. My portions fit nicely on an entree plate (9inches/23cm). Doesn’t matter how large a portion you eat you can still enjoy and try a variety of foods.

Five years out and my restriction is still there too. Not as tight as it once was but it can still shout no stop when it wants too.

But yes, picking is the devil. So easy to lose track of how much you’ve actually eaten and because it’s usually such small portions, whatever you have left of your restriction, isn’t going to kick in. I have specific times I snack and I generally don’t snack or pick outside of those times (of course there are odd times or situations when I don’t stay the course perfectly).

@SleeverSk did you speak to your GP or your bariatric surgeon about GLP -1 meds? Wonder if your surgeon may be more open to you trying it if you only spoke with your GP.

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by Arabesque

6 hours ago, sillykitty said:

I use both IF and GLP meds. Along with calorie tracking for accountability.

Hi there,

May I ask why you use GLP if you have effective restriction? Have you experienced any regain?

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by Lilia_90

16 hours ago, ms.sss said:

@Lilia_90:::omg im so u are posting ur food again!!! soooo yummmmmyyyy looooking!!!

(do u have a food instagram? cuz i'd totally follow....)

I was in a food photography rut.

Working on that Instagram account!! Thanks for the support

21 minutes ago, Lilia_90 said:

Hi there,

May I ask why you use GLP if you have effective restriction? Have you experienced any regain?

Because restriction isn't everything. It's easy to eat around your restriction. Restriction doesn't stop hunger, or food noise, or just wanting to eat food that is delicious but calorie dense.

I had 20# of "good" regain. I got too thin after WLS, and I didn't like how my body looked at that weight. The normal bounce was good for me, and is what I've found to be my ideal weight. Over the last 3.5 year I slowly gained weight. At 20# over my ideal weight, i didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I got on a GLP routine and quickly and easily dropped the excess weight. IME, GLP's are going to be revolutionary. I'll likely use them as needed to regulate my weight indefinitely.

1 minute ago, sillykitty said:

Because restriction isn't everything. It's easy to eat around your restriction. Restriction doesn't stop hunger, or food noise, or just wanting to eat food that is delicious but calorie dense.

I had 20# of "good" regain. I got too thin after WLS, and I didn't like how my body looked at that weight. The normal bounce was good for me, and is what I've found to be my ideal weight. Over the last 3.5 year I slowly gained weight. At 20# over my ideal weight, i didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I got on a GLP routine and quickly and easily dropped the excess weight. IME, GLP's are going to be revolutionary. I'll likely use them as needed to regulate my weight indefinitely.

Thank you for answering!

I have always wondered where I'll be when I'm further out and how I would manage regain, I hear a lot of stories of how people who've had WLS resort to GLP1 treatments at several years out. It would be great to know how you plan to come off/on it again

14 minutes ago, Lilia_90 said:

It would be great to know how you plan to come off/on it again

That's tbd at this point. My current plan is week to week keep a low dose in my system that quiets food noise and gives some suppression that makes it easier to IF, but not so much I'll continue to lose weight.

3 hours ago, sillykitty said:

That's tbd at this point. My current plan is week to week keep a low dose in my system that quiets food noise and gives some suppression that makes it easier to IF, but not so much I'll continue to lose weight.

That damn food noise ?. I am so glad that for right now that little demon is asleep but once further out my ass will definitely be on my GLP. I still get my ozempic refills but don't use them they are just sitting in the fridge. Do not need them now

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by Mspretty86

8 hours ago, Lilia_90 said:

Hi there,

May I ask why you use GLP if you have effective restriction? Have you experienced any regain?

Our surgeons did their very best to educate us in a manner that would be easy for a broad population to understand but sadly WLS is not as simple as restriction driving weight loss.

Check out these excerpts from a review on the Endocrinology of the Gut and the Regulation of Body Weight and Metabolism and also a study that tried to predict outcomes of various WLS on (hedonic) hunger and weight loss :

The mechanisms behind the success of bariatric/metabolic surgeries remain to be fully elucidated but post-surgical changes in gut-derived hormonal peptides, bile acids (BA), gut microbiota, and vagal tone are suggested to be involved (13, 14).

Read more here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556470/

Bariatric surgery engenders weight loss through a number of biological changes, which alter eating behavior and thereby result in a reduced energy intake, which is the main driver for sustained weight loss. Gut hormones, metabolically active polypeptides secreted along the GI tract in response to fasting and eating, act upon CNS centers involved in appetite regulation and generate either orexigenic or anorectic responses. Following bariatric surgery, gut hormone secretion profiles change as a result of the anatomical changes from the surgery. Altered gut hormone secretion profiles are thought to be key mediators for weight loss following RYGB and SG. RYGB results in a marked rise in meal-stimulated circulating levels of anorectic hormones peptide YY 36 (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1); these changes are also seen post-SG but to a lesser extent. SG, in contrast, leads to a significant reduction in the orexigenic hormone ghrelin, by means of removing most of the ghrelin-producing cell population from the stomach. Ghrelin and PYY/GLP-1 act on appetite-regulating areas of the CNS in an opposing manner, stimulating orexigenic or anorectic responses, respectively [16].

Read more here:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11739-022-03063-0#:~:text=A reduced energy intake%2C as,weight loss following bariatric surgery.

3 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Our surgeons did their very best to educate us in a manner that would be easy for a broad population to understand but sadly WLS is not as simple as restriction driving weight loss.

Check out these excerpts from a review on the Endocrinology of the Gut and the Regulation of Body Weight and Metabolism and also a study that tried to predict outcomes of various WLS on (hedonic) hunger and weight loss :

The mechanisms behind the success of bariatric/metabolic surgeries remain to be fully elucidated but post-surgical changes in gut-derived hormonal peptides, bile acids (BA), gut microbiota, and vagal tone are suggested to be involved (13, 14).

Read more here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556470/

Bariatric surgery engenders weight loss through a number of biological changes, which alter eating behavior and thereby result in a reduced energy intake, which is the main driver for sustained weight loss. Gut hormones, metabolically active polypeptides secreted along the GI tract in response to fasting and eating, act upon CNS centers involved in appetite regulation and generate either orexigenic or anorectic responses. Following bariatric surgery, gut hormone secretion profiles change as a result of the anatomical changes from the surgery. Altered gut hormone secretion profiles are thought to be key mediators for weight loss following RYGB and SG. RYGB results in a marked rise in meal-stimulated circulating levels of anorectic hormones peptide YY 36 (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1); these changes are also seen post-SG but to a lesser extent. SG, in contrast, leads to a significant reduction in the orexigenic hormone ghrelin, by means of removing most of the ghrelin-producing cell population from the stomach. Ghrelin and PYY/GLP-1 act on appetite-regulating areas of the CNS in an opposing manner, stimulating orexigenic or anorectic responses, respectively [16].

Read more here:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11739-022-03063-0#:~:text=A reduced energy intake%2C as,weight loss following bariatric surgery.

Such great info!

1 hour ago, Mspretty86 said:

Such great info!

I just want people who experience regain to know that it’s not (as simple as being) their fault ❤️

On 9/24/2024 at 5:07 PM, GreenTealael said:

I’m not sure about in AU, but in US medical files sometimes still say history of obesity/Bariatric surgery so that bypasses a lot of issues when trying to explain why you need help losing regain or maintaining weight.

Can others please chime in if they have any information about this?

But either way if you can swing it, they are effective.

I’m pretty sure you still have to be a specific BMI and have a high risk of heart issues for insurance to cover it. My guess is that they will probably prescribe it to anyone but insurance won’t cover. Then again the more studies they do to reveal other things they treat they may be easier to get soon

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by ShoppGirl

5 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I’m pretty sure you still have to be a specific BMI and have a high risk of heart issues for insurance to cover it. My guess is that they will probably prescribe it to anyone but insurance won’t cover. Then again the more studies they do to reveal other things they treat they may be easier to get soon

Generally it’s super expensive and a lot of insurers dropped coverage either July 2023 or January 2024 so unless a person definitely has coverage the next best step is compounding pharmacies. My hope is that this is the beginning of the race towards a cure for obesity.

Insurance in Australia doesn’t cover pharmaceuticals in there same way as the US. Prescription meds here are either on the PBS (pharmaceutical benefits scheme which are meds subsidised by the government to keep the costs low - about $31) or not. If you have private health insurance they may cover some of the costs of non PBS drugs but I think it depends on your insurance company and your cover. My insurance would pay the difference in the cost of a prescribed non PBS med and if it was a PBS drug. So if non PBS drug cost me $35, I’d get $4 back. Think ozempic is on the PBS but there have been lots of shortages & there are restrictions on who can be prescribed it (diabetics only I believe). Not sure about the other semaglutides. Wegovy only recently became available here for weight loss - it’s not on the PBS currently.

On 7/27/2018 at 1:06 PM, insta_adventurer said:

Soft Proteins, yes.

I used my own recipe.

2 eggs
15oz part skim ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1tsp ground garlic
1tsp black pepper
Dash of basil
1tsp Italian seasoning
1tsp salt

Mix all these well.

Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons into each spot on a mini muffin baking pan that you’ve sprayed with Pam.

Sprinkle a touch of reduced fat mozzarella on top of each.

Bake 20 minutes at 375.

I’m thinking of making a bariatric cooking/recipe blog. I love cooking and being inventive and really want to stay within my approved foods. So it may be neat!

Seeing this gave me an idea! I think I will make some of these tomorrow but put laters of sliced zucchini rounds in each muffin tin! I'm hungry just thinking about them!

3 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Generally it’s super expensive and a lot of insurers dropped coverage either July 2023 or January 2024 so unless a person definitely has coverage the next best step is compounding pharmacies. My hope is that this is the beginning of the race towards a cure for obesity.

My hopes are the same it has certainly gotten a lot of attention so perhaps it will help reduce some of the stigma at the very least. I have two friends that are currently on them for weight and they have shockingly low copays. My one friend showed me the pharmacy paper where it said her insurance saved her X dollars and I don’t remember the exact amount but It was well over a thousand.dollars. I follow Dr Weiner too so I learned about them when they were fairly newly being used for weight loss. I also looked into it before i went with my revision, but my insurance does not cover them for weight loss as of when I scheduled my surgery. My family provider’s office is currently working on getting compounded version to offer to their patients and hope to get the price under $200 a month they said but the NP said she would not put off surgery waiting on all insurance to cover it or for them to get a good compound because those things usually take quite a while.