Still considering- have some questions

[jenniferinfl 3]

I'm 36- I weigh around 240 and I'm 5' 6". I was this weight at the age of 12. I managed to lose 100 lbs when I was 17 or so with an extreme diet where I would just eat a can of Soup and a nonfat yogurt and that would be all my food for the day. A bit disordered. I kept off 80 lbs of that for around 10 years and then it came crashing back on in a 3 month time period and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I manage to lose 30 lbs or so, but, then it creeps back on. I have one kid, I gained 80 lbs while pregnant due to preeclampsia but was back to prepregnancy weight in just three weeks, so, just Water weight.

I know that I really have to do some kind of weight loss surgery. I know how to lose weight, I've done it before and maintained it for years, but,it just doesn't work anymore. I'm thinking I should do a real gastric bypass since I've lost the weight before and kept it off and now can't lose, so, probably can't get away with the less drastic procedures.

My insurance will not cover it. My work got a new plan a couple years ago and they did include gastric bypass. You just had to have the insurance for a year. So, I met with a doctor, did my monitored diet and all that crap and then by the time the year was up the insurance company dropped weight loss surgery. I was furious because I did all the preapproval work just waiting on my year to be up and then they pull that crap. I will be doing this in Mexico.

I have no comorbidities other than slightly elevated liver numbers. Cholesterol under 200, glucose under 100, a1c was normal. My doctor hates it because she has to tell me my labs are perfect after lecturing me about the health concerns of being a fatty. But, you all know exactly how that is..lol

Here are my concerns. I love fruit and vegetables. I eat around 800 grams of them per day. The UK does fruit and veg servings easier, 80 grams is a serving and thus 800 grams is 10 servings. I'm guessing that's why my lab work is good despite being obese. Obviously, I won't be able to eat ten servings of fruit and veg a day after surgery. What will I still be able to eat? I've already mostly dealt with my food demons, gave up soda in my 20s. I'm still drinking coffee. Will I still be able to drink coffee after bypass?

My life sucks as it is. I can't get promoted at work and I know a big part of that is my weight. I'm the person that gets phone calls from other locations on how to do things. I work at a level three pay grades above my current level but can't get promoted to that level. I'm married and my husband is a normal weight vegan, so, that whole relationship sucks too. Everyone assumes that I'm lazy. I had a well-meaning friend invite me to go walking with her, a one mile loop. Seriously? I walk 5 miles everyday.

Will my life suck less after bypass? I've mostly given up alcohol, but, weight loss surgery will have to be a secret from my local relatives. I will have to occasionally be able to drink a little alcohol. I will have to be able to drink a little coffee. I want to be able to eat fruit and vegetables. I just don't want to make my life worse than it already is. I'm lucky, never really had a binge disorder or anything like that.

[ummyasmin 1,603]

Hiya, everyone is different and what you can /can't eat in the beginning is different than years out but yes after you're back eating normal food (past the liquid and mushy phases) you should be able to eat regular fruits and veggies, just not so much of them.

Some people's taste buds change for a while so some things you like now, you may not like after surgery and vice versa, but a bypass is essentially designed to help you stop eating sugar and fat and have healthy food in smaller quantities.

After years you'll probably be able to eat larger quantities and a more varied diet so you'll need to be prepared that WLS is training to learn how to eat better and you still need to do the work to make it succeed.

Best wishes on your journey!

Sent from my SM-G930F using BariatricPal mobile app

[mousecat88 2,281]

51 minutes ago, jenniferinfl said:

Here are my concerns. I love fruit and vegetables. I eat around 800 grams of them per day. The UK does fruit and veg servings easier, 80 grams is a serving and thus 800 grams is 10 servings. I'm guessing that's why my lab work is good despite being obese. Obviously, I won't be able to eat ten servings of fruit and veg a day after surgery. What will I still be able to eat? I've already mostly dealt with my food demons, gave up soda in my 20s. I'm still drinking coffee. Will I still be able to drink coffee after bypass?

My life sucks as it is. I can't get promoted at work and I know a big part of that is my weight. I'm the person that gets phone calls from other locations on how to do things. I work at a level three pay grades above my current level but can't get promoted to that level. I'm married and my husband is a normal weight vegan, so, that whole relationship sucks too. Everyone assumes that I'm lazy. I had a well-meaning friend invite me to go walking with her, a one mile loop. Seriously? I walk 5 miles everyday.

Will my life suck less after bypass? I've mostly given up alcohol, but, weight loss surgery will have to be a secret from my local relatives. I will have to occasionally be able to drink a little alcohol. I will have to be able to drink a little coffee. I want to be able to eat fruit and vegetables. I just don't want to make my life worse than it already is. I'm lucky, never really had a binge disorder or anything like that.

In a few months, I can have virtually any fruit except ones with membranes (citrus). Proteins should always come first, but if you still have room for fruits, you can have them. I can also have virtually all veggies except broccoli stalks, potatoes, celery, and asparagus stalks. Again, if there's room. People are always eating salads with chicken/salmon, etc, making smoothies. There's a billion recipes that incorporate all sorts of veggies in with things. Lots of really good bariatric cookbooks.

I don't drink coffee, but was told at 1 month, 1 cup a day is fine. I'm sure people farther out have more... it's really just a concern at first due to dehydration from caffeine.

I am 6 weeks from surgery and I can't comment on "is my life better" because I'm not "there" yet. Life doesn't suck. I don't want nearly anything I did pre-op. I feel like I could live on proteins alone forever. I stopped cravings carbs. I don't want fruits like I used to enjoy.

I didn't have any typical comorbidities either when I had surgery except pseudotumor. I lost a lot of weight on my own, too, but gained it all back. With this, unless you really mess up, you won't gain it back like rebound with dieting. I ate total crap (and healthy stuff) before surgery and my labs are normal, too. Not even fatty liver. They do say never drink alcohol because you don't absorb it the same way and get very drunk very fast, but some people on here can manage a drink every so often. The risk of alcoholism is much higher.

Edited December 14, 2018 by mousecat88

[ummyasmin 1,603]

Oh, and I'm on Decaf but I allow myself one real coffee a day.

Sent from my SM-G930F using BariatricPal mobile app

[FancyChristine15 810]

I couldn't have coffee right away after surgery, but now I drink a cold brew coffee everyday. I also eat fruits and veggies; no where near what you eat now, because my smaller belly won't allow it, but I do eat them. I also drink alcohol occasionally, again, not much and not right away, but I can. I haven't really had to give up much after having the sleeve. If I want a piece of chocolate, for instance, I have it, but just a small amount, and I'm sure to track it. It's all about moderation, and the sleeve helps with that.

[Danny Paul 761]

7 hours ago, jenniferinfl said:

I love fruit and vegetables.

7 hours ago, jenniferinfl said:

Will I still be able to drink coffee after bypass?

7 hours ago, jenniferinfl said:

Will my life suck less after bypass?

1- fruit. I'm out 16 months from surgery and started to incorporate fruits back into my diet. My mistake was doing it via smoothies. This lead to a six pound gain in a week and a half. I stopped the smoothies and lost the weight. Eat the fruit whole, smoothies incorporate a large amount of fruit that I wouldn't have eaten if I ate them whole.

2- Coffee- I started coffee at six months. Be careful as coffee is a diuretic and will cause you urinate thus losing the liquids you need to be healthier.

3- Life after WLS- It's a good life but not utopia. You'll revel at the rapid weight loss and then you'll realize that you will need to work to keep it off. It does not stay off all by itself you will need to have a plan of action in order to keep the weight off. A simple act like drinking fruit smoothies gave a weight gain so , you see it's a thing that you will need to keep an eye on.

If you're healthy now just think how healthy you'll be after the weight is lost. Good luck and I wish you and everyone on these boards the best.

[jenniferinfl 3]

Thank you all for the information. I had seen some sites say no coffee ever, no alcohol ever and no fruit/ few veggies. That was really holding me back from wanting to do weight loss surgery.

Went out and picked up a nutri ninja this evening. Used to do kale/spinach smoothies regularly, but, blender broke and I never replaced it. Might be good to be in the habit of using it since it looks like the first several weeks are very limited from a textural point of view.

Still haven't decided if I'm doing it after this tax return or waiting for next year's tax return.

[DanceSmartly 20]

Hey Jenniferinfl,

I am nearly 4 years out from WLS, have been successfully maintaining my weight loss, and I enjoy all fruits and vegetables. Although I've also seen many references to the low-carb post-surgery diets that you're talking about and have no doubt they work for some people, I'm not one of them. I eat all the fruits and veggies I want; my bargain with the carb deities is that I don't eat white sugar or white flour.

I eat a cup of fresh berries or grapes or pineapple for Breakfast every day, plus one large apple or banana for my afternoon snack. I definitely struggled with both apples and bananas during the first year after WLS, and I still find both very filling. At this point, I eat pretty much just fresh and whole fruits, but you will probably find that canned and pureed fruits or smoothies are much kinder to a new sleeve (though managing simultaneous sugar intake can be challenging) . I don't remember berries being overly difficult, so those might work for you.

I eat at least two servings of cooked veggies with lunch and another two servings of cooked veggies with supper. I still find potatoes, corn and broccoli extremely filling; I can eat maybe 3 baby potatoes or 1/6 of a medium-sized baked potato or 1/4 cup corn or 4 broccoli florets as part of a meal. As you've noted, most bariatric diets recommend steering clear of starchy veggies after surgery anyway; the good news is that won't be too difficult if your sleeve is anything like mine! I have no trouble eating 2 servings of other cooked veggies (including stalky ones like asparagus) as part of a meal.

Raw veggies are a bit of a different story. I couldn't eat raw cauliflower or broccoli florets or raw carrot sticks at all for a LOOOOOO-NG time. Now I can manage a floret or stick or two, maybe a bit more if I really spread them out. On the other hand, raw salad vegetables (lettuce, kale, cucumber, celery, sweet peppers, tomatoes, avocados, green onions, etc) are no problem. I can eat a full plate of salad (actually, salad is the only full plate of food I can eat even at my stage). Unfortunately, salad was also difficult for me in the first 6 months post-WLS; I just gave up on raw veggies altogether for quite a while.

I never drank coffee or alcohol, so am no help to you there.