Sorry to butt in, but...
...I would like to share this month's rant from Susan Maria. I think we all need to read it. I can honestly say that while I may not be so good with the food sometimes (but I think I am most times 
, I take my vitamins RELIGIOUSLY, and I make sure my protein intake is AT LEAST 80-100 grams a day. Take your vitamins, please. And don't forget: Protein is KEY for us. Not enough protein=muscle mass loss. If nothing else, think about this: The HEART is a muscle. Does that give you a good perspective of what can happen if you neglect your protein intake? I sure hope so!
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http://store.bariatriceating.com/thismonthsrant.html
I just had the privilege of spending a week attending the American Society for Bariatric Surgery annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Engaging in casual conversation with the top surgeons in this field, discussing vitamins, protein, calcium, and compliance issues was an opportunity that I won't soon forget. I was as excited to meet some of the 'famous' surgeons as I would be if Mick Jagger stepped up to my pink and black BariatricEating.com booth.
Now... why this is a rant!
These surgeons cannot fathom that after they save our lives that we have the audacity to be picky about nutrition! The way many of them see it is that we are NOT living up to our part of the deal. They perform life altering surgery to save us from a certain early death from morbid obesity, their office staff does battle with our insurance company to pony up tens of thousands of dollars to pay for our surgery as it is surely the only means by which we will survive, yet we are lackadaisical about putting a small pile of vitamins and minerals into our body every day, and are boldly noncompliant with protein requirements.
The docs are even more incredulous about our pickiness with protein. When I would give them a taste of Vanilla Very Berry or Fuzzy Navel, their eyes would have a twinkle and they would love the taste but they would question as to why this was even an issue. It is cut and dry with the surgeons; they think it is a given that we do what we are supposed to do. These are no-nonsense men and women; when something is broken, they fix it. Some of them could not believe the letters and stories I related to them and had no idea that noncompliance was so widespread.
Here is a message from your surgeon...
Pick up the protein drink, the calcium, and the multivitamins and take them. There is no negotiating, there is no looking for a compromise, and there are no valid complaints about graininess, taste, or smell. Pick up the glass and drink the protein. Chew the tablets. Swallow that mouthful of calcium or vitamins. Period. We saved your life on that operating table, now do what you are supposed to do to maintain the health we have worked to give back to you.
Fortunately there are drinks that taste good but as I have said before; if in order to be sitting here in size 10 jeans I had to drink a glass of toile****er every morning, I would gladly do it. In fact, if I had to drink a glass of water from my neighbor's toilet every day I would do it. Why is this so difficult to comprehend for some of you? Do you take the label morbid obesity so lightly that you don't think you have to perform certain tasks, that you have a responsibility as a post op. Look up the meaning of MORBID. That should be enough to scare you. Why would anyone not do what they were told when given a new lease of life with so few strings attached?
I used to think that making pre-ops jump through hoops for weight loss to qualify for surgery was cruel but I have changed my mind after a year of speaking to thousands of pre and post ops. With so many people facing insurance rejection, how can we make sure that the ones who will not hold up the end of the bargain are put at the end of the line for approval? I think that strict compliance goals are a great way to weed out the disobedient. If you can't lose 10% of your body weight before surgery, you don't deserve to have it. If you can't stop smoking, you don't deserve this procedure. If you can't manage to choke down vitamins, calcium, B-12 and protein; too bad, let someone have the surgery that will. We all can mange to stick to a program short term. We are all experts at losing weight. We just can't keep it off; which is where the surgery comes in. It gives us the means of control we lack.
As you can tell, this is NOT the week to write me an email and tell me that you cant 'tolerate' the taste of your protein, or that you cant 'tolerate' your chewables or your stomach feels 'icky' when you drink your protein. I have little lenience for weakness and whining. It will take a long time before I allow much room for the helplessness that I so often hear. I can't stand the word 'tolerate'... it is pure baloney. About 3 years ago I read a 'tough love' essay by an OH member named Leilani, and one line in particular resonates in my head; 'If this surgery doesn't slap a backbone in you, nothing will', as it is so true!
Just do what you are supposed to do. Figure it out and make it happen. Thank goodness we have products that make it easier to stick with the program but the bottom line is that it shouldn't even matter.
Ciao,
Susan Maria
-----
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie
, I take my vitamins RELIGIOUSLY, and I make sure my protein intake is AT LEAST 80-100 grams a day. Take your vitamins, please. And don't forget: Protein is KEY for us. Not enough protein=muscle mass loss. If nothing else, think about this: The HEART is a muscle. Does that give you a good perspective of what can happen if you neglect your protein intake? I sure hope so!
-----
http://store.bariatriceating.com/thismonthsrant.html
I just had the privilege of spending a week attending the American Society for Bariatric Surgery annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Engaging in casual conversation with the top surgeons in this field, discussing vitamins, protein, calcium, and compliance issues was an opportunity that I won't soon forget. I was as excited to meet some of the 'famous' surgeons as I would be if Mick Jagger stepped up to my pink and black BariatricEating.com booth.
Now... why this is a rant!
These surgeons cannot fathom that after they save our lives that we have the audacity to be picky about nutrition! The way many of them see it is that we are NOT living up to our part of the deal. They perform life altering surgery to save us from a certain early death from morbid obesity, their office staff does battle with our insurance company to pony up tens of thousands of dollars to pay for our surgery as it is surely the only means by which we will survive, yet we are lackadaisical about putting a small pile of vitamins and minerals into our body every day, and are boldly noncompliant with protein requirements.
The docs are even more incredulous about our pickiness with protein. When I would give them a taste of Vanilla Very Berry or Fuzzy Navel, their eyes would have a twinkle and they would love the taste but they would question as to why this was even an issue. It is cut and dry with the surgeons; they think it is a given that we do what we are supposed to do. These are no-nonsense men and women; when something is broken, they fix it. Some of them could not believe the letters and stories I related to them and had no idea that noncompliance was so widespread.
Here is a message from your surgeon...
Pick up the protein drink, the calcium, and the multivitamins and take them. There is no negotiating, there is no looking for a compromise, and there are no valid complaints about graininess, taste, or smell. Pick up the glass and drink the protein. Chew the tablets. Swallow that mouthful of calcium or vitamins. Period. We saved your life on that operating table, now do what you are supposed to do to maintain the health we have worked to give back to you.
Fortunately there are drinks that taste good but as I have said before; if in order to be sitting here in size 10 jeans I had to drink a glass of toile****er every morning, I would gladly do it. In fact, if I had to drink a glass of water from my neighbor's toilet every day I would do it. Why is this so difficult to comprehend for some of you? Do you take the label morbid obesity so lightly that you don't think you have to perform certain tasks, that you have a responsibility as a post op. Look up the meaning of MORBID. That should be enough to scare you. Why would anyone not do what they were told when given a new lease of life with so few strings attached?
I used to think that making pre-ops jump through hoops for weight loss to qualify for surgery was cruel but I have changed my mind after a year of speaking to thousands of pre and post ops. With so many people facing insurance rejection, how can we make sure that the ones who will not hold up the end of the bargain are put at the end of the line for approval? I think that strict compliance goals are a great way to weed out the disobedient. If you can't lose 10% of your body weight before surgery, you don't deserve to have it. If you can't stop smoking, you don't deserve this procedure. If you can't manage to choke down vitamins, calcium, B-12 and protein; too bad, let someone have the surgery that will. We all can mange to stick to a program short term. We are all experts at losing weight. We just can't keep it off; which is where the surgery comes in. It gives us the means of control we lack.
As you can tell, this is NOT the week to write me an email and tell me that you cant 'tolerate' the taste of your protein, or that you cant 'tolerate' your chewables or your stomach feels 'icky' when you drink your protein. I have little lenience for weakness and whining. It will take a long time before I allow much room for the helplessness that I so often hear. I can't stand the word 'tolerate'... it is pure baloney. About 3 years ago I read a 'tough love' essay by an OH member named Leilani, and one line in particular resonates in my head; 'If this surgery doesn't slap a backbone in you, nothing will', as it is so true!
Just do what you are supposed to do. Figure it out and make it happen. Thank goodness we have products that make it easier to stick with the program but the bottom line is that it shouldn't even matter.
Ciao,
Susan Maria
-----
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie 
Thank YOU both for getting the reason for my posting it I agree. I know I appreciate reading this kind of stuff to refocus here and again! 
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie
I agree. I know I appreciate reading this kind of stuff to refocus here and again!
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie 
Boy, if anyone needed to hear that, that would be me. I have been sloppy with my vitamins, not getting enough protein and surely not drinking enough water. Thank goodness, I have been working out so I have not gained, but I love my size 8 jeans and I want to continue to wear them for years to come. So vitamins, protein, water and exercise will be on my list religiously, I SWEAR !!!!
Judy
8-20-04
250/157
Size 22 to Size 8
Looking great and feeling fine........
I just looked at your profile to check out your new photos and I have one word:
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!
Looking great Judy!
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie 
You know, half the time I love Susan Maria and half the time she makes me just grumble at the bluntness that she shows.
While I definitely agree with her sentiment, and it is very true that we MUST do certain things post op, everyone is not the same. Everyone has a different mentality, emotions, mental blocks. Everyone deals with things differently. And saying that drinking your neighbor's toile****er in order to be a size 10...that's obvious exaggeration.
Yes, we should be very, very happy that we were able to get the surgery, and even more happy that the market for protein has taken such a lovely turn as to try and actually ACCOMODATE the many different palates of the millions of people who have had surgery. And while some surgeons may not understand why a protein shake that we can't even drink more than 5 sips of before we are full is bothersome, other surgeons do understand. They know that life change is NOT just about the body, it is also solidly rooted in the mind. Tough Love doesn't work for everyone.
I will admit that hearing a story about someone whose calcium levels were so low that their body was leeching calcium from their bones, at only 1 year post op, is definitely enough to make me double check my vitamin schedule and make sure I didn't miss any calcium. And I take the Vista Vitamins from Susan's website, because normal vitamins stop me up like nobody's business, to the point of tearing my insides up when I need to go to the bathroom.
Perhaps it is an American thing and a sense of entitlement, I do not know. The whole "pursuit of happiness" thing. If you are just as miserable after the surgery because of the fact that you cannot find a protein drink that 1) you cannot drink enough of; or 2) that doesn't make you throw up constantly, you are defeating the goal. Fortunately there are people out there who see this market as a place to exercise variety.
Just because a surgeon says "I don't understand why you care what it tastes like!," doesn't mean that surgeon has ever tasted these drinks, day after day, with a reduced stomach that can only handle certain things. IMO, walk in my shoes before you start saying that it's shouldn't be an issue. And most surgeons haven't walked in these shoes. They may see the facts, they may see what they have done for us, but it is, to me, a great deal of arrogance on their part for them to say that we should be willing to drink anything and everything in order to do exactly what they say - regardless of the fact that so many say something entirely different.
That's my opposite rant.
~Stacy
~Stacy Thank you for your opposite rant... I posted the complete rant, but what I reaaaallly wanted to get across was to just make sure you get all your VITAMINS and PROTEIN, please! As I was saying somewhere else... I didn't read it so much as arrogance on the part of the surgeons, but more worrying/caring about us following up the surgery properly. It seems to me that Susan Maria may have met one too many people who BY CHOICE are simply refusing to do the right thing (I know a couple myself... so frustrating! 
)
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie
I posted the complete rant, but what I reaaaallly wanted to get across was to just make sure you get all your VITAMINS and PROTEIN, please! As I was saying somewhere else... I didn't read it so much as arrogance on the part of the surgeons, but more worrying/caring about us following up the surgery properly. It seems to me that Susan Maria may have met one too many people who BY CHOICE are simply refusing to do the right thing (I know a couple myself... so frustrating! )
Angie
http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie Most Active
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