Hey. I have no criticisms to WHAT you are doing. I just want to tell you that I sympathize with you L5 issue because it happen to me. I herinated L5-S1 and it never got better. The pain was so bad I pretty much lived on oxycodon.

I had an awesome physical therapist that got me walking before and after my surgeries. My back surgeon could not believe I could even stand and walk with the degree of herniation I had.

The PT gave me back exercises (I.e. crunches, bridges, grabbing an exerise ball with my knees and reverse crunching it, swimmers and supermans). I still do them.

and I totally get not being able to do vigorous exercise. Like if walking takes olympic effort, how the hell are you going to run!?!?!?

I hit a stall week after the first week and it lasted 3 1/2 weeks... so it had nothing to do with calories in, I was hardly eating. So I can commiserate. It is not necessarily that you are doing anything wrong... my suggestion would be to only have starches once in awhile in the beginning, not everyday. My doctor's mantra is "Protein first, then veggies and then if you have room some fruit then starches"... So he never says no starches but it should be at the end of the list.

I'm with Chulbert on this one.  I probably would ditch the potatoes, but if you are truly eating around 500 calories a day, the surgery should do the work for you without any exercise at all.  I strongly suggest weighing your food and tracking what you eat in Myfitnesspal.  Every.single.bite.  Be honest with yourself.  After the honeymoon period, it's not as effortless.

Actually... I think you are with me... not Chulbert. He thinks carbs are OK during the weight loss phase.   I guess my 29 years of living with WLS is not accurate.  I guess I learned NOTHING about how the body processes carbs in all that time.  I guess, in all that time, I never did any research or experimentation to find out what WORKS.  While I agree that calories play an important role, if you feed the body carbs, that is what the body will choose to burn first for energy because carbs are the easiest for the body to use.  If you feed it protein and few carbs, the body has no choice but to start burning fat for energy because there are no "easy burning" carbs to go to.  I guess the Mayo Clinic is wrong.

If you can provide an official statement from the Cleveland Clinic that "carbohydrates prevent fat loss because they are burned 'first'" then I will be happy to read it.

I don't know what research you've done.  I don't know your background.  I don't specifically recall ever speaking to you.

Lots of things "work" depending on what you mean by "work" and experience is certainly valuable.  However, learning what works does not necessarily mean learning or knowing why it works any more than being a good driver makes you a mechanic.

There is an element of truth to the claim that the body will burn carbohydrates "first" because it's obvious from biology that carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for the body.  However, this is only true in the short term and once that energy is used it will return to depleting fat stores just like any other food you eat.  People who think "carbs get burned first" act like protein and fat are exempt from the process.  The rock-bottom line is that at the end of the day, week after week, all energy (calories) you consume in excess will get stored as fat and what you expend in excess of what you eat will be pulled from fat.  The exact order of events from one hour to the next is largely irrelevant.

If you can provide an official statement from the Mayo Clinic that "carbohydrates prevent fat loss because they are burned 'first'" then I will be happy to read it.

Rocky513 are you seriously being defensive and nasty?  I just gave my opinion.  I have no idea what your background is or your experience.  I ALWAYS always seem to agree with Chulbert.  He's all facts no opinions.  I would personally not eat a lot of fruit or potatoes early out (probably not until I met my goal), so I do agree with you, sorry I didn't give you "credit."  However, if she's only REALLY eating 500 calories and isn't losing, she had better take an honest look at every bite going in her mouth or consult a bariatric nutritionist, because her numbers are not adding up.  Bottom line, if you are eating 500 calories a day - you will lose weight.

My goal was not to get nasty with you, nor do I "need credit" for anything.  I just thought that you were agreeing with me since I told her to ditch the potatoes and Chulbert told her they were fine.  Your first sentence said to skip the potatoes, so I assumed you had mixed up our posts.  I probably should not have posted it to your comment and should have posted on the OP's or to Chulbert, who seems to know more than ANYONE about carbs.  My apologies.

Lol! 😀