Anyone here follow LCHF diet after VSG?

I am about 30 mos post VSG.  I got completely off track about a year ago, and still have about 80 lbs to lose.  I have found that I just can't seem to get back to under 800 calories daily!  I get way too hungry doing that, and always reach for the wrong foods at that point!  Thinking of trying to do a LCHF diet, where I ca have a few more calories, but much less carbs (under 20 daily).  Has anyone done LCHF (low carb, high fat) after VSG?  Is it safe for our new tummies after sleeve?  Does it work??? I am feeling desperate and hopeless!  Need to get back to it!  

It's absolutely safe.  It's safer than eating too many carbs. :)  Many of the vets here with sleeves have kept their weight off eating low carb.

High serum insulin levels cause inflammation and damages arteries - it's a gross misconception that fat alone causes heart disease. Insulin also triggers fat storage.  When we are on a ketogenic diet, our dominant digestive hormone switches from insulin to glucagon.  Insulin lowers blood sugar, while glucagon raises blood sugar.  It is far better in the long run to stay lower carb in general.  Extra carbohydrate of any sort, whether complex or simple, turns into glucose.  Excess glucose the body does not immediately need gets triggered by insulin to store fat.  

The only problem is that fat has more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrate so you have to be cautious you do not overeat.  The DS peeps eat much higher fat because they malabsorb it, and they can consume more calories in general.  With the VSG we really have to watch our calories more than they do.  While you still mus****ch what you eat with the DS, it is much easier to eat keto.  Having said that, it's not impossible and a lot of us do it!  Avoiding carbs also avoids binging trigger foods.  Most of us didn't eat ten steaks to overeat.  We ate pasta, chips, cookies, donuts, etc.  Or highly palatable processed food that was made of fat/starch-sugar/salt.  

So, for many reasons, I'd argue a low carb/high fat diet works very well as an adjunct to WLS.  It suppresses hunger naturally, and it also eliminates major overeating items, such as carbs.  Look up information on a ketogenic diet if you are curious.  I base mine on whole foods, the only exclusion being protein powder - at least, when I eat how I'm supposed to.  Lately I have struggled with all the stress due to upcoming surgery and crap. I went back into counseling because of this. I find my counselor helps me stay on track.  It is invaluable for me.

I will be 2 months post op of Friday, and I have been eating a low carb, high protein and fat diet since I was cleared week 5. So, far so good. My carbs are generally under 20g daily. I find that if I eat too many carbs now, I feel sluggish. 

It is notionally safe, as are most such trendy diets. Sustainability is the real question, and that is where most such diets fail. In the weight loss world, it seems mostly to be an overreaction to the failure of low fat dieting, and represents the ultimate pendulum swing in that direction (before things ultimately move back toward a more sustainable moderate fat, moderate carbohydrate diet, and then on back to low fat dieting again - lather, rinse, repeat...)

Therapeutically, the primary clinical use for high fat, low carb diets is for non-bariatric gastrectomy patients seeking to minimize their weight loss and ultimately regain from excess weight loss. Whether that is appropriate for your goals is up to you.

Your best shot at getting back on track is to concentrate on lean meats and green vegetables. If you really want to try filling things out with additional fats, you need to be very serious about maintaining your calorie levels because that is where these diets tend to fail (there, and at the transition to maintenance where the dieter typically has had no practice in eating a sustainable weight control diet.)

I think it's safe. I'm not sure if it's sustainable. I think low carb where you try and stay under 40-50 carbs per day is more realistic (long term) than staying under 20-25 that is required by the ketogenic diet. But try it and see what works for you. 

The only thing I can tell you is think really, really hard if you want to go back to another diet. Going very low carb, under 20, only works but so long when you're this far out. I also am 2 plus years out & would find it very hard to keep carbs that low for any long length of time, & 80lbs is a long time to keep up that routine.

I think its good that you want to cut back carbs but I'm not sure replacing it with fat & hence more calories will really help you in the end, cuz at the end of the day its the amount of calories along with the kind of calories that you eat that'll get the weight off & keep it off.

Check the What are you eating threads on the rny platform. It's very active & you'll get an idea of what people are eating as well as see what stage of wls they are in & get some support too.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. 

my surgeon says low carb diets are more effective than low fat.  I keep carbs low at nearly 7 years out with only a 5 lb regain. Low carb is best.    diane s

I didn't look into the diet but gather it's low carb.  I think any diet should be one you plan for yourself though.  Take parts you like from one or another and then make yourself a plan.  My fitness pal will help with your carbs/protein/fat ratio.  A diet normally makes our heads feel like it's a chore and something we might want to change or break on occasion.  However if it's a food plan that your create and state what you want to eat, what you don't want to eat, and what you need to limit and or focus on I think is going to be a solid long term plan for anyone.

Are you sure that 800 calories is enough?  I told my nutritionist that I cannot function on 800 a day with the cardio and weight lifting I do 5-6 days a week.  She agreed, it isn't sustainable.  I don't have any opinions on the LCHF, I try to eat a good carb diet.

LCHF is working great for me at 36 months post op. I had a TOTAL STOP of weight loss about a year ago, followed by regain.

I subscribed to the Diet Doctor website, which is FULL of evidence based research regarding LCHF and the foremost experts giving articles, research, interviews, movies, recipes etc. The founder is Dr Andreas Eenfeldt, a medical doctor. He gives a LOT of compelling evidence to prove the LCFH diet is VERY sustainable AND successful long term.

I would urge anybody that is interested in the Keto lifestyle to look at dietdoctor.com and formulate your own opinion and decision based on actual evidence based research, not just the posts on this forum.

Wishing everybody great luck and health with LCHF!