Cereal & Oatmeal

Many doctors are great at the cutting aspect of WLS, less so the nutritional aspect of it.

Most medical programs did not even require nutrition when they were in it 10, 20, 30 years ago.  Currently they are starting to add it in.  When I was in medical school it was not even an option, but that was decades ago, and I never remained after I moved to get married.

Also, most conventional nutrition advice is outdated and based on lobbying interests who helped write the laws and guidelines many years ago. There is a huge push to change this, but change takes time.  Some surgeries, such as the DS, have most patients needing to do their own research.  They have very specific requirements that no one ever gets right in official channels.  A DS patient that doesn't go against conventional advice would get severely malnourished.

As for moderation, it depends.  For food addicts, moderation does not necessarily work any more than it would with any other addict.  For binge eating disorder, same.  If someone has no disordered eating, then, maybe?  It really depends.  If someone is a food addict that advice will never work.  I know because I am a food addict, and because I also see people making many bad choices because of "moderation" daily.  Does it work for some?  Again, absolutely!  However, I would also argue that not everyone is in a place for that to work, especially not a few weeks after surgery.  Post-op has nothing to do with moderation for some time.  It's about focus and getting down to work.

In my case I would rather lose weight fast and care little about food choice.  Food is just wood for the furnace, now.  I don't care about pleasure from it.  I no longer have emotional attachment to it, any more than I do for the coal I use to barbeque.  Other people have other priorities.  I also know I am a food addict, and I refuse to give food that power over me.  What do I lose not eating beans, cereal, etc?  Well, nothing at all, actually.  I gain far more.  Again, we are all different :)

Having said that, efficiency at weight loss greatly depends on our choices.  Biochemistry does not care about our personal food preferences.  If you are talking about distilling down optimum and efficient weight loss during the honeymoon period, carbs make your body work twice as hard to get at the fat, eventually.  That's just how it is.  It's because our body will always use carbs as energy first.  It will always use fat last.  

Obesity is hormonal.  It doesn't just work with calories in, calories out.  Hormones greatly affect weight gain and loss.  It's more complicated than just eating low calorie.  PArt of what WLS does is alter this hormone pathway to our benefit and give us a "reboot."  Eating less is for sure a component, however hormones are too.  The food choice we make alters the hormones to our benefit - or detriment!

As for cereal, again, it comes down to priorities.  Cereal only has vitamins because it's highly processed and fortified.  All the nutritionists I work with say no cereal for post-op.  They will suggest whole grains (beans, quinoa, sweet potato) instead.  While I consider those high carb for me, in truth they are better choices than cereal, because they are highly vitamin and nutrient dense, and the forms of the vitamins and nutrients are more easily digestible.  

Again, there are many paths to weight loss.  If people are asking what the most optimal thing is, though, it isn't necessarily what even I do.  We all have our preferences that cause bias.

My surgeon is not a registered dietician.  So his food advice was not the reason I chose him.  I chose him because he's an awesome surgeon.  

I understand that, which is why I qualified my comment with doctor/program.  My program is a well orchestrated partnership of great surgeons, several great nutritionists, a wonderful psychologist, as well as a myriad of incredibly helpful support staff.  It is also recognized by my insurance (BC/BS) as a Bariatric Center of Distinction, and has a particularly high success rate.  Naturally all of these factors figure into anyone's journey.  One-on-one consultations with a nutritionist, as well as a 2-hour, directly-before-surgery class covering all aspects of the Phases and answering any and all questions was part of my program, in addition to a comprehensive booklet to guide me through.

I have, however, seen from this board that this is obviously not the case for everyone.  I admit to being gobsmacked at what appears to be the gross lack of preparation and information many VSG recipients seem to have been given prior to and after surgery.

As for food addicts, I am one myself, and was a lifelong carb addict.  It took a diabetes diagnoses, combined with knowledge that both my parents died at a young age (67 each) of heart-related issues (I'll be 57 in a month), to scare the carbs right out of me.  

I guess my entire point is that takingarisk3825 knows herself, and if she thinks eating any carbs will put her journey in jeopardy, then so be it.  I still think telling someone carte blanche to ignore their doctor (and/or by extension their nutritionist) is less than responsible.  Just my honest opinion.

I disagree to a certain extent with the characterization of many of these posts as telling her to ignore her doctor/nutritionist. They didn't order her to eat cereal, they told her that she "could." By extension, that means she has the option of choosing not to. I think several of the folks here are of the opinion that choosing not to eat the cereal, even though it is permitted, is a better choice. If her doctor/nutritionist had come to the conclusion that it was dangerous of her not to eat cereal and ordered her to eat it, and people here were telling her to not do it, that would be irresponsible.

I was told I "could" eat lobster and crab on the soft food phase but consciously chose not to, because I don't like eating things that were boiled alive. Does that mean I "ignored" my dietitian? Or just that I considered the option and decided it wasn't right for me?

It wasn't a characterization, I was referring to the posts that literally said "You're doctor is giving you bad advice," or "No no no.  No cereal."

Just to be clear, I AM saying that cereal is a ****ty choice. Nutritionally, you might as well eat a couple Little Debbie snack cakes as a bowl of cereal. And any doctor telling WLS postops to eat cereal is giving out really ****ty advice. It's like telling an alcoholic it's ok to drink beer.

No no no. No cereal.

Thanks for the information. I want to stay away from bad carbs, and I guess this is a learning phase for me. I just wanted breakfast options. I am also scared of having ceareal, and or breads and then that triggering more carbs.

I very often eat oatmeal- both during weight loss phase and after - I also don't really focus on NOT having carbs and never have. During the weight loss phase I think carbs tend to play a smaller role because you are trying to meet protein/calorie goals.  I am also uncomfortable eating pasta/rice etc. because it sits heavy in my stomach.  Oats sit well for me.   I make steel cut oats cooked in unsweetened almond milk and eat about 1/2 cup, sweetened with splenda or truvia.  It is delicious.  Some people are triggered by carbs.  I am not.  You have to do what works best for you. If you think it will be satisfying and not trigger you, go for it. 

My program allows cereal.  When I do eat it for breakfast, I have Kashi Go Lean (11 to 12 grams of protein) 1/2 cup, 1/2 cup low fat Greek yogurt and a few berries or other small amt. of fruit.  The fiber is great.  Steel cut oats I eat too but combine with another food high in protein.