Did your WLS teach

 As many of you have indicated everyone is different.  I can only imagine how difficult it must be at times wondering if one food or another is going to sabotage your efforts.  I have great empathy for those that struggle  with addictions.  I dont really know if my waist line is the result of an addiction or if I am just damn lazy.  I do know when I have a waist that pushed me into the obese category being lazy is often a matter of survival which makes me think is it really being lazy.  I remember my military days and being able to run, work and play all night.  Now I am just too damn tired. Sometimes it feels like I failed at the simplest of tasks staying thin.  Why can one guy hit the buffet line six times and look healthy, man I envy those guys.  I know its not good to covet other things people have but surely coveting someone elses waist is not as serious an infraction.  How hard can it be to just not want something to eat.  Most of the day I wouldn't know I could eat chocolate all day.  I hate that.  Why was I not one of those people that says "I forgot to eat lunch I just wasnt hungry"  What the hell is that all about.  Regardless I am supposed to be trying to lose some weight before surgery.  I must have an internal 60 day clock.  I lose weight really well for 60 days then I gain weight equally well for 60 days.  Honestly my health scares me and I just want to not sweat getting dressed, ond being able to get into a movie seat without a shoe horn would be nice.  I suppose there in lies one of those compromises, I would have to forgo the tub of popcorn and giganitic soda.  I would like to think being thin is much easier than being fat but both seem to carry with it an enormous amount of work.  I would enjoy not sweating while I eat that would be nice so I guess I will opt for skinny.  I have given fat a try for 15 years of my adult  life and it certainly is not getting any easier.  Thank you again for all of your insight and sharing your personal struggles and accomplishments.

One of the things I LOVE about my DS is that I'm no longer afraid of food, nor do I feel any guilt about eating and enjoying it.

Pre-op, I was ALWAYS hungry. Even when stuffed, something in me wanted ONE.MORE.BITE. Since my DS 8 years ago, I have what I think of as 'normal' hunger---like normal people, I get hungry 3-4 times a day, I eat a normal portion, and I'm full and satisfied.

Choose your surgery VERY CAREFULLY. Be sure to read posts by people who are 3+ years post-op (if you can still FIND any here, that is) and from people living with each surgery type. Read the Revision board as well.

 well said!     ( Jen, 10 years out )

 i am careful of what i eat since my surgery (rny) almost 2 years ago.  Note these are MY choices and I made them from my experiances and my own thoughts.... others can eat things i can't and i can eat things others can't.  You will find what is right for you.

I can have a bite or two of chocolate cake.... not more....  i never drank alcohol before surgery and i dont touch it now....  i per dr's say so can have ONE good piece of chocolate... he says make it a dove or something good... not cheap choclate... i know i can have it so  most days i don't bother.  If i do have sweets i need to have already had my protien or i will get sick.... just my body telling me to be good.  I don't drink soda now... my dr said not to and i don't.  i don't miss it so i am good.  

My dr's guidelines state no drinking one hour after last bite.... i am super strict about that one.  other dr's have other timetables and you have to choose for yourself.  
I wouldn't trade what i have been through for the world... i know my body better now and i know i need to listen to it.  

take care and i hope you find what is best for you!

My bariatric surgery center taught us a lot about nutrition, vitamin supplementation, etc. before surgery.  We had a couple of sessions with a nutritionist, and the follow-up support sessions often have nutritional information.  Part of this teaching mentions that some gastric bypass patients become very sensitive to refined carbohydrates and have dumping syndrome and reactive hypoglycemia.  I probably should have listened to this a bit more attentively, as I had some episodes of hypoglycemia before I had WLS.  Now I cannot eat any refined carbs without getting very sick.  No pasta, no bread, no cookies, no crackers, no rice, and I've also had to eliminate some fruits.  Half a banana will have me writhing in pain for hours.  I can manage half an apple, a half cup of unsweetened berries, etc.  Well-cooked veggies seem to be okay.  I have trouble with raw veggies.  Having been a chronic dieter before surgery, I know a lot about nutrition, so I know what I can and should eat, and it would be wonderful if it were human nature to walk the straight and narrow, but it's not always the case.  I have medication I have to take each time I eat (acarbose) and I've been given phentermine (which is essentially speed) to rev-up my metabolism which has become virtually non-existent.  My surgeon says that out of the thousands of surgeries my center has done, there is a handful of people like me who have severe problems. We're all now the patients of the research hospitals endocrinology center.  

Just be aware it can happen.  As I tell the endo - I feel pretty stupid having to see the doctor because I have a condition that makes it wise for me to eat only healthy food, but there it is.  If we could learn to do this without surgery, it would be great.  Some of us are constantly punished by our own physiology for eating the wrong thing, but we still don't learn all that well.

Linda,

I'm curious and being nosy so I hope you dont mind :o)

Does it bother you at times there is so many foods you cant eat because of your surgery ?  I was looking at your list there and not to be able to eat fruit, or raw veggies that would bother me let alone all the other things you cant eat.

Granted when we have WLS  or if you dont have surgery and trying to lose weight  we have to watch the pasta, the cookies, and the bread  but to never have them again or y ou take a bite of them foods you get very sick  I dont think I could live like that .

The weight loss would be very nice but I would think after sometime a couple yrs or more then it would start to bother you that you cant sit down and have a cookie or even a piece of fruit that is healthy .

If you had known before the surgery you would have to give up so many foods the rest of your life would you have done this surgery again or another one ?

Thanks for answering Im just really curious and always asking questions lol

 No problem.  I still get cravings for things I shouldn't have and, yes, sometimes I still eat a treat and then get sick.  I seems to be happening less frequently though -- I'm learning slowly, unlike Pavlov's dogs!  I cannot eat ice cream.  I had a really stressful day (bitten by the cat, swollen, infected hand, standing at the pharmacy counter with a prescription for antibiotics) and I decided I really needed some ice cream.  I went to the frozen food aisle and as soon as I stood in front of that ice cream case, my stomach flipped over and threatened to kill me if I even opened the door.  I gave it a miss.  A lot of times I feel like eating is a chore I must accomplish.  Yes, I get hungry.  Yes, sometimes I want to overeat, but I suffer if I do.

I guess the odd thing is, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Food shouldn't be the focus of our lives.  I'm sort of glad I have this almost loathing of food now.  There are some things I still enjoy.  I forgot to say I can manage a salad -- just no big pieces of raw veggies.  Soup is my friend.  I enjoy my freedom of movement now.  No restrictions because my own body is in my way.  My clothes fit.  I can walk long distances.  I can climb stairs without feeling like I'm going to have a major coronary.  Oh yea, I'd do it again.  Knowing what I know now, I'd probably have gone for a VSG instead.  Bypassing the duodenum is not a really good idea.

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