MOST EFFECTIVE LONGTERM POST WLS DIET - Ketogenic vs "Freestylin'"
As a diverse and worldwide group with bariatric surgery in common ( and different types of that surgery as well) I'm very interested to hear what your experience dictates is as the best longterm plan of eating for you.
I was very surprised when i read the recently published list of Weigh****chers 200 "free" foods ( presumably they're allowed in uncontrolled amounts because they're non-fattening) that I basically eat 95% of my food off this list.
Perhaps this is why I get away with snacking and not counting calories and ( shamefully) rarely exercising , even drinking alcohol without it ( thank God ) showing up on my waistline.
Others here i know eat meat and fatty protein centered diets - "Paleo" or " ketogenic" .. I wonder if the calorie restriction is removed long term. - do you gain weight? How is your organ health as these diets are reputed to be very hard on the kidneys, pancreas, appendix, and even liver , especially followed as a permanent food plan not as a weight loss diet.
I personally suspect that ANY calorie restricted diet works as the body will utilize whatever form of limited calories its given if its starving... but as soon as calories are increased to normal maintenance levels I suspect the high fat diets lead to rapid regain due to our bodies having empty fat cells they want to refill.
Please prove me wrong if your personal experience says otherwise .
I will point out that our surgeons almost always recommend a very low-fat and high fiber diet post op and also admit that even preop I lived on a largely low-fat diet .. but with high fat and fast food binging.
How close are you t o what you consider your ideal weight ? Do you have to exercise to stay there ? Do you feel free from "food pressure" or would you eat more if you could ? Have you had health problems since surgery like RH or appendicitis ? Thanks for your replies!
I like these questions, because I've been thinking a lot about my diet lately. I am 53 lbs from my goal weight (and I think back to 6 or 7 months maybe more ago about someone telling me it was unrealistic for me to ever get there. Ha!) and I would say my diet is pretty.. free. That doesn't mean that I eat whatever I want, it sort of means that I don't worry over it like I did at first. My calories are still pretty low, about 700-800, but I'm not in a keto diet like I was at first and I don't exercise outside of my work which is very physical. Of course, I don't snack on high carb junk foods, but I don't keep carbs cut out of my life and I actually feel better with more added in. Personally, I don't pay attention to fat content, but I do find myself naturally gravitated towards lower fat alternatives and maybe that's from all the years where I thought that was what I needed. Also though, other than a few very select items, I prefer the taste of lighter fat foods because I'm used to them. Yogurts are an exception, I like fuller fat plain yogurts. My diet seems to be low calorie, somewhat low carb, and moderate to low fat and I am losing pretty effortlessly still at just over a year out.
I would be really interested how people 5+ years out eat to maintain at their goal weight. Hopefully you get lots of answers! I'm not even a year out yet, but I have my own list of "free foods" that I can snack from. I'm happy to share it if anyone is interested. I don't weigh portions, count calories, count carbs or exercise. I do consistently make low or very low carb choices and I eat a lot of fat. I fast at least 16 hours every day. I weigh myself every day and cut back if I'm getting to the top of my range. So far so good but I'm ready to change my habits and food choices the second I have to in order to maintain at goal.
I was told that my veggie and fiber centric extremely low fat to almost fat free diet would be perfect post op- with some portion control. My bariatric groups' nutritionist approves a max of one tablespoon fat a day and that is used up almost instantly eating a ready made sandwich , avocado on anything ,a commercial soup or by even using a tiny amount of any low-fat salad dressing.
Basically I find that to follow my surgeons recommendations I MUST cook fat free at home.
I was told that my veggie and fiber centric extremely low fat to almost fat free diet would be perfect post op- with some portion control. My bariatric groups' nutritionist approves a max of one tablespoon fat a day and that is used up almost instantly eating a ready made sandwich , avocado on anything ,a commercial soup or by even using a tiny amount of any low-fat salad dressing.
Basically I find that to follow my surgeons recommendations I MUST cook fat free at home.
my surgeon recommends high protein, high fat and very low carbs.
I lost 122# and have maintained the loss for 8 years with NO exercise and all my organs are in fine shape.
