Have a question for 1 year+ out people

I've heard from various sources that after a year to 18 months, you can eat pretty much anything in moderation.  Is this true?  Don't you dump off those foods as you did earlier on?     

I can eat what ever with the exception of sugar. It’ll still send me running to the toilet with explosive diarrhea. Is it a problem?  Nope.  I don’t eat sugar. I’ve lost my “taste for sweets.” It’s easy to do when Ice Cream holds the same appeal As a steaming Bowl of Ex-Lax. Bread fills me up really quick and gives me gas. A problem? Nope.  I hardly have any. But ribs? Steak? Fried stuff? I have no problems at all.

[Your Mileage May Vary}

 

Best Wishes- Dx

 

bman...dont know about others, but my advice is to not think about what you may or may not be able to do and what you should be doing instead.  I am almost 18 months out, and still stick to the protein first, no sugar, no bread, no pasta, blah, blah, blah rule of thumb and I couldnt be happier.  You get used to it after awhile.  My diet generally consists of beef, chicken, seafood, cheese, eggs, milk, protein shakes, sugar free pops, peanut butter, nuts, a little salad here and there and lots of exercise.  And dont forget the liquids, lots of water.  I lost 250 pounds in 12 months and maintain an average weight in the low to mid 180's.  I'm 42 and feel like I'm 20 again.  I went from a 58 waist to a 32, and a 4X shirt to a medium (and thats for a fitted dress shirt).  I've heard of so many people failing on this journey because they dont change their ways of thinking about eating while on their "honeymoon" period, i.e. the period in which it is almost impossible to not gain weight unless you doing something seriously wrong, generally up to the first 12 to 18 months post-op.  Dont be a failure buddy, stay on the right path and good luck. John

2 1/2 years out....I eat everything without problem, but sugar.and lactos...I dump Russ

I can eat almost anything in moderation, as you say. The amount of "moderation" depends on texture, sweetness, fat content, etc....  with rare steak, moderation means one small bite or two. The good thing is that I can easily avoid chucking now, as I have learned when "enough is enough" - something that I never had an inkling of, pre-surgery

I don't qualify for the heading, since I'm only six months out, but... If your concern is "I'll never enjoy eating again because I'll only be drinking protein shakes and eating an ounce of mashed potatoes, which I'll barely be able to keep down" then I say don't worry.  I enjoy food a lot right now, and there is no food I deny myself for "fear of pain" reasons.  I do deny (or limit) myself some foods because I want to succeed, and I find it much easier than in previous diets because (1) I can get satisfied on moderation and good choices, unlike before and (2) I can see that moderate self-control will have lasting results, whereas before I felt like there was no point denying myself when I would fail eventually anyway. So seafood, steak, BBQ, hamburgers, chicken, cheeses, fresh fruits, and tons of other foods all make it into my diet regularly.  While some of these have high fat and are considered "high calorie," the common denominator for most things I eat is they provide a good amount of protein and leave me lastingly full on a relatively modest amount (less than 500 calories worth per meal, almost invariably). I've only dumped twice, once on a full slice of cheesecake and once on 4 ounces of doritos on an empty stomach.  I've had a few other incidents where too many carbs made me a bit sleepy, but not sick.   I haven't tested it since in terms of volume, but I will have a piece of candy, a tiny piece of birthday cake, a few tortilla chips with my burrito.  And I still eat simple white carbs, but never much of them.  I often tear away much of the bread on a burger or hotdog.  I don't eat pasta pretty much at all, which I would have found unimaginable before surgery.  Why?  Well, I now realize I associated pasta with volume, and I can't do volume anymore.  When I cant have much volume, I prefer to limit the pasta and focus on foods with richer flavor.  The pasta was just a filler for volume, so I can have the sauce on chicken or veal instead.  Eating less carbs gives me more room for protein and leaves me satisfied longer.  (But I still eat about as many carbs as protein grams per day.) The "in moderation" part of your sentence is key.  It's important to learn moderation early on, because big bowls of pasta or ice cream are what made us fat in the first place.  You may or may not be able to do that after a year or two, but it's important to get away from that thinking before you get there.

I've never dumped but I didn't eat  any crappy food the first year after WLS. After year 1, I opened "Pandora's box" so to speak and started trying any and all foods. Obviously, I limited the volume of crappy foods high in sugar and/or fat in my experiment. No dumping which is kind of cool but at the same time, kind of scary. Since then, I have occasionally pigged down some pretty nasty, high sugar/fat food but have never dumped. I did (and still do) vomit when I eat food too quickly without chewing it up properly. Pork is a real problem and it sends off to pukeville no matter how well I chew it. High sugar/fat foods give me gas and/or squirts. Splenda does the same.   Great question.  

Boner - I'm hijacking the thread! Go Rockies!!  Woo-hoo!  Now that my Cardinals are eliminated and started vacation early I've got my Rockies hat on and cheering them on! Take care my friend! CF

Hey, hey CF!!  Great to hear from you. Yepper, me and Parrothead are hoping for a Cubbies/RockHeads NL pennant series. Long shot but would be cool.  Thanks for the RockHead karma -- we need it. The game's just starting so off I go.  Later gator, Terry

For RNY patients, I think after the weight loss, one of the reasons we try to keep the protein first is because of malabsorbtion.  I personally try and get my protein and healthy stuff in.  If I start eating junk, not only will I start gaining the weight back, but also I would start to lose muscle mass.  It is nice being normal shape.  But to not have muscle structure would look real bad and not be healthy.  So yes I will get in all my good and important stuff during the day, but I will also enjoy some of life's delights.  Brian