Can someone please tell me what to eat?

I had a VBG 20 years ago.  I can't begin to remember what I was told to eat, or how much, or when.  I only know that it never worked.  I never lost much weight, and in fact have gained weight above and beyond what I weighed when I had the surgery.  I've tried every diet that I can find, and I can't eat all the food they tell me to eat.  I feel hungry even when my stomach is so full that nothing more will go in.  And, yes, I still have the small stomach the surgery gave me -- perhaps it's even smaller now.  

Jami

Have you been to your surgeon lately? Have you thought about revision? Best of luck.

Thanks.  I  will not consider a revision or further surgery!  I've become quite turned off on WLS in general, after my own experience and taking care of people who have had much worse problems than I had.  But that's not why I'm here.

The sutgeon who originally operated on me has long since retired.  I've been to more doctors than I can count.  All they tell me is that I need to see a dietitan.  Dietitians tell me I need to see a doctor.  WWhen I  did go back to the teaching hospital where I had my original surgery, all they could tell me was that I probably wasn't a good candidate in the first place.  

Do you track your foods?  How many calories are you eating in a day?  How many grams of protein, sugar, fat, carbs are you eating?  Do you drink enough liquids in a day?  Do you take your vitamins?  Do you eat a lot of prepackaged food or cook from scratch so you can ensure you are eating clean? Do you exercise?  Once you have completed a journal with this information, you should insist on seeing a nut. or dietician so they can make any recommendations.  Without knowing these facts no one is going to be able to help you; you are self sabotaging yourself by not keeping track of these vital pieces of information.

Then get your bloodwork done so you will have a current picture of your health as well.  THEN you will have the information needed to show to a nut., dietician or doctor to help you get back on goal.

Good luck; the first steps are your own.

Thanks for replying.  I really do take to heart everything you say, even if it might not sound like it at times.

I have kept a journal so many times in the last 20 years (and many years before my surgery as well). To be honest, the thought of doing it again makes me nauseous.  How many calories am I eating in a day?  Sometimes 500.  Sometimes more.  My stomach won't digest a lot of unprocessed food.  Meat is especially hard for me to eat, unless it's in the form of a casserole or something similar.  Then I can eat about one ounce, and nothing else for a couple of hours.  Here's a recent day for me:  breakfast 1 hard - boiled egg, snack 1 banana, lunch 1 ounce cheese, snack carrots & radishes, dinner 1 ounce baked fish, snack yogurt.  Now, tonight I ate out and had about one cup of broccoli cheese soup.  That was my entire dinner.

Do I drink enough? Nope.  Never could.  Makes me bloated.  And please don't tell me that will change over time.  It doesn't.

Vitamins, yes.  And I promised myself last year to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.  Meats, again my stomach won't digest a lot of it unless it IS processed. Just kinda sits there and occupies what little space I have in my stomach until I hurt so bad I have to make myself throw up.  Not fun or pretty.

Exercise.  I spend my day walking all over a large nursing home. 

I get my blood work done every 3 months.  See, I'm also a recent cancer survivor.  I actually gained weight on chemo.

I would love to know how to insist on seeing a nutritionist or dietitian.  I don't mean to sound cynical. But every time I tell one of them my story, they apologize and say they can't help me. What am I supposed to do? Sit on their desk and refuse to leave?

This is what WLS has done for me. Again, these are first steps I have been taking since I was 11 and my mother drove me to my first TOPS meeting.

Well, you have been making sure you are taking all the right steps!!  That is fantastic because most people have nothing to back up what they say, so you are doing the right things.  But unfortunately, that doesn`t help solve the mystery.

I cannot offer anything more than I have, so I will just hope that you can find a solution to your problem.  Take care of yourself.

Well, thanks for the support.  I know I'm not your ordinary obese person.  Every day I regret that I ever had this surgery done.  But now I'm stuck with it and have to learn to live with it.  Personally, I think that if we spent as much time on learning how people get fat in the first place, we wouldn't have to struggle so much with how to get them thin again.  

Forgive me if you've already done this, but have you tried a GI doc?  Or perhaps the Mayo Clinic?

Good suggestions, both of them.  But the surgeon who did my hysterectomy last year said there is so much tissue that has grown up around the staples that any kind of revisionary surgery would not be possible, unless as a life - saving procedure.I would love to go back to the University of Iowa, where I had my original surgery, or any number of other good hospitals, but first I have to find a doctor who will refer me.

People keep talking about going back to the basics.  I don't know what the basics are; no one ever told me. I've been stumbling around in the dark trying to figure it out by talking to people who know nothing about the needs of people post-WLS.

I didn't suggest revision or going back to the basics, actually.  I just suggested going to better/more doctors.  Totally different :)  

Are you able, at open enrollment time (assuming you have insurance through a job), to pick an insurance that doesn't require referrals to specialists?  Or to find a PCP who is more willing to do what you want?  I'd go crazy if I couldn't see the specialists I want to see!