Hello! A Post To Introduce Myself...
hi mike.
welcome to the forum, I'm not on here as much but joined before my rny and that was almost 21 years ago.
i had a lot of complications and was reversed 12 years ago.
but I still remain in certain forum sites to provide long term support.
this is what I say as for me in my case, I don't pay that much attention to my weight and it fluctuates a lot and I didn't go into my rny with any co-morbids of Obesity and I currently do not have them now.
I also would never food, body or weight shame someone.
When you eat a food though you know that isn't going to agree with, there's a certain amount of self sabotage going on.
The reason why I say that is because most of us have engaged in some form of that in our lives but when the consequences are as severe as they are to you with how sick you get and you still do it anyways.
I don't know if going back to a bariatric surgeon's office will help if you can, but maybe they could help you with nutritional advice with your particular health issues.
The only reason why I'm point out the self sabotage is that it's worth the reflection. In my case I don't qualify foods as good or bad, in my case I've had to qualify foods on whether or not I can tolerate them and that can change again, almost 21 years post rny and over 12 years post reversal and it's just not worth it to eat a certain food group not because I'm worried about being fat but because it's not worth being sick or uncomfortable.
Hope this helps... Peace.. Lisa
Hi Mike,
I have been extremely reactive hypoglycemic since age 21.(more than 42 years.) I hope m giving you this information will help you in your journey for good health.
My personal tolerance for carbs has been as low as 11grams per meal/snack. There was a time when I needed to eat every 2 hours to hold my blood sugar up. It still drops, if i don't eat a THE time my body dictates...if my meals are spaced further than my "current tolerance". . I still must maintain my diet pretty closely. Have never been required to take insulin and my blood sugars still can drop if I am not mindful of my carbs. If my blood sugar is low- tolerate to 55 or so now- i am irritable and will not be able to get to sleep.
My surgeon gave me a 90 gram Protein diet to follow and a limit of 20-50 carbs per DAY., after extended Gastric bypass surgery...in N., ..surgi-versary today. I began the weight loss journey at 292.5, current is abt 180. have been to 145-155 for an extended time- during t of intense heavy physical jobs. Stress and uncontrolled stressors got my c levels up and my gain rose to 195, with the ending of stress I immediately lost 25#. I strive for the low end of those limits on carbs and push protein for continuing to get off the regain. My personal goal is 30-35 gram of protein for BREAKFAST,(still have 6 oz pouch, 60 for rest of day. carbs below 10 each meal. I am 5.4 now and weight h close to 170-180. w small frame. This protein amount will not be sufficient for you to get to health and loose to goal..You will probably require 110grams protein.( 7 grams protein per oz is the ADA guide/average. eggs and cheese types vary by size and type... if you eat those.).
Around 1980 my Doctor of Osteopathy made dx when blood sugar was 19 for a 2 hr Post paradial sugar check..(I ate what I already knew, which made me sick -and went for a blood sugar check at 2 hours after.) My skin was warm and dry and the doctor released me before the test results were back... they were calling before I could get home to the phone- Yeah, before the cell phone. I had a 5 hr. glucose tolerance test- it made me sick too. I am going to pass along the information Dr. Dukes gave me. This has been effective for me and it will help you if you will use it. She looked me in the eye. ..QUOTE: " Your blood sugar IS out of control. There is no magic pill I can give you to correct it. This is a diet issue. You MUST find out your personal tolerance for carbs and what your body reacts to. Each time your blood sugar crashes it puts YOU one day closer to being an INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETIC. "
She explained that these " cyclic sugar crashes wear out the pancreas". She told me.. if I " did not control these sugar crashes" she "predicted I would be taking 4 -6 insulin shots a day ..in 5 years". I got control of my sugar crashes and YOU CAN TOO! It got my attention because I have never liked needles. I checked my blood sugars every 15 minutes within 3 hours of a meal and recorded a tight diet log. Within a day i knew what I reacted to the strongest...and cut back on carbs and the sugar checks, as i found exact amounts of tolerance. My body reacted at 45 min after a meal, and about an hour and 15 minutes.Your reaction may be 15 minutes sooner or later. I would... get a blood sugar monitor and do a fasting check in am/before anything. For your diet log you will need exact measure of meat/carbs.if you can't estimate: weigh everything til you can. YOU ARE WORTH THE EFFORT! Laying down as your sugar crashes is not safe. I learned to use milk to control sugar crashes. Pour 3-4 oz. hold first swallow under tongue for a minute before swallowing it... and sip remainder slowly over 10 minutes. THEN eat a 3 oz meat portion..+.no more than 1/2 ADA serv. carbs.. 2-3 saltine crackers is what i use. protein and carbs/sugars in whole milk helps balance sugars.the protein and carb snack after will maintain it til next meal time. I tolerate milk poorly.. and use lactose free whole milk for coffee creamer.- everything else hurts stomach.at my intake of max 2 oz a day/routine @ that level- fats is not an issue. Immediately, I began adjusting those foods down to repeatable/measurable amounts so i could keep sugars/carbs within tolerance. I began with half servings of one vegetable., later added, a 1/4 serving of another if i wanted a variety, generous meat portions.( before my surgery i had moderate fats, after do not tolerate.) I now take bitter melon caps daily,it helps ME with stabilization, it does take between 2-3 months for its full effect to kick in.Been taking it intermittently for 10 years...after i did some personal research on it. took regular for 3 months, then every other day..is my intermittent. Important things for you to know.. these are some of my strategies.
#1 Once your sugar is stabilized, it will take you 3-4 days to "feel better".
#2 stay the course you are worth it. Your family deserves to have the best you, you can be.
#3 a lot of things can change your tolerance for carbs and your need for them. 2 of those things are stress and exercise. You will need more carbs before an exercise session..1-2 servings. and may need them throughout the exercise period depending on duration/intensity. I used to use 1/3 strength G - throughout the day, working hard in intense heat...lived on protein powder for meals in extreme heat.
#4 Sugar stabilization will lead to ultimate weight loss and re-balance of your life.
#5 You must control this, no one else can do it for you.
It's your choice to: Choose wellness or sickness. Increase protein, decrease carbs. start with a half carb /A diabetic association/serving per meal... 9 grams carb=one serving...so half slice of bread, half small biscuit...if no low reaction,. increase by half again ie to 3/4 serving. i would hold at that level for weeks. if sugar is stable.( if tolerated ok- after day 1. If not tolerated well-go back to half serving.. ).
This MUST be your goal: ..Stabilize sugar, get in plenty of WATER, and avoid fake sweeteners (they CAN trigger crashes, as can early morning black coffee). Watch the dressings and carbs in salads- they can be deceptively full. say yes to: tomato, egg, 2 raw veggies with good salad mix. (I am guessing the Dressing, c, carb'd vegs(?) -roll combo is what threw you into h)
This will not be instant control. You are worth making changes for your health. It took me about 3 or 4 months of a RIGID diet to be able to increase carbs- enabling a longer time between all meals. I ate every 2-2.5 hours for at least 8 weeks and started spacing those out by 1 intervals-after stability for 1-2 weeks....a very gradual process. Recently,I did do some IF, (intermittent fasting) do not always tolerate that well..I do try to eat w when i am unable to do IF, using a half pc bread with 3-4 oz meat for a snack... sandwich meat roll-up.
Something is going on with my computer.I have not been able to trace it down, am not tech savvy... i am having trouble posting on board,( and one other place., think is a firefox issue, added another browser/still nada.) so will see if I can get admin to post this in my name for me. I can read but not post. Hang in there you can do this and you will get to your goals again.w/ best wishes.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I had my gastric bypass in 2018 and I was at my highest weight of 298 pounds. By 2019 I had gone down to 135 pounds. 7 pounds away from my goal weight. And I still wasn't happy with my weight. I guess that's part of the sickness. I ended up having major spinal surgery in 2020. Since then we've had Covid I've had six spine surgeries one skin reduction surgery, and surgery to correct the infection I got from the skin removal surgery. My best friend passed away, I got married. My two little dogs died which I love dearly. So, life has really kicked me in the butt. I'm still having trouble getting trouble getting around because my back is so stiff. So all my regular exercise seems to be behind me right now. About all I can do is walk and just do a really basic exercise. I feel like my weight is out of control I am back up to 196 pounds, and so unhappy with myself right now. Nothing in my closet fits anymore and I just can't seem to get things together again. I feel like I'm starting all over again, just trying to hang on and not get to that 200 point.