help

OK, so i went to my monthly doctor appointment (to meet my insurance requirments for wls), my weight didnt move, thats good, better then going up. She wanted me to start taking more fish oil (my cholestrol). I went to the pharmacy (all of this takes place on hospital campus) and the pharmacist has me come into his office and talk with him about what my needs are from it. Have you ever had this happen to you? I never have, it was very nice. He gave me over half and hour of his time discussing lots of stuff. But i knew once we started talking he would talk about my weight and i figured he would not be in favor of weightloss (he was big on all this natural stuff, which is cool). ANyway i was right. He shows me this product that he doesnt carry but is learning more about and really thinks is great for health (any medical condition). Its a 12 week program where you visit with a participating doctor and they customize your diet, relaxation techinuques, life coach you and take an indepth measurement of your body composition (not your percentage of fat...folks this breaks it down as low as you can go, including info on water, lean muscle etc). They guide you with nutritional suppliments as and if needed (shakes, vitamins and bars). The results were actually pretty good (they published a study)...BUT....BUT....BUT, i dont know if i have the time, i dont know if i have the money, i dont know if i can make it work, i thought i had my mind made up. The only thing he directly said about bypass was that you literally suffer from malnutrition (ok true i guess) and that you end up losing water, then muscle then fat so in the end you are still unhealthy, just smaller.
WHAT DO I MAKE OF THIS....I feel so confused...

While I do believe with WLS you could ... some do... lose lean muscle... but if you exericise, drink water, eat protein first, then good carbs and good fats and take the supplements... you can be very healthy with WLS and not lose muscle mass   BUT if you don't do these things... and revert back to the unhealthy eating habits that got most of us where we needed to have WLS in the first place... then... you probably will lose muscle mass... and be unhealthy... just smaller.

I think I have heard of that 12 week program... isn't it at St Francis... my SIL was going to try it.. but then she started working out with a very cute trainer... got motivated ... and has lost 40# in the last 18 months.  While the trainer and his food plan clearly working for her.... I worked out with a trainer for almost 2 years... I got lots stronger... and only lost about 20#.  I was over 300# pounds at the time.

Helen

Thank Helen. i too had a trainer and had poor results (2 yrs ago). I am totally excited about walking and swiming and biking but not so much the weights, too much exertion gives me migraines, so i will just start out slow (now) and see where it takes me.
The program is called firstline and its through metagenics (they make suppliments) but different doctors are who you see (onces who participate). The NUT at st francis told me, i couldnt do the thing they had becuase of all my food sensitivities (artificial sweetener, soy, citrus fruit, tropical fruits, msg, nuts...etc). She said i would need more of a whole foods approach, though she did find a protein shake i can tolerate (not react to), and guess the ironic thing, its made by metagenics...they must be a new company???
Thanks babe, you are doing so great!!! Size 14/16 awesome

It's got to be hard, doesn't it? Everybody has your best interests at heart, but everybody's selling something. Dr. Oh is selling weight loss surgery. Metagenics is selling products. Frankly, I would be suspicious of Metagenics and their one study. Who published it? Was is a reputable, scholarly, peer reviewed journal? 'Cause, 'published' just means printed. If you ask the right questions, measure the right things, you can get a study to give you significant results. With WLS there are thousands of studies. From people who benefit from doing WLS as a job and from people who don't.

Duh with the bypass you (can) suffer from malnutrition. Actually what you truly suffer from is malabsorption and that is why you have to supplement daily, forever. And it is true that some people struggle with this more than others and there are some people's bodies which get stubborn and need to have extraordinary measures to keep some levels up. That is why you will need life long lab work.

Everybody looses water - it is lost with the glycogen every time you cut your carbs and have that first flush of weight loss. Then you gain some glycogen stores back, and tha****er comes back. Part of the normal weight fluctuation.

You will loose some muscle during your weight loss. You don't need as much muscle to carry around 150 pounds as you do to carry around 350 pounds. But you don't have to loose 'muscle first'.

If you have your WLS, follow the dietary and supplement guidelines, and exercise religiously, like you are supposed to, you will be MUCH healthier, and MUCH more active one year after surgery. You will also be smaller, but smaller will not be the primary benefit.