Things I remember from the support group tonight

OK, I am going to need your help.  Cisco and MacMadam please add to the list and correct any of my mistakes.  No ego here, just want info to be written down and documented.  I promise, next time I will bring something to write with. 

1) In maintenance, it is OK to eat 5 meals a day.  Three protein based meals, one veggie meal and maybe one meal of almonds or walnuts.  Berries are also good but we already knew that.
2) Eat low-fat, dense protein when you are further out because it stays in our stomachs longer and reduces hunger.  Early out, eat softer protein for comfort in the stomach.
3)Eat raw veggies whenever possible and don't peel,decreases fiber and nutrients.
4)Keep a journal for obvious reasons, refer back to it to see if your eating patterns have changed. 
5)Weigh and measure your food at least some of the time even further out. Just to make sure.
6)If you are gaining weight and think that this surgery should work by simply reducing your food intake, you are sadly mistaken.  This only applies to you if you are not losing enough weight or are regaining weight, you should not assume you can just eat "normally" as the normal American diet is rot.  You must stay with healthy eating practices for life. 
7) On the positive note, he is not seeing major regain the further out we get.  If there is a huge regain, it usually happens in the second year after we reach goal and think we are now done.  The change is in our heads and our behaviors not our sleeve.
8) We do empty our stomachs faster and should eat accordingly.  I think he means dense protein first.
9) When he said at the last support group that the part of our stomach that is not removed expands to the power of four, either he or I weree on something.  This is not true.  The stomach doubles in volume.  He said something more about this, but I was tired and it had numbers in it.  Cisco was there and maybe could elaborate.  Something about the difference between a 32F and a 60F. 

OK that is all from me, I really want to hear from the others.

 
Were gonna have to count on Macmadame for her notes...............

Mine just say.........Almonds/Walnuts.....good.

Without going overboard.........I have to say that this was the best Support meeting I've attended.

Not only very informational.... but very relevant to my stage in this process. I also felt VERY inspired and motivated on my drive back to San Fran as I tried to digest what went down.

I stopped at an Asian market on the way home and bought Almonds, broccoli, chicken, salmon and tofu.

From what I gathered on his explanation on bougie size.....Our 32f would double in volume from 2oz. to 4oz.

I also heard him say the difference between a 32f and 60f is 16x

frisco

I've got to motivate myself to drive down to one of these! But thanks for the good info, Elina and Frisco.

I'm presuming he means 4 oz of dense protein? Because I can certainly eat more than 4 oz of non-dense stuff, but usually not quite 4 oz of dense protein at 3.5 years...

And almonds and walnuts are good because? Relatively high in protein? Contain good fat? Low carbs? I thought macadamias were the lowest carb nuts...

Anyway, thanks for the info. I will get there and meet you guys soon...

L.

Good question Lizzy, the reason walnuts are the best and Almonds are second best is that they contain very healthy fats and other important nutrients and they actually have been proven (through research) to reduce hunger.  He still does not recommend them during the losing phase, only during the maintenance part.  He felt that 1/4 or a handful of these nuts makes a great "meal" for those of us that are eating 5 meals a day.  He wanted me to eat three protein meals, one veggie only meal, and one nuts/ berries meal.  He doesn't seem to think too much about other fruit.

Thank you Frisco.  I felt the same way you did.  This was the best support group meeting yet.  I was trying to digest it all all night long.  I also remembered him mentioning that he would prefer we use Sweet'n'Low to  Splenda because Splenda is still sugar to our bodies.  I don't know if I agree with this or not.  I use Splenda in large amounts every day.  I really have to keep thinking and researching that one.  Maybe Sublimate or Macmadame will have some suggestions on this.

There was a guy checking in on the grad board another criangle patient, who is 4 years out and the 4 oz things seems to confirm what he is saying.

i hope the rest of us that have been given 32f stomachs have similiar experiences. time will only tell.

Thanks for this great information.  We don't hear things like this at our Kaiser support group.  Last night we had a physical therapist that talked about walking 10 minutes at a time and adding 1 minute a week, then talked about some core exercises.  They probably should have had a separate group for pre-ops and those over six months out.

I have to say, I'm jealous of all you 32's.  Last February, I was one of Kaiser Richmond's first VSG's and I got a 40f.  I didn't like reading that the difference between a 32 and a 60 is 16x.  I wonder what the difference between 32 and 40 is.  I've always been able to eat more than most people on OH.  That's not going to stop me from getting to my personal goal, but it just seems to be taking longer. 

Thanks for this info guys!  I don't have a support group (IRL that is) so this is helpful to me.

Dr. C will be up in our rural area in a couple of weeks. I think he usually covers similar topics in his groups each month although he is great at letting the discussion go wherever people need it and we have some new post ops up here. Glad to get this info and i will report if anything in addition comes up at our small group. I will certainly be asking maintenance questions. diane

Thanks guys, I don't have a support group either.  Everything I get is from these boards.  I really appreciate all you have shared.  I know it takes a lot of effort on your part, but I do hope you continue to share your meetings.  It is appreciated.