robs477
Now an Angel in heaven
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2014
- Messages
- 1,227
Well, so far, this has been quite a ride with a few twists and turns and lot of learned experiences. I came in to this pretty damn well informed, mostly because of listening to the Vets here. That being said, actually experiencing some of those things they talked about has been VERY different from just hearing it.
I must warn you, this thread will be long because it will be summary of some other topics discussed on other threads and I just wanted to tie this all together in to one that’s easy to understand in the hope to help someone pre-op from my learned experiences.
To summarize: My initial surgery and recovery was one for the record books, LITERALLY. Dr. Wilson said he has never seen anyone recover from any surgery he has ever done as quick as I did with little or no pain etc. I was shopping at Costco four days after surgery. I felt 20 yrs younger and NO MORE arthritis pain etc. At first, I thought that was just a carryover from the pain meds etc, but, it wasn’t, it was that “Bio-logical” re-set point that is being discussed in another thread and I will elaborate more on that in that thread later.
Fast forward to week 3.5 and I hit a stall. My taste buds were RADICALLY changing, by the day and even hourly. I would cook something and not be able to eat it, I couldn’t stand meat, especially chicken! I would get EXTREMELY tired after ingesting ANY protein and was just living on the shake. I posted my plight in another thread and @hilary1617 @SHales and @Munchkin all posted things to try. I DID..and a combination of the three plus my own epiphany has worked. I broke through the stall, have MOST of my taste buds back and for the last 2 weeks or so, have been living my life, enjoying eating again and losing weight while doing it!!! My Buds still go on strike for this or that sometimes and it can change instantly…BUT…it’s happening less and less and that gives me the confidence to know it’s probably temporary and is getting better.
SO….the important part…what worked??? ALL THREE of those Ladies said I wasn’t eating enough. That was THE HARDEST thing for me to wrap my brain around, and @hilary1617 said to try eating MORE CARBS. I was taking my protein shake first thing in the morning and it set off a trigger that would NOT let me ingest anymore protein ALL day long, so just moving it until evening means I can eat a breakfast and a lunch and have been snacking too!!!! AND, I’m getting in about 90 g of protein now. I no longer get tired after eating (still do a little with the shake), but that’s no big deal because I’ve already eaten for the day and it at night.
The biggest surprise was the carbs! I had to increase my carbs up to at least 50 per day. I know I shouldn’t say this, BUT, I’m even eating some BAD carbs like tortilla’s and potato chips! I even bought a bag of CHEETO’s last week and ate some of them. Once I started doing that, (eating more carbs and more in general), the weight started moving again and I have been averaging 3-4 lbs per week.
I have lost 50% of my own personal goal of minimum EWL and have lost a total of 60 lbs, (14 pre-op).
The most important part, the moral of this story is…I am no longer IN FEAR. I no longer think that the DS won’t work for me just because I’m a “Super Absorber”…It HAS to work, it’s just pure physics and math. If I go a few days without losing, I don’t care!! I have had to learn to listen to my body, CHANGE THINGS UP and keep it off balance. I have high carb days and some low or almost NO carb days and that is what’s working for me, that and trying to actually EAT MORE…which after 36 yrs of being on starvation diets, am STILL trying to wrap my brain around!!
The 2nd moral of the story is...you have to keep changing things up until you find something that works for you and then realize it will probably change again!! EVERY single one of us will react in a different way to WLS and you just have to figure out what works for YOU! I feel like I'm finally getting my rhythm and am settling in now for the long term and am enjoying the eating part of living my life again! Thxs again to everyone for all the great advice! Rob
I must warn you, this thread will be long because it will be summary of some other topics discussed on other threads and I just wanted to tie this all together in to one that’s easy to understand in the hope to help someone pre-op from my learned experiences.
To summarize: My initial surgery and recovery was one for the record books, LITERALLY. Dr. Wilson said he has never seen anyone recover from any surgery he has ever done as quick as I did with little or no pain etc. I was shopping at Costco four days after surgery. I felt 20 yrs younger and NO MORE arthritis pain etc. At first, I thought that was just a carryover from the pain meds etc, but, it wasn’t, it was that “Bio-logical” re-set point that is being discussed in another thread and I will elaborate more on that in that thread later.
Fast forward to week 3.5 and I hit a stall. My taste buds were RADICALLY changing, by the day and even hourly. I would cook something and not be able to eat it, I couldn’t stand meat, especially chicken! I would get EXTREMELY tired after ingesting ANY protein and was just living on the shake. I posted my plight in another thread and @hilary1617 @SHales and @Munchkin all posted things to try. I DID..and a combination of the three plus my own epiphany has worked. I broke through the stall, have MOST of my taste buds back and for the last 2 weeks or so, have been living my life, enjoying eating again and losing weight while doing it!!! My Buds still go on strike for this or that sometimes and it can change instantly…BUT…it’s happening less and less and that gives me the confidence to know it’s probably temporary and is getting better.
SO….the important part…what worked??? ALL THREE of those Ladies said I wasn’t eating enough. That was THE HARDEST thing for me to wrap my brain around, and @hilary1617 said to try eating MORE CARBS. I was taking my protein shake first thing in the morning and it set off a trigger that would NOT let me ingest anymore protein ALL day long, so just moving it until evening means I can eat a breakfast and a lunch and have been snacking too!!!! AND, I’m getting in about 90 g of protein now. I no longer get tired after eating (still do a little with the shake), but that’s no big deal because I’ve already eaten for the day and it at night.
The biggest surprise was the carbs! I had to increase my carbs up to at least 50 per day. I know I shouldn’t say this, BUT, I’m even eating some BAD carbs like tortilla’s and potato chips! I even bought a bag of CHEETO’s last week and ate some of them. Once I started doing that, (eating more carbs and more in general), the weight started moving again and I have been averaging 3-4 lbs per week.
I have lost 50% of my own personal goal of minimum EWL and have lost a total of 60 lbs, (14 pre-op).
The most important part, the moral of this story is…I am no longer IN FEAR. I no longer think that the DS won’t work for me just because I’m a “Super Absorber”…It HAS to work, it’s just pure physics and math. If I go a few days without losing, I don’t care!! I have had to learn to listen to my body, CHANGE THINGS UP and keep it off balance. I have high carb days and some low or almost NO carb days and that is what’s working for me, that and trying to actually EAT MORE…which after 36 yrs of being on starvation diets, am STILL trying to wrap my brain around!!
The 2nd moral of the story is...you have to keep changing things up until you find something that works for you and then realize it will probably change again!! EVERY single one of us will react in a different way to WLS and you just have to figure out what works for YOU! I feel like I'm finally getting my rhythm and am settling in now for the long term and am enjoying the eating part of living my life again! Thxs again to everyone for all the great advice! Rob
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