Why are the results so different?

[yorkiegal]

I was reading with interest about which types of food people still have problems with and I don't understand how some people are able to manage a sandwich a couple of months after the op, whereas others can't eat more than a tablespoon of sloppy food.

Do different surgeons create difference sized pouches? Or narrower entrances to the pouch? And why is it that some people dump and others don't? Surely we all have the same internal plumbing?

I so want to be one of those bypassers who dumps and can't eat very much. I don't trust my own willpower and the thought of going through all this only to find that I can still over eat within weeks scares the hell out of me.

 

[daftmoo]

I worry so much that I can eat anything apart from pasta, I feel like I've been cheated. Hang on all those who are saying how lucky I am being able to eat anything with no problems I wish I wasn't so lucky and maybe I'd lose more and reach my target quicker. Only my thoughts so please dont shoot me

 

[Kevin1708]

I guess the simple answer is that we are all different and although the plumbing is the same there are subtle differences and all our mind set will fluctuate too . . . I too would love a sandwich (cheese and tomato / mashed banana) but only being a month post op I will just have to live with the craving for now. xxx

 

[yorkiegal]

no more onion bhajis then kev?

 

[Kevin1708]

no more onion bhajis then kev?

Oh NO NO NO NO NO (well not for a few months) xxx

 

[sydenham]

Yorkie Gal and Sue - oh how I empathize with you. I constantly tell my family that I have a pouch the size of Horse Bag!!. I can eat anything including bread and never get that Full Feeling. Like you Sue, I feel cheated but I see that you have lost the weight. I am in the mind set that my weight loss is going to be painfully slow and I have to say that I certainly lag behind those I meet at my support group.
I seem to have gone thru a lot, without a great deal to show for it yet.
Suzanne
x

 

[Kevin1708]

Yorkie Gal and Sue - oh how I empathize with you. I constantly tell my family that I have a pouch the size of Horse Bag!!. I can eat anything including bread and never get that Full Feeling. Like you Sue, I feel cheated but I see that you have lost the weight. I am in the mind set that my weight loss is going to be painfully slow and I have to say that I certainly lag behind those I meet at my support group.
I seem to have gone thru a lot, without a great deal to show for it yet.
Suzanne
x

The issue is not eating because you can but eating what you should . . . I was advised (along with many others on here) to always aim to eat protein first then greens, bread should be the last thing on the list (for now) xx

 

[sydenham]

The issue is not eating because you can but eating what you should . . . I was advised (along with many others on here) to always aim to eat protein first then greens, bread should be the last thing on the list (for now) xx

Hi Kevin,

You are right and thats exactly what I was doing. Then I told my Bariatric Nurse that I was disappointed with my Weight Loss so far. She asked what I was eating and it was high protein, followed by veg but avoiding carbs as I was scared to put on. She then said you know you have to eat to lose weight, you are not eating enough and you need carbs for energy. So in the morning I have a slice of Brown Toast with Low Fat Cheese and cut all the crusts off.
Its very hard Kevin when you do the Research, chose the surgery and then the outcome couldnt be more different to the majority of other Forum users. Also Kevin, your weight loss is excellent. I have lost 16 pounds in 4 weeks and yet dieting prior to surgery I would lose 5/6 pounds a week at WWatchers.
I know it may sound a bit stupid, but I yearn to feel the discomfort of fullness that others feel - because I would then know something was working. Its hard because its making me feel quite low.
Suzanne
x

 

[tray]

i know how you feel i cant eat most things i can eat 2slices of bread easy and then go onot to eat more i never feel full now and the only time i feel uncomfortable is if i have eaten to quick or to much but after about 10 mins im ok and can eat again.. i do still dump on some foods but not very often thatb is why i have joined weight watchers as i cant control how much i eat but with WW it will i hope help me to gain control again. i never though after having this op i would need to join a damn slimming club again but oh well. i guess ill just see how i get on as the weight has stopped coming of and now and then it creeps back on

 

[sydenham]

Thanks Tray. I really feel for you and hope that WW help. You have had a fantastic weight loss which has to make everything worthwhile though. Good Luck to you.
Suzanne
x

 

[tesmaralda]

The issue is not eating because you can but eating what you should . . . I was advised (along with many others on here) to always aim to eat protein first then greens, bread should be the last thing on the list (for now) xx

in an ideal world this would be great but when you have issues with fodds and not being able to eat certain food types or any solid food because it gets stuck or makes you ill then eating what goes down and stays down is whats important. Many people are told not rush each stage and when you are with a provider that puts you on fluids for 4 weeks, then 4 weeks pureed and then 4 weeks soft food before moving onto 'normal food' some issues with textures do tend to crop up. I know people that can't eat meat but can eat bread and pasta, other people can't eat bread or pasta but can eat meat.

I for one can eat 1 piece of bread and meat until recently meat has never been a problem. I am almost 2 years post op and have over the last 4 months had more issues with food than ever.

Just because we have had an operation on our stomachs doesn't mean we have had our brains operated on and early post op when most people are not interested in foods its easy to lose the weight with out thinking what we are putting on our mouths. The further out we get the harder it can be to make perfect choices. The idea of weight loss surgery is to be able to have a little of everything and no food is barred. It is about lifestyle changes and people need encouragement and support to do this and do it well. To be told or inferring that they are making or haave made inferior or bad choices either in their choice of foods or their surgery type is not what this forum is about.

Yes healthy discussion is good and part of being an adult but when it is constantly aimed at one group of people or done on a way that people find upsetting is not adult like and is not what this forum is about. We take responsiblilty for our choices and when things aren't going to plan or how we want them we want to go somewhere that offers support and guidance not to be made to feel like we are outcasts or there is no way forward.

 

[phatmomma]

Sydenham, i just answered on another thread, i don't dump and i believe that others i know who don't dump have a common denominator. We are diabetic.

Now to your eat to full feelings, let me give you my food diary for today. I am 11 months post op btw...

Breakfast: 2 weetabix topped with 1 small apple and a slice of fresh pineappe (still feel like i could eat more, Trev offered toast an hour later but i refused because i shouldn't need it)

Lunch: 2 slices of medium white bread with ham and beetroot on, a few pickled onions (2 hours later i'm hungry)

Tea: 1 home made beefburger (made to weight watchers recipe) and a bit of roast butternut squash, omg i am absolutely stuffed, i struggled to finish the burger...

2 1/2 hours later, i've got some w/w points left and the kids have eaten all the mini magnums. Open a tin of l/fat rice pudding to share with Trev, a 1/4 of the tin later and i cant eat anymore. My stomach is obviously still holding onto that teeny weeny firm protein rich burger... I feel uncomfortable, possibly rabid....

Please note in between the first two meals of the day i had a banana (so that's two banana's) and a w/w bar...

See, as soon as i hit protein and eat to fullness i'm struggling... Give me bread or cereal and i'm hungry very shortly after.....

Oh and before everyone shouts, i have walked for 2 hours today (well all bar five minutes) and have still got points left from w/w

 

[sydenham]

Thanks Terri,

How true, if a "Frontal Lobotomy" was done with the Weight Loss surgery, we wouldnt need a Forum as we would all make the same choices !

Thanks again.
Suzanne

 

[Serapis Bey]

Hi Yorkie gal

I was reading with interest about which types of food people still have problems with and I don't understand how some people are able to manage a sandwich a couple of months after the op, whereas others can't eat more than a tablespoon of sloppy food....I so want to be one of those bypassers who dumps and can't eat very much. I don't trust my own willpower and the thought of going through all this only to find that I can still over eat within weeks scares the hell out of me.

I guess you're referring to my post here

I can eat a sandwich for lunch but it takes an hour to finish. My evening meal will be 6 mini chicken wings (each wing is shorter than the length of my little finger.) Im not full after this but I don't crave anything thing else.

So my food diary for the day ate the sandwich is as follows:

Breakfast - Nothing
Lunch - 1 cheese sandwich
Dinner - 6 Mini chicken wings (they all fit in the palm of my hand)
Snacks - Nothing
Fluid - Several glasses of water and NAS squash.

As you can see, it's not that much - I don't think it's overeating, but it is far more compared to what I could manage 10 days ago (hence my concern that I might have stretched the pouch)

10 days ago I could hardly eat anything because everything was getting "stuck" and milk based fluids (protein shakes, milk, yoghurt) made me sick so I wasn't getting much protein.

 

[sydenham]

Hi Julie,
I am not eating anything like those quantities but I now get the message that the protein is what tells the tummy and brain that we are stuffed. I have to say your days intake sounded lovely and I really fancy the burger. Are you attending WW because your weight loss had faltered or is it your way of disciplining yourself. ?
I have just noticed that you are from Chippenham, which is where I was born (Greenways) and where a lot of my family still live. My dad was from Malmsbury but we moved to London a long while ago.
Thanks for sharing your food diary with me and I intend putting more thought into mine now.
Suzanne
x

 

[tray]

i do struggle with protein, it gets stuck but carbs i can eat and eat ..lol

 

[biggy123]

I've found that I can eat almost anything in moderation including chocolate, sweets etc. The only thing I have a real problem with is broccoli...no big loss there!
I eat protein first and foremost as it fills me up longer and I have good restriction with it.

 

[ditzeeblonde]

I've found that I can eat almost anything in moderation including chocolate, sweets etc. The only thing I have a real problem with is broccoli...no big loss there!
I eat protein first and foremost as it fills me up longer and I have good restriction with it.

Ha ha!! Must be something about us September oppers... broccoli is the one thing I can't do, I can manage anything else in moderation too. x

 

[yorkiegal]

I feel quite disheartened after reading this. Sounds like a lot of people are able to eat carbs quite easily. I know that protein will fill me up but I also know that it's carbs I will crave so I'm going to have to be very strong mentally to resist them. Think I'll be hanging around this forum a lot in the next few months lol.

 

[tesmaralda]

It is only recently that carbs don't cause problems I am 2 yrs out and can still only eat 1 piece of bread, 1 desert spoon of pasta and chips are a no no and potatoes are a struggle apart from on a sunday so you may be surprised.