Considering sleeve gastrectomy

T Hagalicious Rebel
Brown

on 2/3/16 6:39 am - Brooklyn
VSG on 04/25/14 with

I've grazed but whenever I did, it'd slow me down or stop my weight loss so I've had to make adjustments to account for the occasional snack. I put everything into My fitness pal & I plan my meals the day b4 & incorporate the snacks into my plan. If during the day I change my mind on a particular snack/meal I'll rearrange my meal plan for the day, but still keep within my goals.

You'll have to ditch those "lightweight" foods. They have a lot of carbs, & for me whenever I ate those kinds of carbs I craved more & ended up hungrier during the day. Protein dense foods kept the hunger at bay.

No one surgery is better than the other, what works for one may not work for another. T-Rebel

https://fivedaymeattest.com/

sleeve_scholar
on 2/3/16 10:45 am
VSG on 03/09/15

Depends, habitual grazing could be a problem if done long term and will derail your goals to reach your ideal weight. I think it would be best to change your mindset and find healthier alternatives to snacking. The items that you listed are slider foods and you can consume them normally same as before the sleeve and all those additional calories and sugar, and carbs will do nothing but keep you from reaching your goal. Remember, reaching goal and staying there are two totally different concepts.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." -- Jim Rohn

            
psychoticparrot
on 2/3/16 12:05 pm

Wow! I'm nearly speechless.

Here's a list of things you won't (or shouldn't) do ever again after sleeve surgery:

  1. If you have only 10-15 pounds to lose, you may not even be eligible for this surgery. Sleeve surgery is no joke. Most patients must have a BMI of 40+ or 35 with multiple comorbidities. Please check with a bariatric surgeon in the States or Canada or wherever you're from to see if sleeve surgery is appropriate for you.
  2. After sleeve surgery, you will never go on a "diet" again. There's only one way to eat with a sleeve, and that way is what you'll have to do for the rest of your life.
  3. You will not be able to eat continuously. You will have to eat at specified mealtimes only and even then, you'll eat only a little food, which must be carefully measured and tracked -- for the rest of your life.
  4. Ice cream, cookies, and anything that says "Hershey" on it must go the way of the dodo. Calorically, they are not lightweight foods. They are calorie-dense and empty of nutrients, the absolute worst foods you could possibly eat.
  5. You must also say goodbye to bread, pizza, starches like pasta, rice, and grains, crackers, and all sweets. They all metabolize into sugar in your body and pack on the pounds. Eating them regularly also has the unfortunate effect of making you crave more of them.
  6. There is no one on this site who has been successful long-term and has been a regular grazer of high-carb foods. NO ONE.
  7. Susan, you need to learn a whole lot about the sleeve and how to eat with the sleeve before you get your surgery. If you're not willing to give up your high-sugar, high-carb grazing habits, I GUARANTEE the sleeve will not work for you. Don't put yourself through needless surgery until and unless you fully understand what you're getting into. Good luck.

 

psychoticparrot

  "Live for what today has to offer, not for what yesterday has taken away."

SSwan_TO
on 2/3/16 1:16 pm

PsychoticParrot - I am not quite sure how I have left you speechless, or where you got the idea that I have 10-15 lbs to lose.  I am 60 lbs over weight, and I was not suggesting in my post that I was planning on having the surgery with the idea that I could continue the grazing lifestyle.  The main purpose of the surgery is to reduce appetite by a). making your stomach physically smaller and 2). disrupting the production of Ghrelin.  That being said, I have had extreme difficulty trying to lose the weight that I originally put on 10 years ago, and each time I do lose it I regain it + an extra 10 more usually.  The way I gain it is through obsessively eating.  I eat not because I am hungry but because I feel compelled to.  I have done counselling, cognitive behavior therapy, visualization, hypnosis, weigh****chers, and a strict sugar and wheat free program.  I have no difficulty with the wheat, but sugar is another story.  Since I have failed at everything that I have tried, and since the statistics/research suggest that I will continue to fail, I am looking at the gastric sleeve.  I do not qualify to have it done under insurance because I am not morbidly obese with diabetes.  But I can have it done as a private pay patient because I am obese and have failed everything for 10 long years (just saying this so you know that I am not an idiot with more money than brains).  What I was trying to find out from "survivors" is, if I am not the type to sit down to a large meal, will having the gastric sleeve still make it possible/make it easier for me to work on the ha*****ange that has to happen in order for the constant eating to stop.  I have been unable to stop it on my own, and I am trying to see if someone else on this list had similar issues with eating habits and found that the sleeve made ha*****ange more of a possibility for them. 

mini_mom
on 2/5/16 2:07 pm

I had my sleeve done in Mexico on 11/26/15.  My BMI was 29.  I had a goal of losing 50 lbs, which I have been trying to lose and keep off for years.  It had me seriously depressed.  Well, a little over 2 months post op and I am down 40 lbs, and I am happier than I have been in a very long time.  My bmi is now 22.4.  I say, go for it!  The way I looked at it is I was only gaining weight, and losing was just becoming next to impossible.  So I could do the surgery now when I am overweight but not obese, or I could do it in a few years down the road when I would probably get to that point and have comorbidities to boot.  So I did it now while I am young (in my 30's) and can bounce back faster.  Best decision ever.  My life has changed dramatically for the better!  I think if you asked many people with much higher bmi's who have had the surgery if they could go back in time and have the surgery at a lower bmi, they would say yes.  Just my guess.  

SSwan_TO
on 2/5/16 5:42 pm

Thanks Mini-mom your answer was quite helpful.  I am a single parent and was thinking of doing it over spring break while I had childcare options.  But it felt rushed and my workplace was giving me a hard time about time off, so I have decided to put it off until July.  What I am constantly failing at is the compulsion to eat when I am even hungry.  What I am trying to find out is if there are people out there that are driven to eat even if not hungry, and if they found it more doable to change that compulsion with the surgery.  Prior to surgery was some of your eating done when not hungry?  Congratulations on your success.  I bet you feel great.  

mini_mom
on 2/5/16 7:59 pm

Yes, I am an emotional eater and ate all the time even if I wasn't hungry (pre-surgery).  Since the surgery, most of the time I feel like I have to remember to eat.  It is truly strange for me!  That being said, I am only 2 months post op, and I have the feeling that it won't always be this easy, but I know it will never be as hard as it was.  I just can't fit that much food in me!  Being thin and know what it has taken for me to get this way is also motivating to not let myself slide.  

SSwan_TO
on 2/6/16 7:33 am

Thanks, that's what I needed to hear :) - I am sure that once I am thin and able to stay there for more than a day and a half that I will be able to stay in the same 10 lb range that I used to play with my entire life before I got this way.  I've done that before and lived the thin lifestyle for a lot longer than the fat one.  I just need to get off this roller coaster to nowhere first 

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