"Lifelong Success After Bariatric Surgery"

Hi, everyone.  I haven't YET read this doc's book, and in fact although I wish I had seen his videos earlier, I only started watching them AFTER I got surgery and was looking for suggestions for what to eat during the first month.  But I think he makes sense and what he says is pretty much what I intuitively already knew ... that although weight loss surgery restricts the amount we can eat, ultimately our success is not going to be based on portion control, but on changing what we eat.  

I am so new to this I hesitate to make even a suggestion, there are so many people out there with much more experience than me.  But in case these videos might prove helpful to someone else, I wanted to post a link and hopefully get your feedback:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxKUssyS8F0

What do you think?  Also, if anyone has read his book which is called A Pound of Cure I would love to know what you thought about that, and also does it have any recipes?  If it is only a short book, less than 100 pages or so, I think I will skip it, but if it is a good guide I will probably get it.  Any other suggestions for books would be much appreciated too.  Videos are free but books are unfortunately NOT.  

Thanks!!

I have watched quite a few of his videos.  Here Is what I know... I am only a couple of weeks post-op but I am an avid data gatherer.  I have read a LOT on this site about diet after RNY.  This doctor is not really an advocate of meat, he recommends a wide variety of foods, including lots of vegetables, which I believe some here call "slider foods".  They help empty the stomach faster and the food ends up not staying so long in the pouch, which is what creates our full or satiated feeling and may keep us from continuing to eat.

i am really on the fence about this; although I believe in having a varied diet, the people on this site are the ones who have actually lived through this surgery.  They have actual experience with what happens to your body after RNY and although I thnk every body is probably going to react differently, there are trends.  I want to maximize the weight I will lose, and since I am so newly on the road I think I will listen to what people here advise unless I discover differently for my own body.

thanks for posting this... I look forward to reading ehat some of the veterans who have been on this journey may have to say.

Oooh, ok, that is interesting.  I am surprised that the veggies, nuts, beans etc that this doc recommends would be called "slider foods" but I have to listen.  Everything is different now, after all.  But before surgery when we had the digestive system we were born with, it was veggies, nuts, etc that provided the fiber "bulk" that would keep us from feeling hungry.  Psychologically they might not seem as filling because my appetite is jaded with all the processed foods I ate that got me into this trouble, but for right now I am so happy to be able to eat veggies that I am almost totally ignoring meat!  Hoping I can do this with only veggies, fruits, nuts, beans, and fish or chicken as my protein needs slack off after the first couple of months.  I am SO sick of protein shakes.  

Just be sure you are getting enough protein. My program calls for 60-80 per day for life. 

I think slider foods are more like soft foods...yogurt and cottage cheese, stuff that goes down easily. I don't think people here are so much against veg, except that you can't let them displace getting protein in. But they are against too much carby veggies, too much fruit, and other carbs. Especially in the weight loss stage. What does he say about carbs?

Well, I think it depends on the source of the carbs.  He is very opposed to any sort of processed foods.  Even Lean Cuisine and Weigh****chers style carb-heavy dinners are on his bad list, and he also is very opposed to "diet" foods, and protein bars (which he says are just ordinary candy with protein powder added), as well as any sort of prepared "health foods."  He believes in beans, meaning kidney beans, navy beans, etc. plus as many veggies and fruits as you can cram into your tiny little stomach remnant.  He seems to mainly just be opposed to processed foods.  He says after the first three months, regular levels of protein intake should be fine.  He is not a "protein-firster."  I am not a believer in huge amounts of protein myself and always tried to restrict protein.  It raises IGF-1.  If you have even seen Michael Mosley's Eat, Fast, and Live Longer you will remember the focus that program had on IGF-1 and cancer and aging.  I know quite a few people in that field and am an ardent believer.  If I could I would be a CROONie, but I can't so here I am having weight loss surgery!  But I will get tested for adequate protein periodically, and if it starts to look like I need to increase it I will eat more nuts or something!  I have TWO different nutritionists and really good insurance, so I get all sorts of testing periodically, so bring it on.  

By the way, when I asked my surgeon if he believed in "protein first" or "veggies first," he said "veggies first" too.  

I do like Dr. Weiner, early on I watched almost all of his videos. I loved what he said about fruits and veggies. That being said the reality hasn't been the same. A protein forward diet is important, and there is little room for fruits and veggies. Our pouches/stomachs are only so big. Not that I don't ever have them, but the idea, that you will have lots of them isn't reality.

The 'pound' of fruits and veggies a day is not for WLS patients. No way that is happening. Sometimes I like to make green smoothies with protein, so I can sneak a little more veggie/fruit in there.

My Doc's mantra is and I think it's a good one:

"Protein first, then veggies and then if you have any room fruits and carbs" He never says no carbs, just put them a the end of the list.

I asked my doctor and he said "Veggies first, then fruit, protein last."  He believes that the ability of our digestive systems to absorb protein increases back to normal after the first couple of months.  I do not want to eat too much protein, so I am counting on it.  

Malabsorption does lessen at 18 months to 2 years usually, I would ask him where he gets the statistic of a couple of months from. I personally wouldn't count on it. 

ASMBS which writes the guidelines and follows the research says 60-80g. Early out that is a lot to get in. You will have a hard time getting that in if you are eating fruit and veggies first.