Contemplating bariatric surgery.... advice?

[Seriouslyconfused3]

Hi as the title states I am contemplating a gastric sleeve. I am a serial yo yo dieter and my metabolism is fucked. I have pcos and have tried Xenical, saxenda etc- successful until I stop using and the weight piles back on.

I’ve seen an endocrinologist and he said that, in his opinion, sometimes surgery is the only viable option. I’d be paying for it myself as I don’t quite meet the nhs criteria yet.

I’m miserable- I don’t lose weight unless I starve myself ie 600 calories a day and then I’m even more unhappy. I’m worried about my health in the long term, but then the prospect of surgery scares me too.

Any advice from those who have been there before?

I am taking biotin so hopefully that will kick in soon. Weight loss is still slowly continuing so at least that's ok 😊

My hair sucks too @MindBodyChocolate thankfully it’s started growing back but it’s in little tufts all over so I look like a scarecrow it’ll pass though jut try and focus the weight you have lost so far- it’s worth the lost hair for me

Very glad you're starting to feel better Queen of Pain

There's a lot of discussion on the Covid thread about weight and Covid, some quite terrifying statistics

I'm 17 weeks out from sleeve surgery, 25 pounds down.

Most interestingly for me my resting heart rate has dropped massively - it was averaging 73 last summer, it's now averaging 60.

I ate pasta for the first time yesterday- I've never really eaten pasta as too high calorie for food volume for me when I was 'dieting' in the 20 years before surgery

I'm so surprised I can tolerate it! I slow roasted 2 punnets of tomatoes for the sauce and I managed to eat it with pasta - still struggle with whole vegetables.
So I'm really enjoying that.

Every day I'm so glad I did this - I don't need to be on a diet for the first time in 25 years. I eat whatever I want and I'm never hungry.

That's interesting @LaurieFairyCake - I haven't tried anything like pasta. I live on protein shakes with vegetables added because I find it hard o get enough protein otherwise.

What is your main source of protein, and do you manage 60g every day?

@LaurieFairyCake - I completely agree about the ‘not on a diet’ thing. We get these AMAZING homemade pies from a deli near us which the rest of my family love. I’d never had one because obviously you don’t eat pies if you’re on a diet. Yesterday I had about a quarter of one (they’re little individual ones) with broccoli and cauliflower and gravy. A tiny portion but utterly delicious. I wouldn’t have it every day but it made me so happy to be able to eat normal, good food. And be satisfied with a small amount.

I'm not even counting protein or any nutrients properly

Food yesterday was:

Seeded toast with salmon pate
Pasta and tomato
3 mini cheeses
Bag of crisps
Some liquorice

I'm drinking a protein water today, that's 20grams - but I've not had one of those for weeks

I agree with the comments above- I eat protein rich foods but I don’t specifically track it. I have protein water on the days my diet isn’t the most nutritious. I’ve just been eating what the rest of the family eats albeit in smaller portions- it’s great!

For me I'm not going back to counting anything ever again

The best bit of this is not having to think about food, not having to count calories, not having to deny myself anything for the first time in decades.

Because I'm basically not hungry after 200 calories

The only issue I have is that I can't eat fast, still have to eat very slowly. And I just can't eat salad and big veg.

I'm going to see the dietitian tomorrow - maybe he will say I need to eat more normal food.

I just want to get the weight off as quickly as possible! And don't miss food at all.

@CoronaCurls my dietitian told me not to have shakes and to concentrate on proper food. I haven’t found anything I can’t eat. But if you’re happy, healthy and losing weight then don’t worry. I’m envious of your disinterest in food - I’ve never really felt like this but I’m definitely not obsessed with eating like I was before.

hiya everyone,
posted on here previously and follow religiously

I just had a question for all of you who have had the bypass/sleeve. Ive read the last few comments where some of you are saying you can basically eat what you want but obviously in smaller portions. Is this what everyone is doing? sorry if its a daft question its just i was under impression that you still shouldn't be eating crisps/sweets and carb heavy foods etc. I thought you would still eat healthy etc and not whatever you please. Hope i don't offend anyone just curious and not aware (still early stages of my journey ) obviously i don't know the answer to this which is why i'm asking. Thanks in advance x

@wibblewoblex. I agree. I should have thought carbs and crisps should be avoided, and was told by the dietition that, in any meal, I should eat the protein first, then the veg/salad, and leave the carbs to the end.

You're supposed to eat the protein first because it's really hard to get your protein in - protein is very dense

My dietician said nothing about carbs - why would they, veg is carbs - my dietician went on and on about not excluding foods/you're not dieting any more - use this as your chance to eat normally and a balanced diet

I can't remember but about week 6 I think it was start to make a friend of mashed potato - plenty of butter and cheese to make it very soft

Everyone is individual- I can't manage BIG veg yet - salad leaves, whole cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives - all provoke my hernia (also can't eat chip shop chips)

I was 98% vegetarian before my surgery - I'm now eating much more fish in the form of pate/mousse and a steak every week

I assume I'm eating crisps for the salt as I'm eating snack a jacks (mini salty rice cakes) - have real cravings for them

The other thing about everyone being different is that some people who've been very overweight have developed some disordered eating - about 20% put on 20% of their weight after 2 years (not sure that statistic is right, I'd have to look it up)

So if you had a problem with soft foods like chocolate eclairs then it might mean you still had the problem after surgery - unfortunately it's quite easy to eat them physically after a few weeks

I don't have eating issues - in fact annoyingly I bought some lovely chocolates for Christmas and have gone off chocolate and didn't eat them

My dietician encourages healthy normal eating ie doesn’t ban carbs. So 90% of the time I’m eating healthy food and then occasionally I let myself have a treat. Technically you could scoff chocolate all day long but what’s the point when we’ve been through so much trauma and expense?

Today for lunch I have had part of a chicken dish from a restaurant (take out) from last night. It’s my treat for for the month and will last me at least 3 meals

Normally I’ll have something like a healthy curry or pasta dish- with a tiny component of rice or pasta.

@wibblewobblex glad to hear that you’ve got something out of the thread it’s nice to hear that other people are finding it useful

Hi @wibblewobblex I said I can eat anything - I didn’t say that I DO eat everything!! As @Seriouslyconfused3 says, I focus on healthy proteins (lean meat, fish, eggs, small portions of cheese), then have veg. I rarely have any room left after that so my diet is naturally pretty low carb. The only thing I actively avoid is sweets, cake, biscuits etc as I prefer savoury food plus sugary things are too easy to overeat.

The reason I say I’m not on a diet is that I can now eat in moderation (eg the pie I mentioned above) whereas before I just couldn’t.

You have to be mindful afterwards in terms of what you eat but that will look different for everyone.

Do you think anywhere private in the UK would perform a bypass on someone of a healthy weight? (Weight maintenance).

I doubt it @PusheenLove if im honest but someone else might know more than me

I try to keep my carbs low and get protein in first. I generally have a protein yogurt or shake in the morning, cheese and cucumber or houmous and peppers for lunch then chicken and veg or fish or bolognese for dinner. I don't really think about it too much. I try to drink at least 2 litres of water a day too.

It’s the water intake I really struggle with still so if anyone can recommend a way to up it please let me know

@Seriouslyconfused3 I drink it with peach and barley squash from a hydratem8 bottle which I have with me constantly. I rarely go below 2l a day

@Ladybird69 I have opted for a sleeve gastrectomy.
Does anyone know of any clinics in the North of England, that are currently operating? My NHS surgery is almost a year overdue, and now that I have decided to go private, I just want to get on with it.

@Seriouslyconfused3

I doubt it *@PusheenLove* if im honest but someone else might know more than me

Shame. I've severely tempted. It would free up a lot of mental headspace worrying about cals, naughty/nice food, feeling hungry, yo-yoing. I would pay.