Need your advise please

I recently completed my information day for gastric bypass.  I was 90% wanting the surgery before this, however after learning about all that chewing and never being able to enjoy a lot of foods that I do enjoy, for the rest of my life.....I am thinking...do I really want to do this for the rest of my life?  I mean, I am changing my body with surgery. 

The only "diet" I have not tried is following the guidance of a  nutritionist or dietician.  Either I jump into that or have the surgery.  Such a big decision!

I guess I am asking.....after surgery....do you really have to stay on the very restrictive diet for the rest of your life?  To those who are 1-2 years plus after surgery....please tell me your experiences with this....

Muchly appreciated!

I went through the same thing, I mourned over the food, I didn't want to give it up, but I hate being overweight more than I want the food. I have not been out long only about sixteen days and have lost fifteen pds. I have to take it day at a time. And quite honestly I would hope that I could never eat like I use to, but I know people who have had the sleeve and the gastic surgery gain it all back. But I hope and pray that I will keep that from happening.

Thanks for sharing!

I didn't have the bypass, I had a VSG.  But I can provide my perspective - YMMV, especially because of the differences in surgeries. 

At four years out, there isn't a single food I can't eat, but there are bunches of foods I choose not to eat so I can maintain my weight loss.  (I didn't go into this so I could lose my weight and then go back to all the foods I ate before, you know?)  That said, I am and always have been a foodie.  I thoroughly enjoy a lot of different types of foods, and there are times, or meals, when I just go for it - granted, a bite or two rather than a plateful.  I give myself permission to eat what I want at Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, and my birthday.  Again, a bite or two.  Outside those times usually I avoid things made with sugar and grains (whole or otherwise), because they trigger me to want more and more.  So generally I eat protein, fat, veg, fruit, nuts, and seeds.  Very little dairy outside of cheese. I go out to dinner a few times a month and usually order fish or chicken or steak, and eat as much as I can, along with whatever veg it comes with.  If it comes with a potato or rice or something I just leave it on the plate.  No bread (probably the hardest thing to keep away from at a restaurant, it's usually so good).  Not saying I'm 100%, but probably 90%.

Once you lose your weight, you will need to decide what a maintenance, rest-of-your-life food plan looks like for you - one that you can live with while maintaining your weight loss.  Good luck!  Now is the time to do all the learning and research.

Congrats on your maintaining and weight loss.  I'm glad you can still have a taste of foods you've always enjoyed. 

Thanks for sharing your experience!

what made you choose the sleeve over the bypass?

Right now I have to decide which procedure that I want. I am leaning more towards the sleeve and the whole malabsorption thing sorta scares me, plus I have arthritis in my neck and knees and I herd that you can not take certain meds after the bypass. I am 50 yrs young and starting a new journey in my life to be healthy!!! I know this is a tool and not a miracle ! I know I will have to watch what I eat.

Im  wondering if that extra 10% you are suppose to lose by bypass compared to the sleeve is worth the risk if you still have to work just as hard for both procedures.

Any and all input would be great!!!!!

I had several reasons for choosing the sleeve.  Three are about the physiology - I didn't want my intestines rerouted, I wanted a naturally functioning stomach with an intact, functioning pylorus, and I didn't want a "remnant" stomach which can't be accessed for diagnosis by endoscopy in the event of problems.  (Plus the very idea of a remnant anything lounging around in my midsection creeps me out, frankly.)  And BTW, that remnant stomach is the reason RNY-ers are advised not to take NSAIDs.  They thin the stomach lining (this is a systemic action, and doesn't need the NSAID to be in contact with the stomach lining; it can happen with a skin patch) which can contribute to ulcers.  This is true for normies, basically anyone with a stomach.  But with an RNY if an ulcer develops in the remnant, it not ony can't be diagnosed by endoscopy, it can't be treated directly with oral medications either. 

There are some life effects of RNY that I discovered thru research, that VSG people didn't experience (or at least they didn't report it). One is RH, reactive hypoglycemia, in which blood sugar is unstable almost regardless of what you eat.  To me this would have been a major issue affecting my ability to get on with my life after surgery.  Not everyone gets it, but it's reported enough to be concerning.  Then there's dumping.  Again, not everyone gets it, but I didn't want to. Finally, there's even a group who believes they developed seizure disorder after RNY.  Doctors disagree, and no studies confirm the theory, but a handful of RNY patients developed seizures some years after surgery.  Maybe they would have developed it anyway (or maybe, if they hadn't had surgery, their obesity would have produced something else just as debilitating).  But by the time I stumbled across this, I was like, OK, done.  Peace out! No RNY for me.

Studies have since concluded that weight loss is about the same between RNY and VSG.

One of the reasons I chose the vertical sleeve is so I can enjoy everything I loved pre-op.  And I also wanted to have a "rest of my life" to enjoy. 

I know that what I'd been doing up until surgery was failing.  It was falling me and it was failing the people I loved.  Clearly I needed a change.  So far, this change has worked well.  I don't crave most of the things I used to.  And I feel fine have small servings of the things I do crave.  I'm only 6 months post-op, 10 months total of lifestyle change, and I've never regretted it.  I even ran my first 5K today, something that I would have laughed had you suggested a year ago.  

Wow...congrats!  Thanks for Sharing!

No, you don't have to stay on a very restrictive diet after RNY.  Of course, if you start eating a lot of fast food and junk food, you won't get the weight loss results you want.

I eat almost everything.  I can't eat large amounts of sugar or I get sick, but I eat pizza, cookies, frozen yogurt, an occasional french fry, etc.  I just don't eat half a large pizza followed by a pint of frozen yogurt all by myself for dinner every Friday anymore!  Instead I eat one or two slices of thin crust pizza a couple times a month for dinner.  I eat a small dish of frozen yogurt once a month or so for a treat.  Probably more like every two months.  I eat one or two cookies, depending on size, once a month or so.

Even if you work with a dietician instead of surgery, you won't be able to keep eating the way you've been eating.