Do you think this is acceptable?

I've been reading a lot of websites and a few books to two people I know who have had RNY.  I do notice that depending on which hospital program you are at you are permitted to have some very simple carbohydrates pretty early on such as mashed potatoes....  after reading and researching and speaking to these friends I think I've decided that I'd prefer to avoid these types of foods especially in the first 2 years.

Does this sound completely impossible?  Would it be considered going against the hospital reccomendation if they suggested I be eating potato, bread, etc. 

I am really trying to maximize this opportunity - in order to get to my desired goal weight I have about 185 pounds to lose - I plan to increase the likelihood that this will happen by doing circuit training combined with low intensity cardio at first hopefully ending in some high intensity cardio as I lose weight. 

They're not necessary to eat - there are lots of foods on the plan to chose from, you don't have to choose to eat them.  Having said that, a tiny few bites of milky mashed potatoes made my heart sing when I was allowed it. lol

LOL Karen - I may feel differently when I've actually had my surgery (laugh)

I love carbs so much - it's really the main reason why I'm fat!  LOL  I would take carbs over anything else.....I'm a little bit terrified I guess that if I don't give them up I'm going to get stuck in old habits.

Ok well....to be fair...I also think potato chips have contributed to my obesity but they are a carb so they count.  Heh.

Carbs are completely my downfall as well. And I hear you on the chips thing - I would rather eat those than anything else in the world, I think. LOL

The tiny amounts of milky mashed potato, milky baby rice or cream of wheat cereal that you would injest would be minimal.  On purees, when you're allowed a small melba toast or a cracker - it's a nice change from everything liquid to have a little "crunch" in your diet.

But, as I said, you can choose not to eat those.  Unlike protien, which is certainly not a choice. lol

At the Ottawa WLC, we are told that we can eat grain breads and potatoes. At first I did eat bread (a quarter of a toast with my poached eggs in the morning) and I did try instant potatoes as suggested. Used to love potatoes but do not like them anymore. I cut out the bread all together as I don't like those heavy grained breads.

Hey there, like you, I had a massive amount of weight to lose.  I lost 222lbs by limiting my carbs very much, no sugar and nothing that would jeopardize my opportunity of a lifetime.  I was over 2 years before I indulged.. yeah, have gained 20 lbs.  So yes, take advantage of it, every single second of that first two years :)
I find that those that have less to lose seem to partake of things that us, heavier folks just shouldn't.

Bonnie

Like Karen, my first tiny taste of mashed potatoes was pure heaven!!  I also found that by about the 4th week post-op, I was feeling nauseas and dizzy several times a day.  At my first NUT appointment, she said I likely had low blood sugar (blood tests confirmed it) and she recommended I try to have a very small amount of carbs at each meal - either melba toast or 1-2 soup crackers.  I was TERRIFIED because I'm a carb junkie too and once you start, it's a very slippery slope :)  But I did take the advice and have been fine and so far, not tempted by or craving other carbs at all.  It totally helps that my hubby has banned potato chips from our house in a show of support!

I find this interesting as Carbs are my major downfall as well.
I have think that I will be trying to avoid these as well, as a life change. Before Opti I started to try to cut them out a little. I am not making any definite plans though just in case. As I think I will enjoy them like Karen said, early in my journey.  ( mmm does any of that make sense ha ha ) 


Kelly

First of all, keep in mind that your body *needs* some carbs for brain function so you *will* need to take in carbs.

What you want to do though is limit them generally.  I never got a guideline as to how many other than "protein first" and I wish I did.  People who had the surgery at HF long after I had mine, got a guideline of no more than 30 grams of carbs per meal.  On the other hand, most low carbers tend to do 50 grams generally from what I've seen on this board anyway.  

I really do believe that having that guideline might have helped me be a faster loser.  So I think you are totally smart for thinking of the whole carb thing now. You want to also make sure that you are eating the right kind of carbs too (stay away generally from "White" anything) or anything processed - "eat clean" as they say and as natural as possible. 

The cardio/strength training thing is a good plan too.  You want to ideally do some weight work if you can as we lose a ton of muscle naturally from surgery (there is no way to avoid it).  But you also want to build up muscle as you'll look better toned up and then as well, you'll rip muscle fibers, create more muscle...and as we know muscle weight looks more compact than "fat" weight.  As well, your metabolism will be boosted by the more muscle you build.  It's a win-win situation.

Dawn

I would just be careful. As Dawn stated, our bodies DO require some carbs. Early out I was staying away from them, and then hypoglycemia kicked in and my blood sugar kept dropping to dangerous levels. My dietitian told me I should be having carbs with every meal, and suggest a quarter of a cup of potatoes, whole grain rice, etc. I stay away from breads (luckily they make Oscar the Pouch feel like crap so I have motivation to not consume them) but legumes and boiled or baked potatoes ge tthe job done. Best of luck. (: