Surgeon said to practically starve myself!!

Ok so I go to see my surgeon yesterday for he requested to see me after I saw his PA. He takes me into his office to supposedly "help me" with my situation of gaining 32 lbs after having surgery 2 yrs ago. I explained I had been dizzy ight headed off balance lately and had an episode of (iw) rectal bleeding.(sorry). And he said ok the first symptoms are all from your eating habits and weight. And the other we wil refer you out to a colorectal surgeon. Eventually.

SO he basically says I should drink 4  8oz protein shakes(ea with 20g protein plus skim milk) and that I should starve myself basically until I cannot stand it then drink a shake, then wait a few hrs til I can't handle it and do so again. Basically drink 4 shakes a day with a small dinner. No snacks, nada. And to swim 3 x a week. He said skip breakfast and wait til almost lunchtime to drnkt he first shake! I said you want me to skip breakfast? Um no! He also asked about the therapist I see and asked why I haven't seen her in a while. I stated she had gotten down on me about the surgery saying I shouldn't have had it(though she had cleared me), and the surgeon got upset saying she was incompetant and never go again!

Ok SO I explain how I am thinking of trying WW again and hoping if I tweak it a little so to add more protein and take in less carbs than the plan allows, it will work. He said well u tried that before, I said yes but I want to try again, I know it works well for some people.

Ok so my basic common sense tells me to eat breakfast whether it's a shake or piece of fruit or oatmeal..and to drink the shakes for the protein to drink 1-2 a day then eat small meals with less carbs and sugars. Cut down or out the sweets and regular soda,etc. I should increase my exercise. I understand that carbs and simple sugars do not agree with me well and cause dumping syndrome so I need to avoid these things, not like the average dieter which is told they are just bad.

Does this sound reasonable? I may contact my PCP and gt referral for dietician or something. But even without being a doctor it does seem odd what he is saying. Also, my protein powder I am using which he recommended states not to be used for weight reduction but for before and after workouts. I asked him about this, he said well the way I do things is different than alot of other surgeons. But I have researched and the shakes make all the difference.

But I am 2 yrs out, can eat all foods basically. So why deprive and torture myself into drinking olny shakes? Isn't the point to learn to eat better, make better choices so that the surgery that I had will be a tool to long time weight loss??? Help me out here to understand this please...

Ok, this concerns me. A LOT.

 

Your surgeon may be guilty of near criminal negligence and if I were you I’d seriously consider reporting the conversation to someone. Does he practice through a hospital? You might call an administrator.

 

#1 – Do NOT starve yourself. Anyone who knows anything about the metabolic system knows that will backfire. Initially the body lets go of water and some weight, but then you burn more slowly and your body eats away at important things like muscle.

 

#2 – Do NOT skip breakfast. Studies show that not eating breakfast LOWERS your metabolism over the course of the day. This research also suggests you should actually eat breakfast within an hour of waking and assuming daily activity.

 

#3 – A certain amount of regain is normal. If you’ve regained above the normal thresholds, it means you need to look at what you’re doing and figure out the cause. So journaling your food is a good place to start. That way you can see the frequency of your hunger, what your daily nutrients look like, etc.

 

#4 – Weight loss HAS to be holistic to work. You need to address vitamins, physical activity, fluid intake, psychological issues AND food intake all at once. So I agree with your surgeon that you need to address the therapy issue.

#5 – And this is the most important one for me. This surgery is not about being a post op forever!!! It’s about making changes that you implement for the rest of your life, so that you graduate from being a post-op to being a person who lives healthfully. At the point where you are, that’s the standard to which you should hold everything. Is this something I can/should stick to for life? If not, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, just that you should have a clear goal and outcome defined and know when it’s time to start doing what you will do for life.

 

I’m so sorry he gave you that information. Surgeons are masters at disillusioning their patents. I wonder if it is to set you up for the mentality that you need a revision?

 

I dunno, but that was some BAD advice he gave you!

What will change?  If you cannot find a way to change behavior, you may still have issues.  I think what the doc was trying to do is get you to try to look at the therapy side again. 

It may seem drastic, but when you say cut out sweets and regular soda, it shows you still need therapy to deal with why you do that.  That is exactly like me.  I am the same way.

I need to daily work on changing my behavior.  Good Luck

Steve

I, too, was totally alarmed by reading your post. But thankfully Nik jumped right in. I can't say it better than she did. She knows her ship. ;)

The sweets and regular soda thing bothered me. They should not be in your diet. Period.

4 x 8oz protein drinks + a small dinner would be about 1200 calories. Doesn't that sound about right to lose weight at 2 years out? I'm confused. That seems like about normal from what I've read considering that a lot of people maintain on 1400-1800. Is this that far off?

It wasn’t the shake part I was so concerned about myself. It was the skipping breakfast, waiting until you’re starving to consume food, etc.

 

I know for me your numbers work. But the WAY he was encouraging her to consume food isn’t sustainable or healthy. But yes, you’re correct that many post ops maintain around those levels.

I know when I eat naturally, I consume about 1200-1300 calories a day. Eating more is an effort. Eating less is an effort.

I really hope that one day I'll be able to listen to my body and "eat naturally" too! What an amazing concept after years of following my taste buds and ignoring my belly or the rest of my body. Any advice on how to get there? I'm trying to be calm and present when I even drink things but I start pureed foods later this week and I'm a little scared about my old habits coming back...

Stay busy.

 

It is my theory that boredom is one of the biggest overeating triggers. When I am engaged in activity (brain or physical) food is about the furthest thing from my mind. Some days I feel myself wanting to overeat and I just go into busybody mode. Most of the time it’s just second nature for me to have a lot going on.

 

I’ve gotten into the habit lately of going on a late evening walk, just before the sun sets. This is a time when I’d nosh a lot. It was boredom. Dinner was over. It wasn’t time for my late evening snack. There wasn’t much to do. So I noshed. Now I walk. I like taking the walk around my park. There are kids playing basketball, baseball, soccer. There are lots of trees (I have a kinship with trees) and paths and there is this beautiful old, pre-Civil War mansion that sits in the middle of the park that I love to go walk around and envision what it must have been like to live there.

 

And I get lots of thinking done and occasionally, I get inspired to climb trees.

 

At any rate, when I keep busy I can feel when I am physically hungry without the disillusion of head hunger. Physical hunger is a pronounced vacancy. I can also feel the dip in my blood sugar. I don’t wait for it to get crazy before I eat but I do wait until I am hungry. Eating is so much better when you are hungry, I find.

 

Anyway, I’m still working at it. But that’s what helps me.

Absolute madness!  That PA is definitely not in touch with issues regarding bariatric surgery.  The points have already been made by the others who posted before me.  The fact that he has advised you to skip breakfast is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long time.  To suggest that you live on shakes and starve yourself.....well I won't even comment on that.

I might add though that you kind of gave it away (the problem) when you mentioned regular soda and sweets?  What are you drinking?  How far overboard have you gone with the sweets?  Analyze those things (along with other things you are eating) and that may be your first step to getting the weight gain under control.  What is making you gain some of the weight now may be the same things that encouraged weight gain in the past.

I don't promote total deprivation after reaching goal weight.  The goal is to have a balanced life.

I am confident that things work out for you.  You can do this!

You are so right!

 

One thing I do that works is just the most basic thing. I can have a treat (even a full sugar one) AFTER I’ve eaten my protein and veggies. By the time I’m through all that I only have a good bite or two until I can’t eat any more. And that’s just enough to get the flavor I want.

My church has been doing little desserts which is perfect. Little one inch by one inch cheesecake squares. Perfect! I eat one. I’m good. No going overboard. But then I go home and do Zumba…you know…just to keep myself honest.