Newby..pre-op...question

Ok, my surgery is scheduled June 24, I have followed and wished for 10 years.....so it's finally here

 

One thing I see repetitive...is stalling..lots of talk about stalling wether its on OH or the livejournal I follow etc....the question I have is, those that stall, are you on the diet plan, or do you cheat? My mom had wls and she lost a LOT...but never really got to a great spot, bc as soon as she discovered she could, she started "cheating"...sucking down shakes, french fries etc then wondering why she just cant get any further down in size...?? ( I guess a lot of lap banders end up doing this as well and sabatoging their progress)

I have chosen VSG obviously and I'm wondering if this is the case a lot with vsg...stalls from cheats? I know I wont be perfect, I work in a clinic we get catered a LOT by drug reps, I know I'll be fine post op rules but further out after healing, I know that now and then I will give myself a treat, I dont think this is a bad mindset, none of us can be 100% perfect forever, we wouldnt be here to begin with if so.. 

 

I guess point is..if months down the line I let a rep buy me a starbuck or nibble a cookie...is it going to completely sabatoge me for days/weeks?????  pls no scolding for planning to cheat before i ever get surgery...its not like that, im just realistic and im human and the wls wont change the need for the 3:oo chocolate stress nibble in the office you know...  

I have simar questions... Example - anyone out there who are years post-op able to share what their diet is like to just maintain?? I'm curious, after I lose what I need to, how "normal" can my diet be?? Will I still be able to enjoy a night out to dinner with friends or say, Thanksgiving without sabotoging??

I am in the process of doing this...surgery hasn't happened yet...but my thinking is, for years and years it has been said, everything in moderation, even moderation....I guess what we have to learn and live by is MODERATION.  What the hell is it and how can we apply it to our lives?  I have taken note that most of the people who has had WLS seem to justify reasons for going out eating and meeting for coffee, wondering if they can ever have another diet pepsi...maybe just maybe...one sip every now and then won't hurt us, they say....well, if we are doing this to make a change in our lives, why not change the way we live and interact?...why not focus on the positive?....I have a lot of questions, and even though I am involved with a couple of "help" forums....I want to scream and say to some of them....yea the weight is gonna come back on if you plan on eating as you did before.  but I don't say anything, because I have not gotten to where they are...I hope beyond hope, that when my surgery is done, I can finally be the person I want to be....a slimmer, healthier ME.  My rant for the day. And YES, I think we can enjoy our evenings with our friends and have a good healthy dinner, just not to over-indulge.  

 

Stalls certainly could be caused by cheating, but in most cases here, they are just part of the process.  Weight loss is affected by more factors than just the burning of fat.  Water retention, and building muscle certainly affect weight.  It is my experience that weight loss just isn't linear.  There are ups and downs as your body adjusts to the changes as you lose fat.  When I plot my weight loss on a monthly basis (one weighing a month), it is linear, losing about 16 pounds a month, but day to day it varies, and stalls.  There are days when I gain pounds without reason, and days where it drops suddenly also without reason. 

I think the answer is to keep your focus on the big picture, and not get too tied to the day-to-day numbers.

Also, the sleeve isn't a guarantee to lose weight.  It is just a tool that helps us if we make good diet choices.  It really has to be a life-long commitment to eating differently. 

I wish you well on your journey.

Carol

I just responded to another person and spoke of stalls.  Some stalls are the fault of cheating or taking in too many calories for your particular needs.  Basically there is a weight loss cycle.  Right out of surgery it is standard to loose weight fairly quickly.  Then the weight loss starts to slow down and then there is a stall.  After the stall the weight loss speeds up for awhile, then slows down and then once again you hit a stall.  Most everyone experiences a stall at about the three week mark.  This is give or take a week.

What you need to realize is that stalls are natural even if you are following your post op plans.  Your body looses weight at a fairly fast pace and then has to play catch up.  During the stalls you will find that your body redistributes it's fat stores and takes it from various places and lands it where it is needed the most.  During this time you will notice that you are loosing inches instead of the weight.  

You also have to realize that in a lot of cases if you are exercising you are building your muscles and muscles weigh more per volume that does your fat.  So while you may be loosing some fat you may also be adding some muscle tone.  Muscles will bulk you up and add to your overall weight.

I am speaking about this from experience as I am coming up on being one year post op.  Actually it will be one year on May 31st.  I started my journey at 231 pounds and today I weighed in at 131 pounds.  I have actually lost 95 pounds in the first 5 or 6 months and have been in maintenance for the last 6 months.  During my efforts to maintain I have actually lost this additional 5 pounds.  I really don't want to loose more and am actually at a point of trying to regain some in a very healthy way though.

So the long and short of it is that you will see stalls and that it rarely means that you are cheating but instead going through these weight loss cycles which are perfectly normal and stalls are wonderful things.  By the way one of the best tools for preventing cheating is to use an online journal such as www.myfitnesspal.com (there is a phone app as well).  Then you have people in this forum friend you and keep an eye on your journal as you do theirs.  Hold each other accountable and make a pact that you will record every bite and every sip in your journal.  If you are truly committed to this process and truly honest about what you are eating ... you will succeed ... and you will have stalls.

Cheating?  whhaaaa???  If cheating causes a stall well then... since I was two weeks out I have been consistently cheating at least once a week..MAJOR cheating...how come my stalls were the very same ones MAJORITY of all us VSGrs have...the classic ones...~3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 9 months...classic common. Im not talking about those oddballs who "claim" they never stalled....I did high carb since I could eat...so yeah I was a cheater!!  yet I lost a crapload of weight anyway go figure.

n Stalls are caused by our body going into STARVATION MODE. conservation mode, survivial mode, famine mode...whatever you wanna call it...the same that many here believe is a MYTH...because if your a woman that has more than 15% body fat...well then you can't be in starvation mode because you have AMPLE fat reserves stored for energy/future food use...or some crazy nonsense. 

There is no other way to explain the phenomena called a STALL  Starvation mode is taught in every single university nutrition program TO DATE....its cited EXTENSIVELY in research and peer reviewed articles/ journals.

starvation modes a myth or some believe ....well same way I believe popping Biotin preventing VSG hair loss phase is a MYTH... yet years and years later...peeps/nuts/surgeons continue to rec...takin biotin for VSG hair loss...whatever right lol 

Some into on my Stalls and Plateaus blog on STALLS and contributing factors...ASIDE from "cheating"  

oh and on the chocolate...72-92% cacao/cocoa...dark chocolate Lindz,ghiradelli,godiva ...a tiny piece will scratch that 3 o'clock itch ,-)  in a nanosecond...really really will! 

Better choices is the name of that tune......even if you CHEAT

Stalls are going to happen, whether you cheat or not.

If you are committed, there are ways to get satisfaction from cravings without "cheating" in a bad way. Crave chocolate? They have plenty of Quest protein bars to choose from or drink a chocolate protein shake. Problem solved.

Pick your "cheats" wisely and it doesn't have to hurt your weight loss or maintenance.

For some people it only takes that one cookie or one whatever to open the floodgates to eating the way they did preop -- lots of carbs, much lower on protein, etc.  Some people have problems with trigger foods.

I don't think it's possible to predict to whom that will happen.  Apparently it happened to your mother, if I read your post correctly.

There are others who have posted here who indulge in this or that food, but who then get RIGHT back on their eating plan and don't make a habit of "treats."  Those people have sometimes posted about how difficult it can be to detox, as it were, from those foods and to return to eating what they should be eating.  They have had to work hard at learning to do that.

As has been said already, there are ways to satisfy a craving without eating garbage food.  There are also ways to cope with a craving without putting any food in your mouth whatsoever.

Stress eating can be particularly problematic.

A real "treat" for oneself might be to avoid certain foods all the time under all cir****tances so as to make full use of this tool called WLS.

True stalls happen because your body needs time to readjust after big losses and not from "cheating" which is why I think people get so freaked out by losses - they are doing everything right and still not losing!

Unfortunately, I am someone that cannot do anything in moderation... at least not to this point. I can't eat just one of something sweet, I want all of it. I can just eat a little bit of pasta.... I want all of it. So, for me... I have to completely avoid simple carbs and sugars or it WILL set me off and I will sabotage my progress for days/weeks. However, this isn't necessarily the case for all people - it's something I learned about myself during the six month supervised diet through therapy and self-reflection. This is why I have tried to find healthy ways to satisfy my mental cravings for something sweet, rather than just having "a little bit of something."

It took me 2 - 2 1/2 weeks at the start of the supervised diet to get the sugar and carb cravings out of my system... knowing how hard that was and how much better I feel without them is the driving force to keep me on the correct path!

Your question has been answered pretty thoroughly here, but I wanted to give my experience.  My stalls haven't happened bc I've cheated, and they haven't lasted longer than 2 weeks and that was the dreaded and normal three weeks stall - after which I lost 7 pounds in 5 days.  I'm not perfect.  I've had some treats here and there, mostly planned and very rarely.  I've had a few bad days.  I don't do moderation well, never have.  I tend to think most of us who need WLS don't do moderation well.  If we did, why would we need the surgery?  I think it's fine if you have planned cheats - track it, make sure it fits into your day, get right back on the horse the next meal.  Some people cannot do this.  Sugar is horrible for me.  It makes me an irrational nutcase.  I will eat it until I get sick, wait for that to pass then continue to eat more and the cycle continues.  That's me.  Your journey will be different.  You will figure out what works for you and what does not.  A nibble of a cookie - if you can do that bc I know I certainly can't - isn't going to completely sabotage you.  If, however, that cookie is a slippery slope to head hunger, massive sugar/carby craving that you cannot control then yes, it could derail you bc that nibble could very well turn into cake, pizza, ice cream and an attitude that it just doesn't matter anymore.  You will figure out what works for you.