One year NSV

Today is the magic one year surgiversary, and it also happened to be one of the days available to do our employer health screenings.  So it's not by accident I opted to get my screening today instead of one of the other days available.

I am pleased to report that after one year of eating A LOT of salmon, and a fair amount of exercise, my HDL scores are stupendous.  I scored a 69 where the normal range is 40-60.  Historically, I've never had a high good cholestrol (HDL) number.  In fact, it been as low as in the 20's, and every score I've ever seen was still below 40.  So, like the doctors keep saying, diet can make a change.

On the flip side, with my diet as clean as it has been, I'm now on the "low blood sugar" side of things (aka Hypoglycemic).  Apparently that's my natural state when not overweight and eating poorly.  The effect of this in a non-diabetic situation is interesting and explains some of the miscellaneous things that have been happening to me the last few months.

This is probably something our group should be more aware of since a very clean diet combined with weight loss surgery apparently increases the chances of bringing this out.  It seems easy to fix with minor diet changes, but if you're not aware of the situation you will likely think certain symptoms are driven by other factors.

Were you being treated for Type II diabetes prior to surgery?  I was and have recently had some serious sugar drops...but they usually come after a big spike because I ate something too high in carbs that sent my blood sugar skyrocketing.  And then the inevitable crash comes of course.  

Edited to include:   And CONGRATS on the fabulous blood work!  

Nope.  Technically I was categorized as pre-diabetic because of weight, poor diet and family history.  However, I never crossed the line to type II.  Today's conclusion was the result of an A1C they added to our screenings. The score was at the bottom end.

So it works out that I hover at the low end of the range.  Then either due to working out, or stretching meals longer than say three hours, the absence of any complex carbs allows my blood sugar level to drop, leading to a number of symptoms including fatigue, hunger, dizziness, or other possibles.  This is not always, and not all at once, just a variety of random occurrences taking the wind out of sails here and there so to speak.

So, the easy fix is all diet stuff.  Eat closer together, allow a few complex carbs into the equation to balance the insulin through the day.

So far my message on "maintenance" is (a) it's all about learning to live with your new self day to day, month to month, etc., and (b) it's actually the harder part of the whole puzzle.  Trust me, loosing the weight, and everything up to and around the surgery, was the easier part of the puzzle IMHO.

Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary! Your doing great in maintenance. I too had my HDL at 66! Never before I was always in the low 40's, it's a great feeling to be healthy. I no longer crave fried foods, which was my problem pre-surgery. Of course I have major cravings for sugary items now, but am being good. Great NSV thank you for sharing, your doing awesome!

M&Ms are my crack.  Particularly the Dark Chocolate Peanut and/or Peanut Butter ones.  This is the one weak link in my entire process, although I think I've finally kicked this to the curb.

Curse you Mars candy company!

Just remember what the vets have said: VSG is a treatment, not a cure.

Peanut M & M's are my  favorite too! They are dangerous. As to your comment about maintenance and learning to live with your new self is so true, it is a day by day process, some days are easier than others, some not so much. I also need to keep small meals/snacks throughout the day and it was now suggested by the surgeon and nutritionist because so many are experiencing hypoglycemia post WLS. Please keep us posted it' s nice to relate to your posts! Take care.

So glad to hear that you're doing well, G! Congrats on the awesome bloodwork!