NNicholas
Why you should not drink with meals
May 26, 2010
This is for RNY
Simple explanation for most folks:
The reason for not drinking a half hour before your meal is so that there wont be water in your pouch and so that you will not get enough food in there, thus not get in all your required protein, etc.
The reason for waiting an hour after meals before drinking is to slow the passing of food to your intestines, keeping your pouch fuller longer. This also gives your brain time to process that you have eaten enough. Water with or right after a meal will wash the food through the pouch and you not only can eat more, but will be hungry, usually brain hungry, sooner.
Physics explanation for geeks:
After RNY, lacking a pyloric valve, there is no mechanism to slow or impede organic nutrients from passing the pouch, except for resistive friction. Water lubricates the pouch and thereby reduces the friction, allowing a rapid reduction in the duration of nutrient organic matter presence in the pseudo stomach, and resulting in an accelerated discharge through the stoma .
This is why, simply put:
I do not drink with my meals.
For RNY this is a valuable tool to success. Failure is not an option here.
1 comment
Simple explanation for most folks:
The reason for not drinking a half hour before your meal is so that there wont be water in your pouch and so that you will not get enough food in there, thus not get in all your required protein, etc.
The reason for waiting an hour after meals before drinking is to slow the passing of food to your intestines, keeping your pouch fuller longer. This also gives your brain time to process that you have eaten enough. Water with or right after a meal will wash the food through the pouch and you not only can eat more, but will be hungry, usually brain hungry, sooner.
Physics explanation for geeks:
After RNY, lacking a pyloric valve, there is no mechanism to slow or impede organic nutrients from passing the pouch, except for resistive friction. Water lubricates the pouch and thereby reduces the friction, allowing a rapid reduction in the duration of nutrient organic matter presence in the pseudo stomach, and resulting in an accelerated discharge through the stoma .
This is why, simply put:
I do not drink with my meals.
For RNY this is a valuable tool to success. Failure is not an option here.
RNY Rules I Live By
May 19, 2010
Here are my rules for the RNY pouch
1. Sip, Sip, Sip and that does not mean slurp, gulp, or even drink It means tiny, tiny, tiny sips all day. You need 64 ounces of fluid a day.
2. Chew, chew, chew, means do not swallow until every bit has the consistency of paste. Your doctor or nutritionist will tell you how much protein you need a day, but do not worry if you can not eat it all the first few weeks.
3. Do not drink for an 1/2 hour before eating. You need to have an empty pouch before you start eating to have room for the food.
4. Do not drink until an hour after meals. You do not want to stress your pouch and push the food out.
5. Eat until you feel full, but not over full. Over fill and you will hurt, big time. If you sneeze, have a runny nose, or get the hiccups, stop eating, you are full.
6. Stay away from excess fats, and processed carbohydrates. If you really want to feel bad, eat them and see what happens.
7. Keep to foods with less that 6 grams of sugar and 11 grams of sugar alcohol. Unless you are fine with possibly learning dumping syndrome 101.
8. Most importantly, take your vitamins, supplements, and medications as recommended by your doctor.
9. Do not take NSAID medications, prescription or over the counter.
10. If anything puts you in doubt, anything, call your doctor!!!
Much of the time, here on OH, I spend replying to questions from those having problems. I have had my share, but nothing insurmountable. I found over the last two years that if I stuck to certain rules I had few if any problems. When I ignored them I either get ill, (diarrhea or the foamies come to mind), have pains, or I put on weight. Yes, even I have put on weight, from time to time, after surgery.
When I go back to the rules, I feel normal, and, surprise, surprise, I lose weight again! I have also learned, through my journey, to do something I could never do before surgery; that is, I have learned to regulate my weight. If I go up a few pounds, I return to the basics and lose it. Today, for example, I am five pounds less than last month. I usually only weigh myself once a month. Last month I discovered that I put on six pounds. I knew I wasn't eating right. So I got back to basics and well I am eight tenths of a pound from being back to where I was.
One thing I do not do, though, is deprive myself of anything. While I avoid processed sugars and processed carbohydrates, I eat normal foods. The goal of WLS is to have a normal healthy life, and that includes eating normal, but healthy meals. I do have pizza, pasta, and even ice cream (no sugar added ice cream) every now and then. I try to stick to whole grains, usually multi-grains for the pizza, wheat for my pasta. A bread maker is a blessing for making whole grain breads, doughs and even pasta. I just watch that I don't make them my meals every day. I have even had a couple of fast food meals this last couple of years, though very, very few. (I never passed a Wendy's, McDonald's or Burger King without stopping through a drive through, before my surgery.)
Today my life is much happier and healthier that it was before, by far. The purpose of having WLS, in my view, is to regain a happy, healthy, life through a healthy, sustainable, life style. Losing excess weight just is a by product to me.
0 comments
1. Sip, Sip, Sip and that does not mean slurp, gulp, or even drink It means tiny, tiny, tiny sips all day. You need 64 ounces of fluid a day.
2. Chew, chew, chew, means do not swallow until every bit has the consistency of paste. Your doctor or nutritionist will tell you how much protein you need a day, but do not worry if you can not eat it all the first few weeks.
3. Do not drink for an 1/2 hour before eating. You need to have an empty pouch before you start eating to have room for the food.
4. Do not drink until an hour after meals. You do not want to stress your pouch and push the food out.
5. Eat until you feel full, but not over full. Over fill and you will hurt, big time. If you sneeze, have a runny nose, or get the hiccups, stop eating, you are full.
6. Stay away from excess fats, and processed carbohydrates. If you really want to feel bad, eat them and see what happens.
7. Keep to foods with less that 6 grams of sugar and 11 grams of sugar alcohol. Unless you are fine with possibly learning dumping syndrome 101.
8. Most importantly, take your vitamins, supplements, and medications as recommended by your doctor.
9. Do not take NSAID medications, prescription or over the counter.
10. If anything puts you in doubt, anything, call your doctor!!!
Much of the time, here on OH, I spend replying to questions from those having problems. I have had my share, but nothing insurmountable. I found over the last two years that if I stuck to certain rules I had few if any problems. When I ignored them I either get ill, (diarrhea or the foamies come to mind), have pains, or I put on weight. Yes, even I have put on weight, from time to time, after surgery.
When I go back to the rules, I feel normal, and, surprise, surprise, I lose weight again! I have also learned, through my journey, to do something I could never do before surgery; that is, I have learned to regulate my weight. If I go up a few pounds, I return to the basics and lose it. Today, for example, I am five pounds less than last month. I usually only weigh myself once a month. Last month I discovered that I put on six pounds. I knew I wasn't eating right. So I got back to basics and well I am eight tenths of a pound from being back to where I was.
One thing I do not do, though, is deprive myself of anything. While I avoid processed sugars and processed carbohydrates, I eat normal foods. The goal of WLS is to have a normal healthy life, and that includes eating normal, but healthy meals. I do have pizza, pasta, and even ice cream (no sugar added ice cream) every now and then. I try to stick to whole grains, usually multi-grains for the pizza, wheat for my pasta. A bread maker is a blessing for making whole grain breads, doughs and even pasta. I just watch that I don't make them my meals every day. I have even had a couple of fast food meals this last couple of years, though very, very few. (I never passed a Wendy's, McDonald's or Burger King without stopping through a drive through, before my surgery.)
Today my life is much happier and healthier that it was before, by far. The purpose of having WLS, in my view, is to regain a happy, healthy, life through a healthy, sustainable, life style. Losing excess weight just is a by product to me.
My new RNY theme song
Nov 07, 2009
Try this new theme song for RNY eating:
Slow down your eating too fast now,
Time to make the meal last now,
Gotta try and chew it more.
Eating less and your,
Feeling groovy.
If you are either eating to fast without chewing enough or eating too much. Now learn the song and you will be "Feeling Groovy".
2 comments
Slow down your eating too fast now,
Time to make the meal last now,
Gotta try and chew it more.
Eating less and your,
Feeling groovy.
If you are either eating to fast without chewing enough or eating too much. Now learn the song and you will be "Feeling Groovy".
Recipe for Greek sugar cookies (Kourambethes)
Aug 27, 2009
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 cup of orange juice
- 2 egg whites
- 2 whole eggs
- 3 cups of unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups of olive oil
- 1 cup of confectionery sugar (Use sugar substitue like Splenda)
- 1 1/2 pounds of unsalted toasted chopped almonds
- 4 pounds of all-purpose flour
I can no longer eat them!
Dealing with the fear of surgery
Aug 23, 2009
Maybe this will help. Over twenty years ago, my cousin's 83 year old, grand mother fell and broke her neck. The same week one of my co-workers, at the age of 47, fell and had an identical injury. Both were told there were two options they could take. Option one was surgery to repair the damage, which had a chance of success, a chance of leaving them paralyzed, from the neck down, and chance of killing them. Option two was to fuse the neck, which would leave them unable to turn their neck side to side and with a very fragile neck. This option meant real lifelong handicaps and a life long danger that another fall could paralyze or kill them.
My cousin's grandmother told the doctors, "Hey, I'm eighty-three, if it's my time, then the lord can take me, but otherwise I am not going to live a disabled life if I don't have to. Let's have the surgery and be done with it!" She had the surgery and fully recovered.
My buddy, and coworker, on the other hand, was afraid to have such major surgery so his neck was secured with braces and the bones allowed to fuse. He live a miserable, short life after that. Always in pain and never able to resume most normal activities, his life was a shadow of the life he was accustom to as a former high school Physical Education Teacher and athlete. (Working with me was his second career.) One day he failed to show up to work and a week later his family found him, alone in the back yard of his home, where he had slipped on the ice, one cold winter's night, re-breaking his neck. He froze to death paralyzed, with no one there to help him.
My cousin's grandmother died in 2007 at the age of 104. She lived a normal, happy, and fully functional life through out those years. I remembered her spunk, when I was afraid to go through with my surgery, and I became determined not to follow my friend and be afraid to do what was best for me.
2 comments
My cousin's grandmother told the doctors, "Hey, I'm eighty-three, if it's my time, then the lord can take me, but otherwise I am not going to live a disabled life if I don't have to. Let's have the surgery and be done with it!" She had the surgery and fully recovered.
My buddy, and coworker, on the other hand, was afraid to have such major surgery so his neck was secured with braces and the bones allowed to fuse. He live a miserable, short life after that. Always in pain and never able to resume most normal activities, his life was a shadow of the life he was accustom to as a former high school Physical Education Teacher and athlete. (Working with me was his second career.) One day he failed to show up to work and a week later his family found him, alone in the back yard of his home, where he had slipped on the ice, one cold winter's night, re-breaking his neck. He froze to death paralyzed, with no one there to help him.
My cousin's grandmother died in 2007 at the age of 104. She lived a normal, happy, and fully functional life through out those years. I remembered her spunk, when I was afraid to go through with my surgery, and I became determined not to follow my friend and be afraid to do what was best for me.
Why are we so willing to lie to ourselves?
Aug 15, 2009
While visiting with my daughter in Iowa City today, we took a tour of the campus of The University of Iowa. We stopped at an outdoor mall area and a woman caught my eye. She had stopped her morning jog, and was resting on a public bench. I could not help but notice her stylish outfit. She had on the latest of twenty-first century fitness attire, running shoes, a very stylish jogging outfit, a matching head band, and an Ipod complete with an armband holster to keep it in place while exercising.
Now, what really caught my eye wasn't all this, nor was it her shapely figure. No, what caught my eye was the reason that she had stopped her morning jog and was taking this break. She stopped to smoke a cigarette! This brought to mind an important lesson in our attitudes towards WLS. This woman was going through all the motions of looking like she was conscientiously taking care of her health, but ultimately she was neglecting it.
It is a good reminder for those of us both pre and post op. If our goals are to merely look good, then we are short changing ourselves. We should always keep in reminding ourselves that our goal is to get healthier and enjoy a better, longer life. Otherwise, we can end up, like her, not realizing that we are only taking are of appearances, and not ourselves.
Nick
1 comment
Now, what really caught my eye wasn't all this, nor was it her shapely figure. No, what caught my eye was the reason that she had stopped her morning jog and was taking this break. She stopped to smoke a cigarette! This brought to mind an important lesson in our attitudes towards WLS. This woman was going through all the motions of looking like she was conscientiously taking care of her health, but ultimately she was neglecting it.
It is a good reminder for those of us both pre and post op. If our goals are to merely look good, then we are short changing ourselves. We should always keep in reminding ourselves that our goal is to get healthier and enjoy a better, longer life. Otherwise, we can end up, like her, not realizing that we are only taking are of appearances, and not ourselves.
Nick
Do you have to follow the 'rules' of weight loss surgery?
Jul 11, 2009
There are many rules and guidelines for pre and post weight loss surgery. So often there are questions on the forums asking of we can break one or another of these 'rules'. I know I am a weak man. If I could just eat just a little less on my own I would not have needed WLS. The 'rules' are now my montras to a healthier life. Here was my reply to a post today asking why coffee is not recommended:
1 comment
Here is my view:
I can not say that drinking coffee by itself will derail your weight loss, but it can contribute to it.. There are many 'Rules' to successful post surgical weight loss. Individually breaking one or another once in a while will not harm you, but that is a slippery slope. First you break one once in a while, then more often, sooner or later you will find yourself complaining of how weight loss surgery failed you. How often as dieters did we say, "Oh its OK; I can eat this today. I am starting my diet tomorrow?"That was my life. for all of my obese life. Which has been most of my life.
So often when people fail, remember this is not a cure all, they never looked at what they were doing. When asked, "Did you exercise", they say "No". "Do you eat all your proteins?" "No." Did you take your vitamins?" "No?'
This surgery is a tool. Work it and it will serve you well; neglect it and you will fail. I was a two 8 pack a day Diet Coke drinker before my surgery. I stopped drinking cola and other caffeine drinks the month before my surgery. Instead of a can in my hand. every waking hour of the day. I now carry a water bottle. I found that the people with the most success followed the guidelines the strictest.
I figure I have gone to the extreme and had my plumbing altered. I have not come this far to fail! I have lost 220 lbs so far. I am 15 months out, and I can now, most likely, eat many things I could not eat early out. I don't and won't try them! I don't want to know that I can have them. I am just fine without the things that made me fat in the first place. This journey is about changing habits and getting healthy. I have lived well for 15 months eating healthier. I now have no excuse as to why I can't continue eating this way for the rest of my healthy life.
Nick
Dietary Info
Jul 11, 2009
|
High Protein Foods |
|||||
| Serving size: | protein grams |
Serving Size: | protein grams |
||
| almonds (1 cup) | 26.0 | red snapper(3 oz.) | 39.0 | ||
| barley, uncooked (1 cup) | 16.5 | salami (1 oz.) | 6.9 | ||
| baked beans (½ cup) | 8.1 | scallops (5-6 med) | 39.5 | ||
| kidney beans (½ cup) | 7.2 | shrimp (5 lg) | 15.5 | ||
| lima beans (½ cup) | 5.4 | shrimp, canned (3 oz.) | 20.8 | ||
| bean soup (1 cup) | 7.6 | baked ham (3 oz.) | 26.3 | ||
| corned beef (3 oz.) | 22.9 | boiled ham (2 oz.) | 14.5 | ||
| hamburger (3 oz.) | 21.8 | lamb chop, broiled (4 oz.) | 20.2 | ||
| roast beef (3 oz.) | 23.3 | lentil soup (1 cup) | 5.0 | ||
| beef pot pie | 23.0 | beef liver, fried (3 oz.) | 13.2 | ||
| cottage cheese (½ cup) | 13.6 | calf liver, fried (3 oz.) | 15.1 | ||
| fried chicken (½ breast) | 24.7 | lobster (1 cup) | 19.5 | ||
| chicken drumstick | 12.5 | mac & cheese (½ cup) | 8.4 | ||
| chicken, dark (3.5 oz.) | 29.3 | malted milk (8 oz.) | 11.1 | ||
| chicken, white (3.5 oz.) | 32.3 | whole milk (1 cup) | 8.0 | ||
| chicken pot pie | 23.0 | minestrone (1 cup) | 5.0 | ||
| chicken salad (½ cup) | 17.4 | onion soup (1 cup) | 8.1 | ||
| cocoa from mix (1 cup) | 7.0 | oyster stew (1 cup) | 15.8 | ||
| corn bread (1 square) | 5.0 | peanut butter (2 Tbsp) | 8.5 | ||
| cream soups (1 cup) | 7.0 | pea soup (1 cup) | 13.3 | ||
| custard (½ cup) | 7.2 | perch (3 oz.) | 22.5 | ||
| egg, boiled | 6.3 | cheese pizza (1/8 of 14") | 9.4 | ||
| egg, fried | 6.7 | pork chop (3.5 oz.) | 21.4 | ||
| egg, scrambled | 7.1 | baked sole (3.5 0z.) | 30.0 | ||
| eggnog (½ cup) | 7.0 |
spareribs (6 average) | 14.9 | ||
| baked flounder (3 oz.) | 30.2 | broiled trout (3 oz.) | 20.3 | ||
| frankfurter | 7.2 | water packed tuna (½ cup) | 36.4 | ||
| french toast (1 slice) | 5.4 | turkey, dark (3.5 oz.) | 30.0 | ||
| haddock (1 fillet) | 16.6 | turkey, white (3.5 oz.) | 32.9 | ||
| choc. pudding (1 cup | 8.1 | yogurt (½ cup | 4.4 | ||
| FOOD | Potassium Mgs. | Carb grams |
|---|---|---|
| 1 med. Banana | 451 | 26.7 |
| 100gr California Avocado | 634 | 6.91 |
| 100gr Florida Avocado | 488 | 8.91 |
| 1 cup coffee | 96 | 00.80 |
| 1 large egg | 60 | 00.60 |
| 1 c. (pink) canned Salmon | 370 | 00.00 |
| 1 Beef Frankfurter | 90 | 0.10 |
| 1 cup cooked Mushrooms | 554 | 08.00 |
| 1 cup cooked Spinach | 838 | 6.80 |
| ½ med. Cantaloupe | 825 | 22.3 |
| 1 cup boiled Cabbage | 308 | 7.2 |
| 1 cup Brussells Sprouts | 494 | 13.6 |
| 4 ounces Macadamia Nuts | 416 | 15.6 |
| 4 ounces raw Almonds | 832 | 23.2 |
| 4 ozs canned Tuna | 378 | 00.00 |
| 4 ozs Lobster cooked | 399 | 0.40 |
| 1 cup Soy Flour, full fat roasted | 2138 | 26.00 |
I really never, ever thought I would be able to post this:
Jul 06, 2009
I have always included in my blog my replies to posts which I think will benifit others. This is a subject I never though I would ever be able to post but here it is:
Please bare with me here, I am baring here in public something I have not been able to tell in open forum before. I think, though, that it is something that has to be told to help you, and others, out. After about 10 months and 180 lbs lost My system was so screwed up that I was a wreck. I was confused as well as depressed. My emotions were all screwed up. I was reacting to things in ways that I never had before. I would have emotions over things that I knew didn't matter to me, but still I was reacting to them. I didn't know what was going on with me, I just knew I was losing it.
I began to do all sorts of things that weren't me. One of the uncharacteristic things I did was I began to try and race my weight loss. I limited water intake so that I could be a few ounces lower when weighing myself each day. I reduced the already small meals I was eating. I lost all sense of reality. I knew I was thinking and doing things I normally would never think or do.
Now when you sit down and contemplate which pistol you intend to place in your mouth and what angle to hold the gun at, your are past messed up. Fortunately, my actions began to show up in medical tests. the internist and the psychologist at the hospital weight loss center, through which I had my surgery, both became alarmed. I was so malnourished, and dehydrated my BP would drop over 40 points between standing and sitting. They had me hospitalized and placed on suicide watch.
Now, when you are evaluated and prepared for having weight loss surgery they can not, really, ever, prepare you for what emotional swings may occur as a result of the hormonal imbalances that can occur. I was told there could be some emotional stress, but I have never been an emotional guy, so I just brushed it off as "yeah right, I'm no wimp." As my body began to return to normal so did I. Looking back it seems like it was a different person.
My suggestion is that if you are having emotional stresses please talk to a therapist and see your doctor. In time the stresses will pass as your hormone levels return to normal, but, it really does help to get assistance in dealing with it.
If anyone ever wishes they may PM or email me. Painful as it is for me to remember my experience of going through that, I will do what I can to ease anyone hitting a rough spot on their journey. Remember, not everyone has this extreme of chemical imbalance caused by weight loss, and we all react differently to any imbalances, but all of us do balance out and return to normal.
Nick
3 comments
Please bare with me here, I am baring here in public something I have not been able to tell in open forum before. I think, though, that it is something that has to be told to help you, and others, out. After about 10 months and 180 lbs lost My system was so screwed up that I was a wreck. I was confused as well as depressed. My emotions were all screwed up. I was reacting to things in ways that I never had before. I would have emotions over things that I knew didn't matter to me, but still I was reacting to them. I didn't know what was going on with me, I just knew I was losing it.
I began to do all sorts of things that weren't me. One of the uncharacteristic things I did was I began to try and race my weight loss. I limited water intake so that I could be a few ounces lower when weighing myself each day. I reduced the already small meals I was eating. I lost all sense of reality. I knew I was thinking and doing things I normally would never think or do.
Now when you sit down and contemplate which pistol you intend to place in your mouth and what angle to hold the gun at, your are past messed up. Fortunately, my actions began to show up in medical tests. the internist and the psychologist at the hospital weight loss center, through which I had my surgery, both became alarmed. I was so malnourished, and dehydrated my BP would drop over 40 points between standing and sitting. They had me hospitalized and placed on suicide watch.
Now, when you are evaluated and prepared for having weight loss surgery they can not, really, ever, prepare you for what emotional swings may occur as a result of the hormonal imbalances that can occur. I was told there could be some emotional stress, but I have never been an emotional guy, so I just brushed it off as "yeah right, I'm no wimp." As my body began to return to normal so did I. Looking back it seems like it was a different person.
My suggestion is that if you are having emotional stresses please talk to a therapist and see your doctor. In time the stresses will pass as your hormone levels return to normal, but, it really does help to get assistance in dealing with it.
If anyone ever wishes they may PM or email me. Painful as it is for me to remember my experience of going through that, I will do what I can to ease anyone hitting a rough spot on their journey. Remember, not everyone has this extreme of chemical imbalance caused by weight loss, and we all react differently to any imbalances, but all of us do balance out and return to normal.
Nick
A reminder of how we treat others
Jul 03, 2009
This was my reply, today, to a post asking if I judge people by social or economic class:
I judge everyone by status; Good or bad! I try to keep the good people in my life and the bad out.
I learned a lesson in high school I have never forgotten. There was a girl who transferred into our school. She was a bit overweight, and her dress and make up was the subject of jokes and ridicule by most of the kids in my classes. They referred to her as "white trailer trash'. My parents would never have allowed me to have ever treated a person like that. besides, I had been fat all my elementary school and Junior high school years, only having lost 80 lbs in my freshman year. About five years after graduation, I ran into this gal at a department store. She had transformed like ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. I could hardly believe how great she looked and what a stunning lady she turned had become. Then she told me something that still haunts me. She thanked me for being the only person in high school who didn't treat her like a freak, which I never saw her as. I felt good knowing that I had not treated her any different than anyone else, but I also felt guilty for not speaking out to those that did. I went back to only a about three high school reunions. At each one there was only one person I wanted to see there, her. She never came, so I quit attending my high school reunions. I would really love to find out, someday, how her life turned out.
Nick
0 comments
I judge everyone by status; Good or bad! I try to keep the good people in my life and the bad out.
I learned a lesson in high school I have never forgotten. There was a girl who transferred into our school. She was a bit overweight, and her dress and make up was the subject of jokes and ridicule by most of the kids in my classes. They referred to her as "white trailer trash'. My parents would never have allowed me to have ever treated a person like that. besides, I had been fat all my elementary school and Junior high school years, only having lost 80 lbs in my freshman year. About five years after graduation, I ran into this gal at a department store. She had transformed like ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. I could hardly believe how great she looked and what a stunning lady she turned had become. Then she told me something that still haunts me. She thanked me for being the only person in high school who didn't treat her like a freak, which I never saw her as. I felt good knowing that I had not treated her any different than anyone else, but I also felt guilty for not speaking out to those that did. I went back to only a about three high school reunions. At each one there was only one person I wanted to see there, her. She never came, so I quit attending my high school reunions. I would really love to find out, someday, how her life turned out.
Nick
About Me
Oxford, MI
Location
35.4
BMI
Surgery
03/25/2008
Surgery Date
Nov 22, 2008
Member Since
