[Thighs]

Wow- am I glad to have found this site!!!

I have so many questions and the nearest Dr to me is a 4hr drive.

When I read that post op is no carbs, 60-100 gms of protein,
How many cals is that?

My close friend is like why not just go on a liquid protein diet
of 500 cals, much safer than surg and same results.
Is that true?

Has there ever been surg for someone to not gain the weight back? I have good results with Atkins but major trouble maintaining the loss. Can surg be done to help stay at healthy wght?

Also what about exercise. I hear people say it isnt safe to exercise at first on such low cals as 500 a day.

Thx in advance,
I look forward to reading and learning more.

[AmyLyn]

Let's see if I can answer a few of these.. 60-100 grams of protein a day.. YES.. That includes doing protein shakes if you have to in order to get that amount. No carbs - well that depends who you talk to. I for one, think NO carbs is not good for you body so I eat less carbs. I average anywhere between 30 and 60 a day. NEVER more than 20 in ONE particular meal. For calories, well up til 6 months I averaged 500-800 a day. Now that I am almost 10 months I average 1000-1400 depending on if I exercise that day.

Liquid protein diet.. Can you live on liquid protein forever? Most likely, once you stop that diet, you will regain. Same thing goes for Atkins, once you stop, bam here comes the weight back on. With this surgery you don't "diet" persay, you literally have to change how you eat forever.

At first you truly don't heavily exercise. The first couple months I just walked. Once you start to heavily exercise than yes you have to eat a little more to compensate. On the days I exercise I will eat up to 300 more calories and slightly more carbs to compensate for what I expend.

Hope all of this helps!

[jiffypop]

yikes, thighs!!!! you have major research to do here!!!!!

there are two basic types of surgery: one is the lap band in which they close off a part of your stomach with a band. this one restricts the amount of food you can eat at any one time.

the second type of surgery alters your digestion and makes your stomach smaller. there are several kinds of surgery in this category, the most common of which is the roux n y gastric bypass. some people have the duodenal switch, and other have the vertical banded gastroplasty.

i've had the roux n y, as have most of the other posters on this board. it's considered the gold standard for losing and maintaining the weight loss.

there are two parts to this surgery: the first is the 'tiny tummy,' it's about 2 oz when they're done. the size of a shot glass or a golf ball. it really holds very very little. the second part is the rerouting of the intestines, which reduces the amount of calories nad nutrients that you can absorb,

between the two parts, we stand a better chance of losing the weight and keeping it off. NO ONE WILL DO THE SURGERY TO HELP A PERSON MAINTAIN A WEIGHT LOSS.

to qualify for the surgery, you must have a BMI of at least 40, which means that you're about 100 pounds overweight, or a BMI of 38-40 with serious other comorbidities: hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, sleep apnea are the biggest ones.

now, figuring 6 calories per gram of protein, 100 grams of protein is about 600 calories.

and yes, you could certainly go on a 500 calorie diet and lose weight, assuming your body doesn't go into starvation mode. and if you lose the weight you want, as soon as you increase your calories you'll gain the weight back. it's a sure way to yo yo and destroy your metabolism.

as for exercising on 500 calories. well., let's be serious here. no one would run a marathon on that, but it's certainly possible to walk, swim, do all kinds of other things. that's the reason for the high protein, in fact. it saves your muscles, keeps your body going, and stabilizes your blood sugar so that you can in fact live.

the surgery alters your metabolism. it gives many of us a set of rules that, if we follow them, we can lose and maintain the loss. that's not the case with most diets.

keep asking questions!!! and check out obesityhelp.com as well...

[Thighs]

Hi and Thx for the replys.

You are so right I cant live on liquid forever.

What I dont get is how with surg can you eat 500-800 cal
for 6 months then increase to 1000-1400 and not gain?
How do you stay out of starvation mode with the surg?

Thx, I am really learning!!

[jiffypop]

it's the malabsorption process, i think. but don't get me wrong. we DO hit plateaus. your body has to catch up.

also, because of the rerouting of the innards, certain signals that normally run between the intestines and the brain don't work any more. i think that has a lot to do with it too.