This is a very very long post… I will break it down into parts.
This is PART ONE
Background
How about NONE of the above?
I am getting SICK and TIRED of the ARROGANT and IGNORANT people who think that Weight Loss Surgery is ANY of the above.
First of all let’s address the two aspects of MY type of WLS.
I had Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass (RNY). The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure involves creating a stomach pouch out of a small portion of the stomach and attaching it directly to the small intestine, bypassing a large part of the stomach and duodenum. Not only is the stomach pouch too small to hold large amounts of food, but by skipping the duodenum, fat absorption is substantially reduced. In addition, the amounts of food we can eat are greatly reduced. I used to eat and eat and eat. An unaltered stomach can (and does) hold up to SIXTEEN CUPS of food. My pouch now holds probably 6-8 oz or so. Eventually it will grow to hold 8-12 oz. Much better than 16 cups don’t you think???
In addition I have some rules that have to be followed. At this point there are two food rules that I live and die by:
1. PROTEIN FIRST. I strive for 100g of protein a day but I tend to be ok with a range of 80-120. My doctor would be happy with 60-80 but I work out pretty hard for his standard patient and I’ve been well educated by the likes of Andrea, Nikki and Melting Mama so I tend to be more aggressive with things like protein and supplements (vitamins and such)
2. NEVER EAT and DRINK at the same time. AND wait at least 30 minutes after eating before drinking. I do drink up until the time I put food in my mouth but once I eat I stop drinking. I will never ever break this rule on purpose (I’ve done it by mistake but not on purpose)
There are also rules about sugar and fat but I tend to bend those a bit..
So what does this mean for me? It means is, I can eat very little food at this point. Eventually I should be able to eat what is considered A NORMAL amount of food. The problem with this is that what OUR society (vs. what is medically necessary) considers a normal amount of food is EXCESSIVE to the extreme at this point.
I wish sometimes that I could eat more. But I can’t. And what the surgery has taught me in the extreme is that YES I can survive and THRIVE on the amount of food I am ingesting daily. I thrive, I work out, I live. I enjoy. It’s a good life. I have NO deprivation of any kind. Thankfully I am not in any way shape or form suffering from side effects or problems. I have friends that struggle so to stay healthy that my delight in how easy this feels (and yes right NOW it does feel easy) sometimes become guilt.
I had this surgery nearly ten months ago on September 22, 2009. It was my rebirth in many ways. I thought about having lap band but I like the malabsorption part of the RNY, even if it does not last forever. (Well to be honest the malabsorption of the nutrients does but the caloric malabsorption goes away sadly) I like that my pouch is tiny. It still is tiny by the way. I was thinking at 10 months out I should be eating much more normal amounts and sometimes I can. Most times however, I eat ¼ of a serving of something (half of a half) and call it a day. In fact, I went to lunch today with Leslie, Sylvie, Angie and Brian showed up. Between the FIVE of us, we ordered TWO quesadillas. We all had leftovers. I had about 3 tortilla chips with salsa and TWO small wedges of steak quesadilla. Oh and a couple of spoonfuls of rice and refried beans… YUMMY. AND DONE. AND then, (but wait there’s more) Angie Bri and I hit STARBUCKS for large (venti) iced decaf coffees. That’s gone now too… I will have a snack later.. I will enjoy a dinner and a snack and more iced decaf…. And somehow today I will manage to get in about 1500 calories, 100g of protein, 150g of carbs and 60g of fat or so… and yet… I still continue to lose weight. Maybe that’s the part that’s EASY. The fact that I’m living and doing it well and I’m happy?
Is life supposed to be hard? I don’t think so. So let’s talk about these ideas of CHEATING, MAGIC or EASY….
