I'm having trouble staying on plan, too.

I need a pouch reset too!

Ladies, let's "get it together" together!

I need more like a HEAD and HEART reset! We know that not all calories are created equal! And we know that it is just not about WHAT we eat, but HOW we eat. Do we eat mindfully? or are we eating when we are bored? Or on the run? Or distracted? Or when we are eating for pleasure or distracting ourselves from dealing with emotions???

Pouch reset is a good idea on so many levels, one it will give us a chance (at least me) to detox from the carb and sugar overload, and to get back on track on eating clean and mindfully.

Here is what my plan for the next week looks like:

- Log food (after a hiatus I have been logging my food again, I am on day 9)
- Keep my calorie intake between 950-1100 calories.
- Drink at least 80oz of water, and take my multivitamin
- 3 straight days of liquids including low carb protein shakes and bone broths with protein.
- ---> Followed by 3 days of soft foods including eggs, some cottage cheese, tofu, soups with protein and with low sugar vegetables.
- ----->Followed by a week of protein, salads with low glycemic vegetables and some sprouted lentils, quinoa or beans, and nuts (homemade dressing of olive oil and lemon and dry mustard)
- 30-45 minutes of fast paced walking every day.

This plan is to get take back some responsibility and stay accountable.

Let me know if y'all have any ideas.

Im right there with all of you! Im liking the reset idea! I feel like I have stretched my pouch... the holidays and sugar were not suppose to be on the menu. But I had them Im definitely going to try liquid diet for 3 days to detox all this junk! Meal plan and low carb diet following. Have any of you started your reset? How did you do?

I will be one year out tomorrow. I think it's normal to eat more than we did at the beginning, it is expected in the process. But even if I feel a little down with losing so slowly those past months, I will not try the "pouch reset" because I don't want to fall into the yoyo dieting again. I know too well how it can destroy my balance in no time.
I did track my food for one year at some point, it drove me crazy and decided the sleeve would be different. I do track once in a while to make sure I get enough protein or if I try something new. But that's it.
I do think it's ok to have little carbs once in a while, and if we are hungry eat is fine, we just have to be careful with our food choices. Protein and veggies are really the best choices for me.
My period started last week end too, I had to double my iron dosage to stop the cravings. I did have some chocolate but had red meat too, just to balance the whole thing.

I was reading a few months ago that what we lose the first year is mainly our genes, and from year one it's more about the environment. I know I'm a slow loser and I have my genes against me (and the asthma medication too!)...but our knowledge about nutrition is better now compare to ten years ago, so I hope that will make a difference for year 2!
I'm starting higher doses of omegas to cope with my knee/join pain, hoping I will be able to move more soon.
Still taking artichoke three or four times per week, I think it does help my liver...we'll see what the blood test say in a few days.
Friends, let's stay focus on health first, food is our fuel, finding the best quality possible will help with our health. That's my goal for year 2.

Sandra, you have done sooo well in one year! Losing 36k is no small feat! That's 79.5lbs! You have had a lot of things to overcome specially dealing with different medications that in it of itself can cause havoc on your metabolism. Long term use of any medication can accumulate in your system and become toxic.

I am a firm believer in detox cleanses, they don't have to be extreme or last longer than a week, it helps aid the body get rid of toxins. I have read (somewhere) the bad gut bacteria thrive on sweets and carbs and fat, and like medication overload so do carbs and sugars and fat become toxins. If not look up cardiovascular disease.

I am with you, I don't ever want to be trapped in the yo-yo dieting hell ever again. But getting back to basic eating for a week to detox and to get back on working out your sleeve plan is the best next step to staying on a path of unhealthy food choices at least for me.

Are you familiar with Vipassana? It is an ancient form of meditation practice by Buddhists in India for thousands of years. The better explanation can be found here https://www.dhamma.org/en/about/vipassana but the Vipassana practice is silence isolation to reconnect the body and heart and mind. It's a form of detox. I have signed up to attend a half dozen times, but something always has come up that I had to cancel. While I have not been formally mentored, I've done forms of Vipassana on my own. They have helped me get back to center.

And you are right food is vital to our human lives and it is nourishment to keep us healthy and centered and functioning in our daily lives. It is also an essential Vipassana practice to eat only clean and nutrient pack foods in their natural state (no animal protein) during the ten day meditation. It is a form of detox.

I have read several articles on the "pouch reset" there is absolutely no scientific finding that it will shrink the stomach again, but it is a form of a mental reset for folks that have lost their way and gone back to lifestyle choices detrimental to their health and weight loss goals.

It is the same as others have said "make a plan, work your plan, and revise the plan if it isn't working" or something like that.

Xo

Yesterday, I had a CARB ATTACK!!! I ate bread at lunch, bread when I got home from work and bread crumbs on my fish! yikes!

I love carbs, but they don't love me. (Actually, they love my belly, cause they like to hang out there!)

I feel like I've stretched my stomach, I am definitely eating more now. I'll need to try your routine Shirl, i also like to detox.
Looking forward to hearing about your results!

Originally Posted by Shirl

Losing 36k is no small feat! That's 79.5lbs!

Well, I was expecting more, and was hoping that the one year package would include less pressure on my joints for good, and more work out than now (today : 2 miles and my knee started it's dance, then the pollution was so bad again I just gave up and went back to the metro...argh!). My surgeon actually include my pre-op diet and his two weeks pre-op diet in his numbers, which makes a total of 44kgs. Indeed nothing to cry about here. I could never have reached that number with a diet only. I actually am right now at my lowest weight in 20 years, since I got huge with gestational diabetes I was never at that weight before except during my first pregnancy.

I do understand why you want to do a detox and if it will certainly work for many, I know that for me it's just not possible. It's just an observation here, I'm not being critical, I just share my point of view because it might not work for everyone.
I know that if I start to think 'no chocolate for two weeks" the only thing I'm going to think about for two weeks is going to be chocolate. And then I start a pattern that I will have a hard time to break. The only thing that work for me is changing something long term. I stopped drinking soda in 2012. I didn't look back. I know it was my only way to deal with it. Some people might be able to drink it once in a while, I can't. Smoking was the same way. For food it's just different. I never ate junk but I have to be careful with sweets. Those I can have once in a while...but I have to set a limit and stick to it.

For living two years and a half in a country where the main religion is Buddhism, I do think that people are less aggressive here. I do know about the ten days mediation, there's a few centers here in Taiwan and two people I know did it.
I couldn't deal with ten days with no music or reading, but again that's my own thing.
The vegan diet is for sure useful, I do eat less meat for ten years now. At some point it probably helped me not to gain even more weight...

I'm not sure that just a detox will actually change the gut bacteria. It might help but so far for dealing with IBS for more than two decades, I tried so many things and detox did nothing. It seems from what a specialist said and what I was reading, that we also inherit that too...seems I won the genetic lottery LOL! Kindle did talked about her experience with "fecal transplant" and it did work. I was actually thinking about doing that too at some point, but it seems that my IBS really improved a lot with the sleeve! and even my food allergies....
I do try to "detox" to with taking my plant supplements..artichoke and others, so I understand.
Anyway. I wish you the best for your detox! keep us posted!

Sandra, this week I upped my probiotics along with eating more protein and limiting my carbs to vegetables and whatever is found in cheese, and to the a new almond milk I am trying out this week. I know what you mean, I've suffered from IBS and I contribute my relief to probiotics, enzymes and plant supplements. These last few days I have been "going" several times a day and on the loose side, so I'm thinking something is making things move, hopefully it's the probiotics and high fiber at work.

Pam, my sugar cravings are on an all time high, so I am allowing dark chocolate as a treat even if I over eat it has less sugars than what I was eating during the Holidays. I saw that one small praline had the sugar and fat content of four servings of my dark chocolate. I had also started adding a bit of honey to my evening tea, and that had to be stopped. I think it was really triggering other cravings.

Liz, I can't eat like I used to preop, but definitely can eat a bit more these days, some days less than others thank Goodness! I guess my tummy has completely healed and knowing that my surgeon used 40f bougie, I know I will be able to eat even more down the road. But I do hope that with food diary and logging, I will be able to keep track of how much I am eating. I know some folks think it's a hassle, but it helps me stay accountable.

Originally Posted by Sandra3

My period started last week end too, I had to double my iron dosage to stop the cravings. I did have some chocolate but had red meat too, just to balance the whole thing.

Does doubling the iron work? I've ALWAYS had trouble with period cravings and over eating at that time. If this helps it would be WONDERFUL.

Originally Posted by TarotAces

Does doubling the iron work? I've ALWAYS had trouble with period cravings and over eating at that time. If this helps it would be WONDERFUL.

I was on my moon when I read that and made sure to take iron supplement, I am not sure if it helped because I also stopped one trigger food that I feel was causing my uncontrollable sugar craving or maybe it was a combo of both. I have, however, put a reminder to start taking iron supplement a week before my next scheduled moon.

Originally Posted by TarotAces

Does doubling the iron work? I've ALWAYS had trouble with period cravings and over eating at that time. If this helps it would be WONDERFUL.

Well, it works well for me. And my doc confirmed I was doing the right thing. But I always had issues with chronic anemia, it just got worth post-sleeve. I noticed the past months that when my iron was too low the cravings were worth than ever and it was right during the first week of TOM or few days before. So I did it three times already and could see a big improvement. But check your blood test to make sure of where you are regarding your iron level. You don't want to over dose on iron. For me it's safe because even with mega dose I'm always low.

Originally Posted by Shirl

I know what you mean, I've suffered from IBS and I contribute my relief to probiotics, enzymes and plant supplements.

I think somewhere my IBS issue is linked to my obesity. Because it also started right after my first pregnancy/gestational diabetes/becoming obese.
But since there's is a colon cancer history in both sides of my family I saw several specialists in 20 years and not one offered a real solution to help. My biggest issue was the constant diarrhea, too much fiber could make me sick for days. I've been taking probiotics for +20 years even before it was "in fashion". But eating veggies or salad when eating out was a big no non because I could never know if it was not going to start an "episode". So sometimes I had to take Loperamide everyday when traveling, just as prevention. Since the sleeve my IBS is almost gone. I can safely eat veggies, even when eating out! I did read that the sleeve does change our metabolism on many ways. I hope that side effect will not go away!