So,

I had made a post today on my facebook, about really letting go over march break.   Making time for my girls, which resulted in no gym time… eating out as we where on the go alot and some pretty crappy food choices.  Which resulted in a 5 pound gain and really feeling it today.  NOW i don’t regret it…  We had an awesome time.

However i had someone message me and make the comment during our morning chit chat “You had weight loss surgery, how did you gain weight” and that comment reminds me that there are still allot of miss conceptions of the surgery.

So lets just break it down here,  I had what they call the Roux EN Y Surgery, This consisted of separating much of my “Stomach” and  leaving behind what we call a “Pouch”  reattaching the pouch to the Small intestines.  Now this does a number of things which result in the weight loss.

See the diagram below.

• Leaves me a pouch (Stomach) about the size of a apple, Compared to non surgery which would be about the size of a football.   This FORCES me to each MUCH smaller portions, Eat healthy correct size portions which one could do with out surgery but this Assist with that.
• This does sever some nerve endings, so i don’t feel as hungry as often as pre surgery.
• The bypass also bypasses the “Duodenum” which breaks down and obsorbes much of your fat in your foods, so this reduces the weight gain from eating something fatty, but in return dumps the unprocessed fats into my small intestines, which the body then rejects and causes either vomiting, or uncontrolled episodes of loose bowel movements, which is why post surgery we are super restricted on the intake of sugars and fats, not because we can’t eat them, its because when we do well 9 out of 10 times our bodies reject it.
• Because we have the small pouch and not the digestive system we would before surgery we also run a high risk of malnutrition,  We are eating much less, We are absorbing much less which means the food we do put into our mouths need to be that much more nutritious for us, or we are just hurting ourselves, Due to the surgery its not uncommon to suffer from Low iron, Malnutrition,  Kidney and galstones are a frequent issue often the gulbladder needs to be removed.

Where the missconceptions come into play is, Yes i have a stomach the size of a apple, Yes i still absobe calories, and we all know calories equal weight gain…  its all about the Calories in vs Calories out.   With the surgery and with the much smaller pouch, it is much easier for myself to sit at lunch eat a 1 oz piece of fish with a side salad and walk away feeling FULL..  Now that mean filled my pouch and consisted of less than 120 calories.   HOWEVER that does not mean i could not fit that 12 inch Quiznos tuna melt ( One of my all time favorites from there ) into my stomach with a whopping 1700+ Calories..  That is double the caloric intake it is suggested i even consume post surgery!

So the point is..

Yes, i had weight loss surgery.  Yes, if i eat and take my vitamins and supplements as per the guide lines for the Bariatric clinics of Ontario I will do nothing but keep on losing weight.    However YES… If i have the surgery, and pick PISS POOR food choices… I am going to GAIN WEIGHT..  I am going to end up worse than i was before surgery and YES its happened and happens more often than you might think!

Now my challenges, are even more interesting, I have lost 195 pounds since i started my weight loss journey.   I am post surgery just about 17 months and at a point where I enjoy the gym.. Enjoy working out and want to GET FIT.   According to the program i need to consume no more than 900 calories a day.   1 hour of my Mauy Thai sparring classes burned almost 1100 calories..   Add on the fact i walk my kids to school, run a full time printing business,  we are running around 3000 calries burned in a day.  When one burns that much more calories than they take in from experience i can tell you it does not work…  I get weak, Tired, Fall asleep.. Hell how far do you think your going to drive when you have no fuel!  SO instead of eating my 3 200 calories meals, and 3 100 calorie snacks… I eat 5 200 calorie meals, 4 100 calorie snacks and 3 300 calorie shakes in a day.. Yes i consume around 2300-2500 calories a day, Which when i am burning 3000 works out to roughly  3500o more calories burned than consumed over a week which would put me in a ideal 1 pound a week loss.. Which is GREAT!    But look at last week where  my meals where closer to 600 calories per meal with unhealthy snacks, No gym or Mauy thia.. Yea i killed me intake to burning ratio and my body has showed it..  But i know better and my cheat fun week is done and back to the grind stone!

I do hope, this helps clear up any thoughts or questions,  Don’t think that surgery is the easy way..  As anyone who has had the surgery can tell you the restrictions, and the negative reinforcement that comes from not sticking to the restrictions is a far cry from easy 😀

So yes, Weight gain will happen,  Stretching the pouch WILL happen..  its a tool.. You can only abuse a tool so long before it breaks!    The surgery does not pick my food for me ( while it does restrict some options )   The Surgery does not get me out of bed in the morning to go spend an hour at the gym everyday,   It does not take my car keys away from me and force me to walk to get the kids from school..    Its a tool.  That when used right does assist with a easier chance at losing excess weight.   When abused.. Well back on death row i go 😀

Happy Monday Everyone!