Struggling to Lose Weight After Surgery, Need Advice

Interesting question indeed and something which has been bothering me for far too long! I am 179cm tall and 90kg heavy. Like Bill said, I feel like I am pregnant with my stomach bulging out. I have tried controlling my food intake but that did not help at all.

Hi guys,

Those last 2 posts caught my attention. I life-coach a friend for whom life has not been very kind to, and he has a problem with his weight. He's not fat overall, he just looks like he swallowed a beach ball.....literally. His belly is hard as a rock and he can cross his arms and rest them on his belly while he's talking to you. Kids call him "Humpty Dumpty" and it fits. So I went with him to see his primary care doctor to find out what the hell was going on with his gut.

Turns out there are 2 kinds of belly fat.....subcutaneous and visceral fat. He has the latter, and it's a serious problem. Check out the link below for more detail, but subcutaneous fat is the normal stuff everyone gets that forms just under the skin. Visceral fat forms under your abdominal wall inside your main body cavity......and that's why it's so problematic......it's forming around your intestines and vital organs and not on the outside of your abdominal wall and under your skin. It's not impossible to get rid of visceral fat, but if you have it you need to know what you're dealing with. Not saying you guys have it, but just throwing this out there for your situational awareness.

https://www.healthline.com/health/visceral-fat

Regards,

Bob

Why is this comment so me!!! Lol but no I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at the age of 19 (now 20) and I bet you not my diet is not healthy at all. I eat almost more junk food than regular food, but yet I won't gain any kind of weight. Instead, I lose weight. But I have also heard that people seem to lose weight when they are on an ileostomy due to not absorbing the foods they eat. But for me, my metabolism is also really fast, so that can also be the thing. But if anyone knows how to gain weight while having an ileostomy, please let me know.

Thank you

Lando/Stomer :)

Hi Lando,

The simple answer on how to gain weight is to talk to a dietitian who specializes in IBD. Depending on whether your disease is active and how much of your bowels are affected is a large part of it. We can talk at length about the details, but I got to get to work now. If you want to chat more just shoot me a PM and I can go through the basics with you later. Trust me..........if I can gain weight with my 50 inches of small bowel and no colon.........so can you.

;0)

Bob

I just hang around people bigger than me. Eating right is about 85% of being in a normal weight range. Add in some exercise and it's even easier.

Any weight loss or weight gain plan has to have rules in my world. My favorite weight loss and healthy weight rules:

1. Don't eat anything that is white or which is made of many white ingredients.
2. Place a chewable portion of food in your mouth, put down your fork, and chew and enjoy that one bite. Don't shove in another bite until you've swallowed the previous one. You'll be amazed at how good this feels. Watch others eat, as they shovel in a new forkful while the previous forkful hasn't even been swallowed yet. It's kinda gross.
3. Don't eat red meat aside from one hamburger each summer. Don't eat any processed meats aside from one really good hot dog each summer.
4. Learn to stir fry your meals. Boneless chicken with the right spices and veggies make an amazing satisfying meal.
5. Eat fish 2 times each week if you can

6. Move around as much as you can each day. For some of us that's laps of the house at the top of each hour. Whatever you can do, do it

I hope these ideas help you

Personal motivators.... watch your older, dearest sibling essentially commit personal suicide by ignoring his diabetes from age 40 to age of death at 71. That's one heck of a motivator.
Get pumped up on prednisone in 2019 and pumped up to nearly 200 lbs at 5' tall.... get diagnosed with prednisone-induced diabetes 8 days after the above-mentioned brother's death. And get real serious right then and there. Then have prednisone destroy your body, necessitating 7 surgeries in 1.5 years amid a pandemic. I lost 80 lbs. Now I can't keep weight on because food turns me off big time. I just don't enjoy it. Can't go out for exotic foods, so I do my stir-frying because I have to eat something.