It's now four years since my gastric sleeve operation. I still only eat small amounts of foods, but I have been more aware of how my body behaves with certain foods I eat over the last year. I feel ok, and I still think this was the best decision I have ever taken to lose weight, apart from it being the only way to lose weight effectively and become focused on having a healthy body and mind.
Let's talk about eating foods, so my tummy doesn't like me to eat sugar, fat and chilli spice. It has taken me a while to realise this, not sure why maybe because I wanted to eat the foods I wanted. I am now seeing if I cut out specific food symptoms disappear. These symptoms are not good and have left me with some concerns. The main symptom is acid (I think)! Even though I am eating small amounts, if I have two or three chunks of milk chocolate, my tummy feels like I have heartburn and need to reach for my Lansoprazole. The same goes for curries, chillis, fatty foods. Even though I don't eat fatty foods, I am referring to crisps or toast and butter. I cannot reiterate enough that my portions sizes are still small, so I am surprised that this is happening. My head tells me that I have a reduced stomach, which means that the acids in my tummy are not so good at working. The food would take longer to digest in a normal-sized stomach; again, this is my guessing.
I have looked at the foods that can cause stomach acid and foods that help reduce the acids and let the tummy heal from any internal burns. My days start with porridge oats made with soya milk, and I haven't had dairy for a good few years. Lunch is homemade seeded bread I toast and have with peanut butter, the kind without sugar, finished off with a small banana. Dinner tends to be salmon with broccoli puree and mashed sweet potato. Again, all small portion sizes. My snack before bed could be frozen black cherries and soya plain yoghurt or a small bowl of no added sugar muesli. I have only been doing this for a few days, and I have noticed that I have not had the acid feeling during the day. My stomach is much more comfortable, though I have had bouts of acid in the nights at about 4 am, which I have been getting up and having a small bowl of oat bran which does the trick. Because I eat small foods, my tummy is empty, and the acids flare-up. This is my guess as to why this is happening.
My doctor made a remark that has stuck firmly in my mind: the Lansoprazole tablet could be masking other issues, and I have been using this pill as an antiacid, not daily; I must add certainly frequently. So here I go again,
Overall I feel very well indeed. Even though I am in my early 50's I have never felt so fit and well. Through my 20s, 30, 40s, I was overweight and never really benefitted from what life had to offer—not talking about wearing fashionable clothes but being active and able to reach out and take the dive into fitness and have confidence. I used to walk into a crowded room, slink away in the corner, and pretend that I didn't exist whilst wishing time away. I wanted to be in the privacy of my own home. Now I walk with my head up high, and I can smile and say hello to strangers. This is me. This is who I am now.
Part Two will be an update on how this new diet lifestyle is going and how I feel, and then Part Three will look at the following steps I need to take.
Life is all about what you eat and how you look after yourself. So, I am slightly suffering now, but I am not ignoring it and looking at how I can fix it.