Can't lose weight after colectomy...

I'm not sure what precipitated his surgeries, but if he was ill with UC or Crohn's it might be survivor's syndrome; his body is holding onto every calorie, if he was under weight before his initial surgery. Losing weight is all about counting calories and increasing exercise. Is he logging the portions and calories of all his meals? I would start with that. Ask the dietitian how many calories he should be getting per day to lose weight and then write the meals down. Weight Watchers is a fantastic program for weight loss and it takes much of the calculations out of your hands. You can do it online too, if there are no meetings near you.

Sue

There is a dietitian at UCLA who I saw speak last week. She deals mostly with GI patients post surgery, and works collaboratively with the GI and CR surgeon at UCLA. She is willing to work with out of area patients via Skype for a fee. If you are interested in her email address, PM me. She might be a valuable resource for your husband.

Sue

Shosh said...
I would love the information, but I don't know how to pm you! We are quite near UCLA! Thanks.

Go to the top of this page, right hand corner and click on Moderators. A list of them will come up....scroll down until you see suebear and click on it. It will give you her email address.

I have been the opposite, can't really put on weight. I am not complaining about it though.

I think he should probably get checked for thyroid and other conditions that can make it difficult to lose weight. I know some people with hashimotos and that is usually not tested for unless requested, but it can make it very difficult to lose weight if you're battling some sort of condition.

I do agree with suebear, it is all about calories for most people. Put in a lot and anyone will gain.

Pluot said...
Ileostomates tend to have lower Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D because of disruption to the ileum, but those can easily be supplemented.

J-pouchers aren't immune to malabsorption issues: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22933864

@Shosh - As far as I know, there are no studies linking colectomy with weight gain, but so little still seems to be known really, e.g. what impact losing your gut flora permanently has. In j-pouch folks there seems to be some evidence that colonic bacteria eventually re-colonise the pouch, but in ileostomy folks the colonic bacteria have been made permanently homeless - there is nowhere else they can relocate to.

Everyone bangs on about how weight gain is nothing more than 'calories in, calories out', even when science shows time after time that there are other factors besides calorie intake involved in obesity. For example, our gut flora.

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/28/gut-bacteria-changed-my-life-dieting-food-blood-sugar-diet

Your husband may not be doing himself any favours by cutting all carbs. Carbs have taken over from fat as the new food enemy, but as always people chuck the baby out with the bathwater when they do that kind of thing.

PS: It's worth looking into a thyroid/hormonal disorder, like nssg suggested. Certainly an uncontrolled underactive thyroid will make it nearly impossible to lose weight. However, I'm guessing your husband's doctors have done a million blood tests and considered all the obvious medical causes already.

One final consideration: you said your husband "is not good at logging his intake". Is there any chance he eats in secret when you're not around? Also, most exercise is useless for weight loss, though your husband should still keep up with the walking for health reasons - just don't expect it to contribute to weight loss.