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Here are some products I've discovered recently that I really like: Aldi has Keto buns. Awesome ones. I'm not a keto person, but I love these cause of the dietary (oat) fiber they pump them up with to make them keto. For 60 little calories....you get 8g of Protien, and a whopping 19g of Dietary fiber!!!! They've got 21g of carbs, but with the fiber, net carbs of only 2g. They're a small size, so not overwhelming for the small stomach crowd. Throw 2 ounces of Aldi Chicken Breast on there with some lettuce and tomato, and you've got an excellent little sandwich with 18g of Protien and 19g of Dietary Fiber....for only 135 calories! Diet Orange Julius smoothy. This hits the spot when I'm having a desert craving. Here's the recipe...roughly...adjust to taste. Three one inch pieces frozen banana, two large frozen strawberries, half cup of orange juice, splash of vanilla, half a cup 30 calorie almond milk (or skim cow milk), sweetener of choice (I use splenda and monkfruit). Blend this in your smoothie maker, sit on the porch and enjoy this drink that'll make you think of the mall in the late 80's / early90's. Good stuff! Monkfruit, but not the commercial brands, they suck. Go on Amazon and get real concentrated monkfruit drops with no added ingredients. (I like Monk Drops). For some people, Monkfruit has an aftertaste, for some it tastes incredibly close to real sugar with no aftertaste. I'm one of the lucky ones. I never had luck with Stevia because Stevia has a horrific aftertaste for me, but Monkfruit tastes terrific. If you're one of the people that gets an aftertaste from Monkfruit I apologize in advance. But I could drink the stuff straight and find it delicious. Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Maple Syrup. I hate most sugar free maple syrups. This one has Excellent taste. 20 calories in HALF A CUP. If you like protien oatmeal pancakes...you need this. I also pour this on my steal cut oats. Homemade fried chicken! I have never made fried chicken in my life. Recently attended a healthy cooking class where we made keto fried chicken! Again, I'm not a huge keto fan, but this chicken was so good, I'd make it anyway. To start with, only the coating is fried...the chicken itself is boiled. We boiled the chicken until it was completely cooked in salty seasoned water...think bay leaves, sage, salt and pepper, thyme. Then we cooled the chicken and put cashews through the blender to make cashew flour. Wet your chicken with milk/egg wash and roll it in cashew flour with spices and about two tablespoons of flour fry mix mixed in. Coat it a couple times if you want. Then, flash fry it in 350 degree oil. You could probably do this in the air fryer, too? (I have not tried this) I actually submerged mine in oil....only for about a minute to make it nice golden brown. Yep, you've got some fat content and calories from the oil....but it's NOT greasy. The outside is crispy crunchy and the inside is moist and flavorful. A large chicken leg prepared this way only has about 150 calories, lots of protien, and hits the spot for summer picnics. Chickpea pasta salad. Love this. Everyone has a favorite pasta salad recipe. Mine goes sorta like this... Chickpea pasta, cherry tomatos, kalamata olives, reduced fat salami, English cukes, red onion, tiny diced swiss, diced bananna pepper....Dressing is Good Seasoning Italian dressing packet with balsamic vinegar, splenda, water, extra light olive oil. My beloved Chocolate Fudge Yasso frozen yogurt bars. 80 calories of "you'll never want icecream again". 6g of protien, too. I'll admit it. When I hit that incredibly horrible day when I want to eat a half gallon of ice cream.....I've been known to get a box of fudge Yassos and eat them all. But here's the difference. A four pack of Yassos is 320 calories and 24g of protien. Even feeling like I'm drowning my sorrows in ice cream....it's not a completely horrible nutritional choice. A little high in sugar, but not world ending. It is my emotional tantrum junkfood of choice. And while I try NOT to do this kinda maniac disordered eating anymore....it's nice to have a plan for when my brain slips once in a blue moon. (and it's a hell of a lot better than eating a half gallon of blue moon for instance) LOL A shot of Mio in iced tea can be superb! Crockpot sweet carrots with spenda instead of honey. They taste terrific. Black beans with salt and pepper, corn on the cob, and a plate of tomato slices with fresh basil, olive oil and a slice of fresh mozerella. And watermelon, of course:) OH! And another favorite....this one is slightly naughty. Strawberries mashed with splenda, chunks of mango, and a splash of ameretto liqueur. Eat this like strawberry shortcake, only use oat protien pancakes instead of shortcake. Happy Summer, Folks! If you've found some especially good diet-ey foods or products, be sure to mention them to the rest of us!

I finally showed my before and after photos on facebook. I was very, very scared. I had told a lot of people - but some didn't know. I had never EVER showed a full body picture like that. From the side at that! Anyways, on the left: I was a miserable 369lbs. SUPER unhealthy, probably headed to death. I doubt very seriously I could make it past 400. My body would probably just give out. I was already struggling to breathe doing simple tasks/walking up stairs. ANYWHO, the right was a shot taken by my beautiful momsicle on Mother's Day just last weekend. Ignore my "suns in the eyes" face. I am over 120lbs lost from February 27th, 2020 to now. I finally am under 250lbs and I am just floored. Of course, I won't lie. It's been a struggle. Currently, my biggest challenge has and still is - dumping. In the beginning, for the first 8 months, I threw up every. single. day. I realized ice cream, fried foods, steak - out of the question. Buffets were a waste. Most every meal I got out, was a waste. It made people feel bad at first because I would stop eating after 3 bites. I had to constantly remind people that I didn't mind if they ate! I got accepted into nursing school and reverted back to some old habits. Sugary coffees (which made me dump like HELL), chicken nuggets, fries...Anything I could stuff in my mouth "on the go". I would pay the price, but I wasn't puking after every single meal. So I thought I was in the clear. Earlier this year, I started to have tremendous abdominal pain. Spasms that took my breath away. After numerous tests, it was concluded that I had severe IBS with constipation and diarrhea. After talking to my NP at the weight loss place, we decided to try more plant-based alternatives. I'll admit, I was skeptical and very upset because this girl LOVES a nice juicy steak! But, I have noticed my symptoms are near non-existence when I eat beans, (wild) rice, whole grains, some fruits, and almost any veggie. I take it light with caffeine as that is a trigger, but I do still consume some. Suffice to say, this has been the hardest battle I have ever fought in my entire life. I continue to fight it. I continue to struggle with choices about food. I've learned to not limit myself completely. If I want a cookie, I'll eat half. I don't starve myself. I just don't overindulge like I used to. It seems to be working as I have lost a ton of weight. I plateau, but it's going. I just want to be an advocate for anyone considering the surgery and will answer ANY questions! I want to also be your cheerleader if you have already had the surgery. I can't promise it won't be hard, but I will promise it will be worth it to look at yourself in the mirror and have self-esteem again! I am actually OK with people taking full body pictures now! Insane! I am waiting for my weight to be stable to get skin surgery, but baby steps! #AMA

Yes! 7g per serving.

not sure how far out you are, but I kept losing until I was 20 months out.

Welcome to Team July!!

First, there are people that have regretted having surgery. Generally they aren't on sites like this. Second, all those bad things that you've read about in the past are still out there. Put them in perspective right next to all the negative effects of not doing anything. Choose wisely. Third, saying goodbye to your favorite foods forever largely depends on your surgery type. Even then, none of the foods you mention are goodbye forever foods in reality. In the last month I've eaten McD's. Red meat is in my normal rotation, you can pry my hamburger out of my greasy, dead hands. I've had Peanut butter cups, though not much and not often as I've had RNY and I dump on sugar. In point of fact there is no food or drink that I cannot eat if I choose. I generally stick to my plan, so the worse the food/drink is health-wise the less often I eat/drink a little of it. All things in moderation, including moderation. Your Doctors work for you. If your Doc is not doing what you need, then you need a new Doc. You can succeed at this with the proper mind set. It is a big change for most of us. For the better, generally. Good luck, Tek

Hand washing a car without getting winded or tired! Also there was a ton of honking and catcalls but I’m not sure if it was for me or for the car itself 😂

if you want to go to Mexico, Dr Francisco Sauceda in Monterrey and Dr. Laura Carmina Cardenas in Tijuana are very well-known in bariatric circles. They've worked on A LOT of bariatric patients and specialize in massive weight loss patients. Dr. Joseph Capella in New Jersey has also operated on a lot of us (and specializes in massive weight loss patients, too), and his prices seem reasonable compared to a lot of other US surgeons (haven't seen anything recent on him, though) several people here have gone to Miami for plastic surgery because supposedly it's one of the cheapest areas in the country for that - I don't know any names, but a few people on here have gone there and can probably give you some recommendations. The prices they've gotten don't seem much more than the prices in Mexico oh - Dr. Joseph Michaels in Rockville, MD has also been used by a lot of bariatric patients I personally would look for someone who specializes in body contouring for massive weight loss patients or at least has done a BOATLOAD of them, because it supposedly is a complicated sub-specialty.

Yes I regret it and I wished I have never done it, I lost weight , I am thin but I'm not healthy. 3 years post op gbp and I'm battling what I suspect reactive hypoglycemia and dumping and vitamin issues. I am a wreck, I would advice nobody to get the surgery.

Honestly, I had complications my surgeon accidentally obstructed my bowels so a week later I had emergency surgery, I was producing excess saliva, I couldn’t take in any fluids and my body no longer can tolerate artificial sweeteners. I couldn’t drink my favorite thing in the world like I wanted to anymore, water. I am now on May 3rd going to make 2 months out! I want to say 2 weeks ago everything got better fluids started rolling in. No more nasty taste in mouth no more excessive saliva. I no longer have diabetes and I crave healthy food. I’m getting my fluids in and I can drink my water cold and get through 20 ounces in 30-45 mins. So yes I regretted it at one point but now I don’t. Everyone reacts to the surgery differently if you do have a hard time after just let your body heal and it will get better.