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Allow me to rant for a minute. I have insurance, and I am lucky enough that it covered my surgery with a $1k copay after I hit my $2k annual deductible. So, I can't complain about my own outcome as far as that goes. But I just got a look at the hospital charges. My insurance company was billed in the neighborhood of $42k dollars for my surgery and hospital stay. They then had a negotiated plan "discount" of $32k applied, bringing the total paid on my behalf to just under $10k. Plus my copay equals $11k, or $13k if you factor in that my entire deductible was made up of surgery related charges. Why can't the hospital just say that a gastric bypass costs $13k? Because that is what they are going to get paid, and they know it, and my insurance knows it. Why the charade? Why must every single insurance policy "negotiate" different discount rates? This is stupid. And without insurance, would I just be left with a $42k bill that I had to pay out of pocket? I have a feeling I would be. Rant over.

I have a choice of 2 breakfasts, either 150 grams full fat Greek yoghurt with berries 170 cals and a homemade latte, 100 cals and all this adds to about 25 grams of protein or a 27 gram sachet of porridge oats with milk and added ginger jam to sweeten it and a latte. I love ginger jam. This adds up to 25 grams of protein and 280 calories Lunch is either home made soup with lentils and bacon/ chicken added for protein or a 2 egg cheese omelette, scrambled eggs or fried eggs. Around 250 calories and up to 20 grams of protein. Snack, Milky coffee, a piece of fruit and some blue cheese 200 cals and 8 grams of protein Evening meal, Homemade family meal minus the carbs or a salad with fish or meat. About 250 cals and 15 grams of protein. Snacks of either fruit and cheese, fruit lolly or a almond magnum, packet of low fat crisps and a homemade cheese dip. I aim for 60 grams of protein and 1500 calories for maintenance. Once a week I may go over on a hungry day and one day I will forget to eat and be miles under so it all balances out. I realise I eat a lot of dairy but my cholesterol is ok at the moment.

I use either a crockpot or a tall pan (it takes no more than 15 mins) it makes several weeks worth, I freeze half! The beans is where I get 90+% of my carbs 😕 but it gives me my fiber so its a trade off. Fiber is carbs. 1 large package ground turkey 1 large can kidney beans 1 large can chili beans in chili sauce 2 cans mushrooms I occasionally mix in with each bowl after cooking banana peppers. 3/4 jar of G. Huges sauce either the Thai chili sauce (its sweeter) or their BBQ sauce. Brown the turkey drain, mix in beans, mushrooms and sauce. That's it. I Iove sauces and G. Huges has tons; yum yum sauce tastes like chic filet sauce, Polynesian sauce, several bbq flavors to change it up, chili Thai is sweet kinda like Chinese plum sauce and numerous others. All very low calories and low carb - no sugars ... They sell quickly so I always buy several when I see them!

NOt boring at all! I like structure! this week I haven't had that. I am making foods on the fly because its been busy this week. But I would like to try and cut back my calories somewhere. Idk where but I feel like I can cut it back somehwere lol I like your lunches! do you just make that in the crockpot?

this sounds fanstastic!! I am eating around 1000-1100 calories. I cannot seem to cut anywhere without getting really fatigued and dizzy. I walk 5x a week nothing crazy a little bit of terrain but havent found time to work out outside of my lunch break yet. So I am accepting that I need those calories. I have been doing the same thing for dinner as you, eating what everyone eats just taking out the carb element. We both had similar starting stats. Do you remember what worked for you at this stage? How long did it take for you lose the weight? Stalls? Any advice would be amazing! I never in a million years can imagine myself at 140! I am in disbelief I am at 226!

it's the same everywhere. here in canada, dental charges are not covered by national insurance. but they are almost always fully covered by private insurance from your place of employment. back when i was working (and had dental insurance) a single teeth cleaning session was billed at around $800 to my insurance provider. now that i am retired and have no dental insurance, my dentist office now bills me $200 for the same cleaning. *shrug*

I think I will definitely have some tunnel vision when I have paid for my surgery (I plan to do that next week) as then it will feel extra real and I will need to get into my game face haha. It is interesting to see your perspective of it all, I completely get the whole wanting to prove it to yourself bit - I feel that the challenge is always there when it comes to wanting to prove it to ourselves that we are capable! I think I am just saying goodbye to my fave foods for now, temporarily, and definitely in the quantity I have been eating them! Then when I get to eat them again, I will hopefully have more control! Thank you for sharing your experience! ❤️

1) you're experiencing the extremely common "three-week stall". Happens to most of us within the first month or so of surgery, usually (but not always) the 3rd week, hence, the name. It typically lasts 1-3 weeks before breaking 2) the gain is almost certainly water or very full intestines. Give it a couple of days and it should be gone.

6+ years post op: I have a routine. I always starting and ending my day with a cup of tea. Everything in between depends on how hungry I am, however it is mostly liquids. For instance I didn’t eat today until 6pm because I was busy, so I won’t reach my protein goal (I usually do) but I will still easily reach hydration goal. Typical snacks are fat/carbs: nuts, cheese, fruit, cookies, chocolates Typical meals are mostly protein/carb combos: -breakfast sandwiches (egg/bread) -cold salads (egg, chicken, salmon/ vegetables/crackers) -meat and potatoes (chicken, lamb, turkey/ mashed/baked/fried) -soup

haven't heard of this in WLS patients - and I'm pretty sure water isn't absorbed in the stomach. I just did some googling (although I know it's not always good to ask Dr. Google). Sounds like it can be caused by a lot of things - kidney issues, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, diabetes, certain medications, etc. Sounds like they'll need to do some testing to figure it out (and you said the Zepbound is making it worse - so that might be one factor - although it sounds like it's not the only one since you had it even before you started on Zepbound)