SurrenderDorothy

*deep breath* Behold! My first challenge! I tried to keep it realistic. SN--- SurrenderDorothy SW--285 GW---270 CW--285 lbs to goal--- 15

No chance of Onderland this year for me, but thanks for the kick in the pants! Best of luck to you from out here in stall land as well

fat free dehydrated refried beans helped me

I had a small victory moment like that when I lost my first pants size. Congratulations!!

I have this problem, and have heard some people mention that sometimes your sleeve needs "warming up" in the morning. There are some days where I feel like I can't even eat until after 3pm. I can force liquids and soft stuff down before then, but I don't become "ready to eat" until the afternoon. Some of the suggestions I heard were to drink warm liquids in the morning, like Tea, or to do a protein shake for breakfast. I didn't pay much attention to the reasoning behind all of it, but it makes sense. Drinking tea, for the record, did nothing to help with this problem and I can barely get 2oz of a shake down in the morning - 2 months post op.

I've noticed that my arm and leg hair is a lot less thick and coarse and takes much longer to grow back. I've seen some HUGE improvement with the darkness of my facial hair, but it's still fairly thick - probably from all of the vitamins. I've noticed the lessening of a lot of the other PCOS symptoms as well. The results started after the first 30lbs dropped. Hope this helps, and good luck with yours!

it tastes darn near exactly like mayo! My friend Devereaux likes to upset my OCD by making egg salad with the Egg free mayo.... http://www.followyourheart.com/products/original-vegenaise/ they also have organic, grapeseed, etc.

Sounds great! How bad is the sodium? I might have to run out and grab some of those. They'd make great Disneyland snacks!

i don't use the veganaise for tuna salad, again with the purist thing. it MUST be mayo, and not that crappy low fat crap. Lots of moderation and calorie/fat counting. Biggest thing with the veganaise is that it isn't white, it's kind of... off white. When mixed with other things, the color can be off putting. I've had almost no tolerance for eggs post op, so I have to cut it where I can Good luck!

Dr. Ninh Nguyen from UCI's H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center did mine. I highly recommend him and his team. It IS a teaching hospital, but everyone was amazing from start to finish. They are located in the city of Orange.

Hang in there for the boring phase. I struggled SO badly during puree/mushy foods. I thought I was being punished by the deity of your choice. Rest assured that when it's solids time, there are some GREAT options that make you feel pretty normal still. When I'm craving a burger now, I head to carl's Jr. and get the lettuce wrapped turkey burger. The meat and vegetables are so savory, I don't even miss the bun! I end up splitting it with the Hubby, and even then I don't eat quite half of my portion. Beef can be very hard to process properly at first, so please please be careful with that! Don't deprive yourself entirely, but reach out for more informed options. Good luck!!

I'm not huge on "sugar free" foods, and tend to skip sweets entirely, but I must say I would not have survived the mushy phase without Sugar Free Fudgesicles. I crave them still.

7 weeks out, I can comfortably eat 1/4 can of tuna as a meal, or 4oz. of fish fillet. Long John Silvers has grilled pollock and Salmon...skip the rice and get veggies instead for around $5. Wahoo's fish tacos rocks my socks. Order the grilled fish child's bowl with brown rice and black beans and approximately 400 lemon wedges. Yum. I usually ask for a little extra fish and a lot less rice and beans.... no problems there so far. I can't finish either of those items, but my puppy is happy to handle the non-reheatables. I also mash up maybe 3 tablespoons of imitation crab with a fork and add a tsp. or 2 of veganaise. (egg free and just like mayo, try it!) excellent to spread that salad on melba toast or flatbread whole grain crackers. I've heard of tossing shredded cheese into the crab mix, but I'm a purist. My WinCo sells these fresh tiny personal serving ceviche salad things for under $2. Lasts the kid and I a couple days just picking at it. Scallops and shrimp taste funny to me post op. No idea there. My local sushi place knows my sashimi order now. #10 mixed sashimi platter, substitute the snapper with more salmon, hold the rice, slice of avocado, extra ginger. I find it very difficult to cook seafood for myself 3 times a day, I hope that some of the take out tips will help

I eat out all of the time! Super supportive friends help with that. I've learned to push my food around a lot, so i'm not just sitting there watching others eat. Ask for a to go box when you order. Sometimes when I order, I'll ask the waiter if a certain menu item is a lot of food, because I'm just not that hungry...but boy that sounds good, could they also bring me a box? I've also had wait staff ask if everything was ok as they stare at my mostly full plate, and in those instances i just tell them the truth, briefly. Or when ordering, I'll ask for extra veggies, no potato, and end up telling the truth, or that i'm on atkins, etc. So far, everyone I've encountered has been very supportive and usually knows someone that had the surgery. The food pushing trick and the early box really help with others nearby that might be watching. Chances are, if you aren't feeling self conscious about it, they won't even notice!

It's not much of a discount. the family discount is like $66 though. I have an annual pass. If we meet up at like Norm's or something, i can fit 4 more people in my car, could save some cash!! This is going to be so fun!

I've seen the light. Thanks for the demo link!

Oh! Those are some good mushy/soft ideas!! Thanks for the tips! I'm with you on the fat free/sugar free crap. Was just having this conversation last night. Guess there will just be some things I must live without! Congrats on the loss! We are at about the same place! Off to go shopping for marinara.... Thanks again!