Chimera

Beautiful What wonderful success - you look great and I bet you feel great too!

I don't do fat free - full fat cheese, sometimes 2%, and milk when I have it is also 2%. I have heard that it is better to have a bit of fat than try and reduce it to much. My fat usually is never very high for daily totals anyway - eat red meat only occasionally. I love tuna salad, and chicken salad - but eating it now that I am onto solid foods I find that it can act almost like a slider food - measuring it out is important for me. My most filling choices are: Chicken tenderloins eggs cheese sticks Bonbels lean ground turkey Steak and my go to dinner that is so filling and easy that I have it for most dinners, we get the frozen ones - 3 turkey meatballs, 160 cals, 18g Protein, 3g carb, 9 fat

I gained 20 lbs - had two blood transfusions, got home and had an incision open up that decided it was old faithful (good reason to finally get rid of all those ratty old towels haha) I think it was gone within the second week home? At a month out I was down 23, and that is not including that hospital blow up weight.

Other brands of the Protein chicken Soups I like and used a lot right after surgery - when my tub of unjury arrived and I opened the cannister I just about fell over it smelled so bad - someone here compared another products smell to "my old hamster cage" when she was a kid - omg that cracked me up, but that is exactly what that stuff reminded me of, nasty smell I am the queen of giving away the protein stuff I no longer like or can no longer tolerate at my support group meetings - I had not one taker on the French vanilla flavored Bariatric Advantage Vitamins though lol - just got a room full of sourpuss faces, I think it is a universal yuck on that flavor I used these and still like them. When I could have full liquids I strained the veggies and noodles out and they were satisfying with no hamster cage smell - not as much protein as the Unjury, but a compromise I made. http://www.familybariatric.com/store/product/113/Soup-Homestyle-Chicken-Soup/ http://www.familybariatric.com/store/product/111/Soup-Cream-of-Chicken-w-Veg./

I was picking up vitamins today at the Dr's office and the nurse coordinator told me that a 40 fb was used for me - I am 5'3. She told me that they feel that there are far fewer complications with the larger sizes - but for us short folks it makes total sense that since we might need a different size from taller folks.

I usually buy Fage brand - but I will certainly be reading labels closely if I ever buy another brand of Greek yogurt. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/19/156997600/high-tech-shortcut-to-greek-yogurt-leaves-purists-fuming?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20120722

I was allowed to take a bath at 6 weeks - I still had scabs up until then. I am not sure where you are in the northwest but if you are close to Seattle there is a great support group at Swedish hospital that I attend on the second saturday of the month - they also meet on the 4th tuesday in the evenings. I find them to be really helpful. I was looking for a link to the page with the dates - you can call them and they will add you to an email newsletter if you wish. http://www.swedish.org/Services/Weight-Loss-Services#axzz21YFUmv9Z hang in there - I felt like hell for about a month and a half, then things started to get better.

This is true - when my surgeon came in to the final meeting prior to my groups surgery and explained why the need to the liver shrinking diet, about how easy it is to nick it, how what he needs to get at is directly below it - (that incision high on the chest at bra line is for the liver retractor, which is slimmer than a pencil). If your surgeon rolls his eyes and says there is no need - and he was my doc I would follow his orders. My surgeon emphatically told us how important it was that we follow the instructions for a successful procedure. Indeed every doctor is different, just as everyone's experience varies as well.

Kczar, and anyone else who has yet to have surgery - be very careful to stick to your pre-op liver shrinking diet. My surgeon is firm in that if he goes in and sees a liver that has not shrunk with high Protein, low carb/sugar eating he will either cancel surgery or convert to an open sugery (yikes!) The doctors also said that if you have higher sugars at the time of surgery you heal extremely poorly - she compared it to trying to stitch wet toilet paper together - the tissues are spongier and there is a much higher change of infection as well. The key to kicking sugar is to not eat it. I think most folks go through the carb sickness if really addicted. It sucks that first week, but it gets easier. Pre-surgery I quit a 28 year 2 pack a day smoking habit, gave up processed carbs (for the most part), sugar, and a 3 pot a day coffee addiction - did it suck - oh indeed it did. Life is going to be a thousand times easier after surgery if you stop eating it now, trust me. Plus you feel a lot better

I try not to go over 40 g of carbs a day - but if you are exercising with intensity you might run out of gas. What form do your carbs take? Fruit and veg or foods made of flour? Rice? I know for myself that I cannot eat things with flour, rice, sugar, etc. For myself I get the carbs from milk, vegetables, occasional fruits and my Vitamins and Fiber supplements have them too. How many grams of Protein? 80+? H2O - 64 oz plus? vitamins?

Hi my name is Kelly, and I am a food addict... I might have a bite of cake on my birthday in October - but I might just have a popsicle instead I think Catracks brings up a really good point - what would your surgeon say? I think I will keep the idea of that humiliation in mind when I am tempted by something I know that is not part of my losing plan. This board is for support, the truth is most of use ARE ADDICTED TO FOOD - that is why we needed the procedure. The simple truth is that we need to follow our doctors and nutritionists guidelines for this whole deal to work - see we have to do the work - I am going to have to do this work today, tomorrow, 5, 10, 20 years from now if I want to achieve and maintain my goal of a healthy weight - I can try to lie to myself that "this little bite of pastry wont matter" - I might as well be putting a needle in my arm. I've been lieing to myself for years. Wake up. Be mindful, Take care of yourself. Find ways to comfort yourself that do not involve food. Our entire society, no matter the culture revolves around eating too much - we are inundated with these messages everywhere we turn. Be a warrior - for yourself.

I tried my own version of the taco cupcakes these week and the family loved them - I think I might save the wonton cupcakes for when hubby and I are further out though, we have a thing for noodles and I can see the both of us enjoying these just a liitle bit too much lol. They are easier to eat more ounce per ounce than chicken and turkey, so I am going to watch it until we are closer to goal. man these are yummy though

Don't worry you will lose - put that scale away I too have issues with exercizing right now - have had a horribly arthritis flare up that had me in the ER shortly after surgery - Just do what you can, remember this isnt a diet, this is a permanent tool you have had 'installed', the first 6 weeks post surgery was completely wacky for me, as it has been for lots of other folks. Remember the statistics - this happens over time, in a year if you follow post op orders you will lose most of if not all of your excess weight. Dont worry

Best of luck to you guys!

I am sorry you are so upset! My husband can be a bumbler at times, but I have to watch it because I am a perfectionist and oftentimes just prefer to do things myself so they are done to my standards, at least where domestic matters are concerned. I have to be careful not to hurt him (usually this happens during PMS week when the sharp tongue can rear its ugly head). With that said - can we ever have too much Protein? I would kill to get another 12 g in and would not matter if I had already consumed 100+ Now if someone slipped me another 12 g of carbs I would be pissy, or 250 calories this early out. Are you journaling your nutrition? getting at least 64 oz of liquids? moving daily? moving those bowels in a reasonable number of days? I know that if I look at the trend of my WL over weeks and months - I see that I am losing slowly and steadily, and I will take it! Don't fret - the weight WILL come off, this process of the losing phase can last years for some, for others it is a handful of months - from your ticker, I would say that I think you are a stunning success.

My husband - who was sleeved two weeks before I was, keeps getting the same thing at work. He works with a lot of big guys, they are aerospace engineers and keep poking fun at him that he is wasting away to nothing lol. He looks fantastic and light years healthtier than he did 3 months ago - people are goofy.

Down 3 lbs this week

I need to get some strips! I have not been checking my levels. Mark's Daily Apple is a great site that I look at often - it is about eating Primal and there is a lot of information about carbs, and how our bodies work in general - check it out, it sounds like you might like it. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz21BfBiYQf

My nutritionist say that there are no essential carbs - especially if we have weight to lose - if you can get into ketosis - ketones is a prime fuel for our bodies and brains - ketosis - not ketoacidosis (which is a whole different animal) is where I wish I could be all the time. Just my bariatric Vitamins, calicium, and Protein Shake can bring me to about 15 g of carb so it is tough to keep it that low right now, but I sure feel better the lower it is. Now once we are closer to goal and are exercising, working out a lot - I think that upping the carbs is a good thing. PDXman here is an athlete and he always has fine information btw. I did as close to Atkins 72 as I could pre-op - which is trying to get carbs to essentially zero.

What really made up my husband's and my mind about the surgery was the statistics outlined by my surgeon during the information seminar. Pretty close to that dismal figure - if you have 100+ lbs. to lose the long term success rate is something like 1%. Bariatric surgery is the only proven way to get it off and keep it off. I had a long time to prep and like many other folks here - I started to eliminate things from my diet in the year prior to my surgery, I quit smoking a year and a half ago, gave up white flour, Pasta, rice - processed carbs for the most part - no sugar, I wanted to make the post surgical transistion as easy as possible. My husband sailed through his surgery and mine was like getting hit by a Mac truck (possibly becasue I was a smnoker for so long I may have reduced my ability to heal well or rapidly is what I think). I see the connection between addiction and food for me, it will always be a challenge, but what a wonderous tool we now have to help us get healthier. This is a great book that you might take a look at - it is written by a bariatric counselor and goes over many of the emotional, physical, societal issues bariatric patients experience. I keep it in our bathroom haha. The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery http://www.amazon.com/The-Emotional-First-Aid-Kit/dp/0976852659 and another one - one of the best I have read about our food industry, carbs,sugar etc. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/B004NSVE32/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342745209&sr=1-1&keywords=the+end+of+overeating

I hope to lose 10 lbs a month after that first month. I am about 8 weeks out and my losing pattern is changing from that "I'm losing a pound a day" that happens the first month after surgery - to drop 2 and then hang out at that weight for 4-5 days, drop again etc. Stair steps. I would be happy with 8-12 lbs - actually I am happy with losing anything haha!

Thats great Lizzy You had surgery the day after me, and we have a similar amount we want to still lose - Did your co-workers notice? I don't return to my teaching job until faculty meetings begin in late august so I have feeling some folks may notice my losses. Best of luck with your continued good health!

Only 8 days out? I would not worry one bit - I gained 20 lbs in the hospital with all of the medical shenanigans my body decided to go through - statistically they say anywhere from 10-25 lbs the first month is normal, again I would not worry at all. I think we are conditioned to freak a bit when the scale isnt moving as fast or at all as we think it should, but really it has no choice if you are following your Dr. and NUT's orders

Try to keep mine under 40 g a day during the losing phase.

A good tip I picked up from a vsg member in my hospital support group is to eat a wee little bit every two hours or so - I have weeks where I have the hungry rumblies in the little sleeve - this really helps - babybel cheeses do wonders lol. My surgery was 5/21 but I count my 8 weeks on Saturday which I will do on the 21st of every month. HW: 318 SW: 274 CW: 238 Down 36 since surgery - lost 44 pre-surgery. But this info is always in my sig Great job May sleevers!