Bufflehead

yup, hormonal plus if you are taking biotin, that's going to "help" your facial hair growth.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1055-pur%C3%A9e-stage-2/ You can also use the search box in the upper right and search for things like "pureed recipes" "puree ideas" "favorite pureed foods" and get lots of other threads on this topic.

Hi Abry, I keep my carbs between 30-60 daily per my dietician's plan. I don't track sodium anymore (don't need to) but when I did, I kept it under 1500 mg/day. Definitely ask your health care providers about beef jerky. I wasn't allowed that until six months out because I was on soft foods until then, and jerky is not considered a soft food, at least not under my plan (you need to be able to cut it with a fork). As far as munchies go, I have the best results when I don't start eating anything to give in to them. I tell myself things like this: --I don't eat foods like that anymore --that's a craving. Cravings are hard but they are not emergencies. I can find something else to do until the craving goes away. --In order to succeed, I must stay on my plan. The thing is, if you give in to "munchies" and eat something you think will satisfy it, the craving will just get worse and you won't be satisfied. Go brush your teeth and then find something else to do to distract yourself. Something that takes a lot of either physical or mental exertion. Exercise, mop your kitchen floor, go pull weeds, work on a challenging puzzle, pick up a tricky knitting or embroidery project, try to get through that next level of Candy Crush (ok maybe not the best option there). But eating to try to satisfy it will be counter-productive. Good luck!

I also find that the more I exercise, the slower the weight loss.

@@Krystal0528 I think the Trader Joe's ones taste fine. A little bit of a tangy taste, not like candy or anything. I've had zero problems tolerating them. I take one with breakfast and one with dinner. With any multivitamin you definitely want to take it with food.

@@Micky71 I was making my own protein shakes at full liquids, which was one day after surgery for me. But if by smoothie you mean something with blended up fruits or veggies, for that I had to wait until soft foods, 2 months out. My progression was: 1 day clears 4 weeks full liquids (real liquids, not yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. -- so I could have milk-based protein shakes but not put anything like yogurt or fruit in them) 4 weeks purees 4 months soft foods. I had to wait until soft foods for anything like a "smoothie" because I wasn't allowed fruit or veg of any kind until soft foods. Only liquids and protein-based foods like meat, dairy, eggs, and beans.

I take the Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable Multi -- lower in carbs, calories, and/or price than virtually all the other chewable multi's out there. I get my labs drawn regularly and they are always great.

You look amazing! We have very similar stats in terms of starting date and weight lost. I started at a higher weight than you and still have about 30 lbs to go to meet my goal weight. I really appreciate your posting your pictures -- it helps me so much to see people in roughly my situation who look so fantastic! I have trouble seeing what's going on with my own body and I think externalizing it a bit is really helpful. You look so cute and really happy too -- I'm thrilled for you!

I am just coming off of three weeks where I lost no weight and in fact went up three pounds. It was really frustrating because I was eating 100% on plan. I weigh or measure everything -- every gram of salad dressing is assessed and accounted for on MFP. How can you gain weight on under 800 calories per day? But I figure it must have been hormonal weirdness and water weight. Those three weeks where I was stalled/gaining were the same three weeks that my period was late. So maybe my body just bloated up like it usually does pre-period, and then when no period arrived, it kept on going in pre-period mode? I finally got my period on Friday night and when I weighed in Saturday morning I was down 2 lbs from the week before. Hopefully things keep going in this direction. This is the only time I've gained weight since being sleeved 11 months ago. I don't know if you'll find this helpful . . . I hope so!

I am usually in the 90+ range. I eat three small meals per day, always Protein first but usually including something else such as green veggies or dried fruit. I do have one or two protein shakes per day. I also use Greek yogurt as a snack. Besides a little fresh fruit at the end of the day, the only Snacks I allow myself are protein shakes and Greek yogurt. It doesn't bother me because I am that weirdo who really likes protein shakes! I did a lot of experimenting with different brands to find my favorites (unjury, Jay Robb, Chike, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, Syntrax Matrix). I also do a lot of doctoring up protein shakes with different Torani syrups, sugar free pudding mixes, Sweetleaf Sweetdrops flavors, PB2, extracts, Crystal Light -- anything I can think of! So instead of having a plain vanilla or chocolate shake, I might have a white chocolate lemon ginger shake, a peanut brittle shake, or a chocolate chip cookie dough shake. This afternoon I'm going to try out a new shake recipe I cobbled together from a few different ones I found on the internet: --carb master milk + vanilla Protein Powder + mint extract + peppermint syrup + pistachio pudding mix + pinch xanthan gum + green food coloring = "Shamrock Shake" - protein style! ETA - drinking the Shamrock Shake now and I think next time I'll try it without the pistachio pudding. It's good but the mix of pistachio and mint is a little weird tbh.

Check out @@gamergirl's posts, she and her husband are both sleevers . . . I think they got sleeved together but am not sure.

Definitely second the recommendation for xanthan gum. Just use a pinch - it makes your shake thick and creamy, like a store-bought milkshake. You can also add a tablespoon of sugar-free, fat-free pudding mix -- but to me the xanthan gum works better and also the pudding will add calories and carbs to your shake. xanthan gum sounds like some weird industrial product but it is all natural -- they sell it at my local whole food coop as well as in the natural & organic section of my local huge megamart type supermarket.

I was on liquids for four weeks after surgery per my doctor's plan and it didn't hurt me. I got all my protein in via shakes and protein soups. it's good you are checking in with your medical folks though. I am not sure what you mean by is a protein shake a meal -- for what purpose? Do you mean something like, should I not drink anything else for 30 minutes after a protein shake? Or something else? When you are on all liquids, you don't really have set meals . . . you just have liquids, basically as much of them as you can handle. Not sure if that helps at all?

Without knowing what you are eating or drinking, I think it's hard for any of us to give advice or thoughts. But if you are following your doctor's plan, I would say just make sure you are getting all your fluids and Protein in -- more on both if you can -- and have patience. If you have a post-op team (surgeon, your surgeon's dietician, etc.) you may want to check in with them if you haven't, just to see. But stalls are pretty common and from what I can see, if you are on plan the only thing that breaks them is patience. It might be time to put away the scale if it is making you feel crazy! PS you have lost an amazing amount of weight in a very short amount of time. It's perfectly normal for your body to 'rest' for a bit and catch up with the new plan. I can pretty much promise you your initial rate of weight loss will NOT continue in the future so don't get attached to it.

@@wilsonjul are you tracking everything you eat on myfitnesspal or a similar app/website? Do you have clearly defined targets for calories per day/carbs per day/protein grams per day and you track against those? Do you weigh or measure everything you eat? Those were the things that helped me lose the weight I needed to pre-op.

So beautiful! You are definitely an inspiration. Thank you for posting, I love to see before and after pictures.

sounds like ketosis . . . http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/ammonia-smell-during-exercise-on-ketogenic-diet-qa.html

For those discussing a carb cleanse, the carb cleansing/back on track plan I've seen discussed on another vsg board works like this. For three days, you eat nothing but meat, green veggies, and high quality fats (olive oil, coconut oil, grassfed butter -- stuff like that). No grains, no dairy, no beans, no fruit, no starchy veggies. Don't count calories for these three days -- just focus on eating only those foods. After three days, commit to an eating plan and to logging everything you eat. At a year out, most people do something like: --maximum 900 calories --maximum 60 carbs --minimum 80 grams protein Log everything on myfitnesspal or a similar site/app.

I went back to work after 2 weeks. My job is mostly a desk job. I felt fine in terms of pain but I was still pretty exhausted at that point. My first two days turned into half days because I just didn't have the energy to stay all day. I went home and slept!

I voted for 8 as "ideal" but realistically I am thinking I will end up as a 10. Maybe an 8 if a pot of money drops out of the sky and I can have a tummy tuck and LBL.

Well IMO you should take any drug prescribed by your health care providers unless you discuss it with them and have a clear understanding with them that you are refusing to take it.

They sell different kinds of fish jerky at my local food coop/natural foods store. Smoked salmon jerky is really good. I also like the trout jerky. Right now I am eating marlin jerky that I got from Amazon. The brand is Delicious -- comes in lots of flavors. I've tried the teriyaki and the onion pepper and like them both. It isn't for the faint of heart (or taste buds) - I think you have to really like strong tasting fish for this.

Are you on a PPI such as omeprazole? Stomach acid can mimic hunger. If you are, you might need to up your dose or go to a more powerful one -- hopefully your medical team can help you see if that might be the problem and if so get it sorted out. Good luck!

I make sure I meet the recommended fiber intake - 14 grams per 1000 calories of food. I track it on MyFitnessPal. Some of this is from supplements (I use the Equate Sugar Free fiber powder -- put a couple teaspoons into protein shakes, yogurt, etc.) but most is from natural food sources. I haven't had any problems with constipation - I'm an every day kind of person.

@@monkeyshine3399 personally I think you should follow the advice of your medical team and not modify it based on what you see strangers talking about on the Internet. But if you want to discuss it with your medical team and see if they think you should change things up, go for it!