DLCoggin

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Good morning guys! Thought I'd share my "numbers" from last week. Carbs/Fat/Protein percentages: 40/27/33 Weight last Monday: 151.8 Weight this morning: 151.8 (active week) Calories: 566 OVER weekly goal (based on daily calorie average goal of 1620 calories). Protein: 803g for the week. My doctor recommends 100g a day. Carbs: About 15% BELOW goal. Especially good news and a little surprising since I had some homemade ham and bean Soup on Wednesday. Really, really good stuff but a cup and half of that soup was 161g of carbs. Ugh. Fiber: 26g OVER goal. That's good news since I've been trying to increase my Fiber (veggies). This is the first week in three months that I've met or exceeded MFP's recommended fiber goal of 129g per week. Sodium: 2402mg OVER goal. Does anyone else besides me struggle with salt? It just makes everything taste better! I ain't giving up salt or coffee without a fight! I was thinking this morning about how food logs tell a story. Your story. You are the author. Sometimes the news is good. Sometimes not so good. But it's always your story. So my plan for this week: - Going to try to increase my average calorie count about 100 a day and see if I can get back to my minimum weight of 153. Had the same plan this past week and met the calorie goal but was more active than usual so burned off the additional calories. I'm surprised at how quickly my weight responds to modest increases in activity. - Want to see if I can hit that fiber goal two whole weeks in a row. It isn't that I don't like veggies. I just don't like the time it takes to prep 'em. Gotta work on that. No excuses! So how about you guys? What was your story for last week?

I don't think you can OD on yogurt. Lol. If that's what tastes good right now, why not? I don't think that you have to worry. Sooner or later you're likely to get tired of yogurt and move on to other things. As long as you're getting all of the nutrition (Protein, Vitamins, etc.) that your doctor recommends, you're doing great. Congratulations on your weight loss!!

I'll be two years post-op in October and I've had at least one shake a day (usually for breakfast) since shortly after my surgery. Instead of how many shakes a day are you drinking, perhaps the more important question is how do you get ALL of your doctor's recommended Protein, every day? My doctor recommends 100g a day. That's a tough number to hit on a daily basis without my 35g shake. With the shake, I hit the 100g about 95% of the time. So if you can get the required 60, 80 or 100g of protein a day in the food you eat - that's always the way to go. Without exception (at least none that I ever heard), doctors and nutritionists recommend getting as much of your nutrition as possible from "real" food. But they recognize that's not always practical. And that's where supplements (shakes, Protein Bars, Vitamins, etc.) come into the picture. You're drinking three shakes a day. You might want to consider a goal of replacing one of those shakes with high protein food - chicken, fish, turkey, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, hummus, turkey Jerky, and the list goes on. Lots of options. If you can consistently hit your protein goal with two shakes and food for a few weeks, then you might want to consider trying to move on to one shake a day and getting the rest of your protein from food. I hit my goal weight of 155 lbs in December of last year. My daily weight maintenance calorie goal is 1620 calories. I've been able to hit that daily average, and get 100g of protein a day in (with one daily shake), for over eight months. And my weight this morning was 151.8.

In February or March of 2011, the doctor put me on Metformin for type 2 diabetes. That did it. Met with my surgeon for the first time on May 10, 2011. Surgery on October 20, 2011. Thirteen months later my weight stabilized at 155 lbs. Weight this morning 151.8 (active weekend). The key to the weight loss - stay focused on following the protocol your team gives you as close to the letter as you possibly can, stay active, stay away from the scales for at least a week at a time and most important of all, maintain a food log. The key to weight maintenance - continuing to maintain your food log, for life. It's quick - 5 to 10 minutes a day tops. It's easy - lots of apps that do pretty much the same thing but My Fitness Pal highly recommended. It's free. And it changes your relationship with food in ways I never imagined possible. I'm loving the new me and you're gonna love the new you!!

Just emailed the spreadsheet to you guys that requested it. Think I got everyone but just let me know if you didn't receive. Thanks guys and have a good day!

Bravo! Well said!!

... with a food log! I recently posted two quotes from a summary of a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. They bear repeating here... "Subjects who engaged in self-monitoring were less likely to regain any weight following bariatric surgery." "Postoperative self-monitoring behaviors are strongly associated with freedom from regain. These data suggest that weight regain can be anticipated, in part, during the preoperative evaluation and potentially reduced with self-monitoring strategies after RYGB." The summary is quite short and you can read it at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19554382 . This is only one of many examples of research that have shown that folks who maintain a food log lose more weight, lose it more quickly and perhaps most importantly - are more successful at maintaining their goal weight - than folks who do not. Doctors know it. Nutritionists know it. Some of the folks on this forum know it. And if you commit to it, you'll know it too. I believe food logs to be the single most powerful tool we have for bringing all of the elements of what I call The Prime Directive, lifestyle changes, together.

So much of this journey is mental and more specifically about perspective. For example, if I said to you that I will give you one million dollars IF you follow a strict diet not to exceed 800 calories a day for the next 30 days, could you do it? 800 calories a day - 801 on any single day and you get nothing. Could you do it? If you make me the same offer I guaran-damn-tee you I'll be a million dollars richer in 30 days! Lol. And I'm sure that you probably feel the same way. It's about perspective. So let's bring it down to earth and closer to home. If you've done the research, considered your options, taken a close look at your current health, and the direction it's headed in, evaluated the risk of surgery, evaluated the risk of doing nothing, read all of the statistics, learned everything you can about the benefits and risks of surgery - IF you've done all of those things and IF you have come to the conclusion in your mind that the odds of you having a successful, life-changing, rock-your-world experience are overwhelmingly in your favor - then you're ready for this. Your goal is worth more, much more, a whole LOT more than that million dollars. It's about perspective. It' about knowing that you, and only you, control your destiny and that you will NEVER give that power to anyone or anything. You're not only ready for this - you're gonna love the new you!

I think all of us can understand your fear but consider the fact that at three weeks post-op, you really don't have any basis for assuming anything. A minor weight gain following the surgery is quite common and doesn't mean a thing. So - perhaps the best thing you can do is take a deep breath and really focus on trying to relax and setting your fears aside. Trust the process. Allow your body to find its own way in its own time. Consider focusing all of that energy on continuing to follow the protocol as closely to the letter as you can possibly can. Stay active - even if it's only walking short distances. Drink as much Water as you can. Get as much of your doctor's recommended Protein as you can - protein is crucial for healing and you're doing a lot of healing right now. And I know you don't want to hear it but ... stay away from the scales for at least a week and two would be even better! Instead of being a slave to the scales - consider becoming a slave to a food log. Now is the perfect time to start (if you haven't already). I've been logging for almost two years and the single biggest benefit from a long list of benefits is - peace of mind. Regardless of what the scales tell me, if I KNOW (not think, know) that I'm meeting my calorie goals and eating healthy, the rest will take care of itself. You're gonna love the new you!!

Blood clots are definitely the exception and so glad to hear they identified and corrected it. The nausea and intolerance for Protein are very common and if you take out the "miserable" factor, nothing to worry about. As we all hear so often, everyone is different, so it's hard to put any kind of firm timeline on when it will subside. But it will pass. Walking will help a lot (especially with gas) so you definitely want to keep that up. Drinking as much Water as you can will also help. Protein is important for promoting healing and a whole list of other things. Keep trying different ones until you find one that even if you don't "love" it, you can at least tolerate it. Even drinking a single ounce several times over the course of day will help. Keep increasing it a little at a time until you're able to get ALL of your doctor's recommended protein. The first two or three weeks post-op are not much fun but before you know it the pounds are going to start melting away and those first few weeks will be a distant memory. You're gonna love the new you!!

Guys for those of you who requested my spreadsheet, just emailed. I think I got everyone but if I missed you, just let me know!

I'm right there with you - portions are tough. Studies have shown that in the absence of accurate measuring, people will underestimate portions 95% of the time. I don't know about you guys but I just don't have the patience (or the time) to measure every single thing I eat. So I do two things - first we have a digital scale (and measuring cup) in our kitchen and we keep it easily accessible. Every now and then I estimate the weight (or volume) of something I'm about to eat and then throw it on the scale (or in the cup) just to see how close I am. And yeah, I have underestimated just about every time. But I have noticed that I am slowly getting more accurate with my estimates as the result of my periodic checks. So realizing that I'm pretty bad at estimating, the second thing I do is slightly increase the portions that I put into my log for things that I can't (or don't) measure. If I'm going to err, I'd rather be on the side of too high rather than too low.

Lol. The perfect example of how logging your food increases your awareness of what you're eating. The news isn't always good. But it doesn't mean that you can not, or even should not, enjoy a special meal. When your calorie count jumps you can make a minor 100-200 calorie adjustment for a day or two and be back on track with your average calorie goal. It's about control, not denial. And control starts with awareness. Let's call this "Food Log Benefit #1"! I wonder how long our list of benefits will grow to?!

Just one of the great things about food logs is they work exactly the same way pre-op, rapid weight loss, and maintenance. Now is a great time to get started. It's an adjustment and it takes a little time to get used to. The more you log, the more you the learn. The more you learn, the more powerful it becomes. Nothing brings all of the elements of The Prime Directive - lifestyle changes - together like food logs. Commit to it and you'll lose more weight, lose it faster, and perhaps most importantly of all - maintain it. You're gonna love the new you!!

There is no such thing as a "little accomplishment" when it comes to losing weight. I celebrated every pound like I had hit the lotto! Lol. Congratulations!!

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Just emailed!

Ready and Music - I have to tell you, you guys have made my day!

Just emailed to all of you guys! Just let me know if you don't receive it for some reason and I'll resend. Have a great day guys!