Fiddleman

I'm jealous! I am a kid at heart and always want to go there. One thing you might look into is buying a meal plan for the duration of your vacation. Completely saves the effort of figuring out how to pay when dealing with the business of all the rides, kids, etc. Totally worth it, but I swear I gained 15 lbs the last time I was there, despite the massive amount of walking! Have fun! You can probably find nutritional facts online to all the Disney eats.

Ok, so I had my usual chicken chopotle entree this evening when eating out(about once every 3 weeks). Really yummy and flavorful. I thought this was healthy until I checked the online nutritional facts. For 5 oz of chicken breast and a small side salad with ranch salsa dressing weighed in at 960 calories, 27 grams fat and 112 grams carbs. I am like what the heck; this looked completely healthy and, in fact, looked like the healthiest thing on the menu. I found out fried cod and chips had both less calories and fat by 1/2. Check the nutritional facts folks when eating out! Time for an extra run tomorrow to keep the chubbies away. Lol!

You are looking great and your personality really comes through your posts. I think losing weight has helped all be more genuine about ourselves and the way we view the world around us. I definitely mean this in a very positive light.

Excellent. You are a fine example for others.

Breakfast: eggs (, cheese, veggies, mango salsa, chicken sausage) or Protein Shakes Snack: a Protein Shake Lunch: chicken patty or chicken meatballs ( from Costco), seaweed salad. Sometimes left overs from a previous dinner. Snack: a chicken hotdog (about 3 oz and from Costco), seaweed wafers Dinner: lots of different " cooking light" recipes. Most revolve around chicken or shrimp, seafood salad, veggies (sautéed, grilled, steamed). My wife does her bet to help me out with dinner and does a great job. When I go out I try to evaluate menu options and pick something low in fat, carbs and calories. I do mess up on occasion but because something that looked really healthy was not! I do not eat processed, fruit or bread foods nor do I eat sweets or pastries. Seem to be ok without them and do not even think about it nor do I miss them. I get most of my core nutritional needs from a handful of different pills in the morning ( Calcium chew throughout the day). Overall I am happy with both progress and energy that this type of eating gives me after 6 months ( been eating this way from month 2). I am close to goal and am about 6.5 months out. My wife has also found eating the same foods for dinner, but in larger portions, is helping her lose weight. She no longer eats the same amount (very little in fact) of bread. I can usually eat 4 oz of a Protein and 1 oz of veggie. More than hat and I am sliming. Not worth it. I also run 3-5 miles every other day, lift every other day and follow an intense workout with my morning shake to help recovery for next run. UPDATE: oh and I love my weekly starbucks grande skinny lattee. I am definitely a coffee advocate(both my dr and NUT allow it). Hope this helps.

I have always wondered if it is good for shrimp tails to go through your sleeve and digestive system. Out of habit, I still eat the tails off shrimp.

Fact: Protein builds your muscles and your muscles will burn calories at rest. Might I recommend a high quality protein blend called "Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60" by GNC. It is a bit costly, but well worth it with regards to positive and noticeable Results. The package claims 30% exercise and recovery improvement over other shakes. The next protein shake I recommend is Syntrax Matrix Extended Release. It will keep you satisfied longer because the protein is processed in 4-5 hours instead of 1-2 hours like other protein shakes (syntrax nectar for example). Both come in. Product Line of different flavors, but I always tend to like to Cookies and creme flavor. You may prefer chocolate, strawberry, vanilla or a number of fruit flavors. There are even coffee flavors for those that really like the taste of coffee ( I do, but not enough to get. Flavored Cappuccino shake). Try and get in as much protein as possible during the day. I hit high numbers by having up to 3 shakes a day with my normal foods. I do believe that high protein has contributed in part to my success.

Everyone has had a little bit too much kava kava on this thread.... share with those on the " lighten up thread" because it is downright too serious over there!

I am glad you wrote this topic because I have had a niggling question recently: do WLS patients, specifically VSG patients, find that they have a *harder* time with keeping weight off than non WLS "ideal bmi" folks after they reach their goal? Now I am not talking about psychological issues or whatnot that lead to overeating or bad choices. Rather, both sample sets theoretically are eating the same foods and exercising the same amount. Will the WLS sample set find it harder to keep the weight off due to physiological differences (eg smaller stomach size might lead to different abilities to process food at the same efficiency). Thanks for any insight on this. It is primary a question targeted at my near term future, but I am sure others would benefit from an answer as well.

Not sure myself! Maybe the chicken was 4 oz and not 5 oz ( was guessing on size). I am 6 months out so am able to eat with less restriction now. That being said I do not make it a habit of eating like this. Usually my meals are 300-400 calories, low in fat and low in carbs. Not knowing the nutritional details about the entree makes eating out a challenge. Of course, I need to check the facts before ordering and not after...

It must have been the dressing because it was just a chicken breast and salad. Definitely changed my mind about eating at the burger resteraunt.

That is so good to hear about your running successes. I feel like we are in this together and your progress is motivating. During my run today, I went about 4 .5 miles at 5.6 mph. Felt great both during and after. However, I noticed that during the first 5 minutes my left hip was giving me a real problem. It eventually went away at about 10 minutes, but it makes me wonder what it is. I have been stretching really well and warming up with a 5 min 4.5 mph jog before starting the run. I do see a chiropractor who worked on my hip yesterday to make it more mobile. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Besides that minor pain, it was a great run and I was getting the "high" around 30 minutes. Since I was still at about 40% perceived effort I decided to play with the speed a little by going up .2 and down .2 for about 5 minutes. Still doing great so I ran for next 10 minutes at 6.0 mph and then came back down to 5.4 mph until the run was over at 45 minutes (did 5 minute cool down and stretches after that). Thanks for the suggestion above to try speed variations in the middle of the run. That worked well.

I think it is best to get fitted for a running shoe in order to match you to the shoe for minimal injury and maximum results. That being said, I was fitted to a Nike running shoe after trying on 3 while my feet and running style were analyzed by a professional. The shoes were kind of pricey at $100, but I think the shoes really make a difference.

Awesome!

I really could not handle plain ol' tap Water for a while post-op. It tasted like aluminum foil and Iron, even though I have verified our tap water has only 3% metals contamination, if that. According to some online resources, the average is 30% especially in cities. For this reason, I have been adding flavors to water for the longest time (desani drops are my favorite after trying crystal light, mio, propel and a few others). Fast forward 6 months and water does not taste metallic any longer. That is the good news. However, I still cannot drink it because it is just not that appealing ( it takes effort to force myself to sip it). With added flavors, I can get through large quantities of tap water. I guess I will continue flavoring it as I need to remain very hydrated during the day with running. Do you think plain ol' tap water will ever be appealing again?