circa

if you can find it, check out bison or venison jerky too - usually much less salty and more tender than beef jerky

Congrats Helen! That's a great loss! I have always been a protein first eater. That will definitely benefit me for getting my protein in every day.

Feeling even better today. Mid mornings I get fairly tired - trying to find my groove of calorie intake while i'm still in this liquid stage. Today was the first day that I was truly hungry several times throughout the day. The broth and jello was quite fulfilling. Its amazing. I HATED chicken noodle soup and brothy ANYTHING before my surgery, but I really do like this chicken broth from Noodles and Company. Funny how things change Went to the grocery store and got some stuff to finish out this week and to start my full liquids on Friday. Picked up some stuff for dinner for hubby too. He doesn't need to keep eating out - Lord knows he's not gonna cook! He's finally getting better about eating in the same room as me. It doesn't bother me, but it does bother him. Its not a big deal to me. I'm able to satisfy my hunger with my allowed foods now. If I wasn't able to, that might be another story. As the diet progresses, we'll be eating much of the same things - other than I'll never eat rice and he wants red beans and rice for dinner - so no problem making that for him

Here's the problem - you didn't read MY post. Nor do you know anything about my situation. I don't have a therapist, and I'm not obsessing over food. I'm not watching videos of food because I can't eat it. If you can't recognize what you said in your own post, that's ok. Its a situation you have to deal with. So before telling me that I have failed at diets, you should probably do a little bit of research. I never said I failed at diets. I never said I wasn't going to eat again. I don't obsess about food and watch videos about it.

I gotta say, before I had my surgery, I had a long, long talk with God. We came to an understanding about this whole process. I know this because I felt confident in the decision and I felt guided through it. Trust your gut - its what God gave you to remind you about what's right and wrong

That has nothing to do with it. I do feel hungry daily and I eat. I didn't say that its unreasonable to think about food, you brought the emotional "toll" of divorce into it. That is an emotional and mental addiction to food. You're watching videos of food - you're mourning it. Mourning is an emotional and mental process.

You kinda said it right there....he's probably longing for your understanding about how confident you used to be!

Got home last night - felt great after getting off the plane. The walk through the airport was another story - the airport is under construction so the signs don't actually send you in the right direction - must have literally walked a mile to get out of there to get to the shuttle to get to the car. I was pretty tired by then and getting irritable. Once we got outside though , the cool air reinvigorated me and I felt pretty good. I drove us home from the airport and my doggies were very happy to see us. Hubby did a good job keeping them from jumping up on me. Usually they sit in the recliner with me on my lap, which can't happen right now, so they're bummed and frankly, so am I about that Ah well, soon enough I showered today and cleaned my inscisions and recovered the one that my bra touches and also the one with the drain - I'll steri strip that one in a day or two - but it still has a little bit of drainage from it. Everything seems to look good - only one inscision is tender and that's the biggest one. I'm minding that. I take my temp regularly to ensure i don't have a fever and I'm good to go. Things are going very well

Yeah - I hate O'Hare. worst airport in the country.

Good for you! I'm glad you stood your ground! I woulda made a snarky comment about not eating like a starving animal in the desert when I was eating and savoring my meal the appropriate way

Subway - get a healthy sandiwch, toss the bun - or have them make it in a bowl for you Qdoba - get a naked burrito without rice in a bowl McDonalds - Mcgrill sandwich - toss the bun Stop at any grocery store and get something from the deli - precooked chicken packets from tyson and some cheese - lunchables - toss the crackers. Taco bell - 2 tacos - toss the shells There are SO many ways to eat healthy on the road

I don't care about the food - as long as I'm not hungry, I could care less. Would it be nice to have a big juicy burger tonite? Yup - but I can't yet so I won't until I can. There's a bigger picture. You MUST deal with your head hunger. Get counseling before you end up turning this REALLY bad.

Here's the thing - he's never going to understand because he's not walked in your shoes. It would be great if he could accept this and try to help you find a way to come to terms with it. You are fragile right now - When you are not in a situation where a decision is being made or something needs to be done, maybe you can bring up the subject and explain to him the kind of support you need from him. You do a lot as his wife to support him - perhaps making that clear to him will bring him around. As far as his parents and the superbowl - invite them - and only serve healthy foods. New year - new you - they don't like it? Too bad!

I love the "why don't you try diet and exercise?" OMG! You found it! The whole idea eluded me until you JUST BROUGHT IT UP! Why oh WHY didn't I think of doing that?! Genius. Pure genius.

"Its not about how I look, its about how I feel" Neither being too fat nor being too skinny is healthy. The other line is "how about you let me worry about that. I'm sure you have enough of your own personal issues that need attention"

I was a little nervous until I got there - then all nerves went away

My surgeon was Dr. Almanza and my Coordinator was Melissa Bracker - would absolutely do it all over again exactly the same way I did it this time - Dr. Almanza was amazing as a surgeon and as a person - the entire staff at the center was amazing. Melissa even came and saw me after surgery! It was quite a great surprise! I never wanted for anything. Great experience - can't wait to go back and visit

Wow - that's horrible - I would hate to have a doctor that didn't use real medical staff! Thankfully I had a great surgeon with a staff of doctors and nurses that are fully licensed and it added up to a great experience! Everyone does need to do their research! It means a lot! If someone doesn't feel comfortable in a surgical center, they should by all means look into a full hospital. Likewise, if a person doesn't feel the need to have a full hospital, but feels completely comfortable in a surgical center, that's something to look into. I know that lap bands have been done outpatient here in the states for years and now there are even a couple places doing sleeve surgeries as outpatient - which I think is a bit odd. Typical stay is still overnight, like what I had in Mexico.

there are some others around - I know there's a girl that's 17 right now. I'm sure she'll see this! Welcome to the group!

the shorter your hair as a guy, the less noticable it is if its thinning.

whether you drink Protein shakes or not for the rest of your life really is up to you. Once your stomach heals, what you put in it is going to be up to you. If you can eat enough protein in regular food, then you shouldn't ever need to drink a Protein shake again. I would think somewhere between 60-90 grams of protein a day would be where you would want to be. At least that's what I'll be shooting for - it depends on your activity level, etc I think as well. I'm only 4 days out from surgery so I can't really tell you what I'm able to tolerate yet. Today I've had some broth and Water and some popsicles. I don't feel hungry at all. On friday, I'm going to move to thicker liquids since i'll be a week out. Protein Shakes and maybe some creamy Soups. Looking forward to that. It will be good to have a bit more flavor in the mouth. My husband always tries to sneak off to eat - but I tell him its okay - he can eat in front of me - it doesn't bother me. My only limit is no sardines because the thought makes me nauseous haha. Pre-op was another story - he couldn't eat in front of me because i was hungry haha.

PdxMan turned me on to these - I don't even like chocolate and these are GOOD. My husband even likes them and he HATES Protein shakes.

hair loss is typically caused by lack of nutrients. If you maintain your protein and take your vitamins, hair loss will be little to non-existant. Its not a permanent thing - Also, not all of your hair falls out - its just more than normal. You don't end up with globs that come out or wake up with tons of hair on your pillow. Its not like a chemo patient. You tend to notice more hair in your hairbrush and in the shower drain. Women seem to notice it more than men because we tend to have longer hair.

Before the sleeve, I was never able to eat meat that was cooked past medium. I felt it was dry and lost all of its flavor. I think any meat that's dry is flavorless and pretty much always have. I think juiciness is the key to the flavor AND nutrients. You cook them all away if you turn the meat to shoe leather

oh - I am still having the upper cavity gas a little bit - but its not a big deal. I think its actually keeping me from feeling hungry cuz its that "full" feeling after turkey dinner hahah I keep burping and walking. Water goes down easier if its room temp than cold right now, which stinks cuz I love cold water - but i'll get there