KarenM.

Yep! The last time I went to a buffet, pretty much was the point I made up my mind---never again. An unattended child, oh about 5 years old took a big scoop of something or other, plopped it on his plate, and then went on to lick the serving spoon and put it back in the serving dish. Lovely, no?:thumbup:

I received a card, but never used it. I think it's just kind of embarrassing. I love to eat at restaurants and I probably eat out about 4 times a week. Never once had an issue getting what I wanted. I have been very successful eating only appetizer portions, or getting an entree and eating leftovers. There are TONS of options. Some things I usually order: -seared ahi tuna, (appetizer portion), -chicken wings (I can eat about 3, fiance will eat the rest) -scoop of egg, tuna or chicken salad -sandwiches (eat the meat, cheese and veggies, leave the bread) -smoked fish dip appetizer with carrot and celery sticks -side order of just meatballs if I am at an Italian restaurant -chilli -salads Buffets for me, are awful. I don't like the quality of the foods and I also get freaked out by the thought of all those people handling the serving spoons. Ughhhh:scared0:

Whoaaa...Jane, I stand corrected. Too funny. As a person who struggled for many years before I had the surgery, I was once like a lot of those people on the board. "I DON'T need surgery!!" Oh, how self-rightious I was. I only wish I didn't spend so many years of my life in denial, and had the surgery years before.

I think it is possible. That averages out to about 32 pounds a month, however, the bigger question is this: HOW MANY MONTHS WILL IT TAKE HER TO GAIN IT BACK? I'm guessing just under 4 months, as well.

Jane, I would bet you that the nastiest of the comments were made by obese persons in a state of self-loathing. They are against coverage because they are so angry at themselves and think they don't deserve it. Anyone can hide behind a keyboard and say nasty things anonomously. By the way, the British are still so much more polite than Americans! Even your most hotly-contested debates have an heir of sophitication and civility. :thumbup:

I think you should wait and see how you feel about it. I have kept my surgery a secret from all but my immediate family members. Weight loss is a topic that just ignites such a passionate response from people. Here's my take on it. If you go public with the surgery, expect to hear a lot of judgments from people about taking "the easy way out." We know that's not true. Nothing about this surgery or the eating plan afterward is easy. On the other hand, if people think you are just winning the battle of the bulge naturally, without surgery, expect TONS of praise, accolades, admiration and super-star treatment from people. When you lose a ton of weight everyone, I mean everyone, wants to know how you did it, what you ate, etc. Sometimes I think I could find the cure for cancer or bring world peace to the planet and not get as much attention for those things as I did for losing weight! :thumbup:

The chilli dip sounds fine, actually. You used all low-fat ingredients and beans give you a little protein. If you just cut out the wheat crackers and perhaps just eat the dip with a little spoon, that would be a fine meal. :thumbup:

Cheri, I, too, am Ukrainian. My grandmother used to make this all the time, but she called it "Studanets." As a little girl I would gobble it up (huh, any wonder I was an obese child?) with slices of good, heavy rye bread. Once I was old enough to understand what it was made of, I wouldn't touch the stuff! :thumbup1:

It's much easier if you plan ahead. Each Sunday night I hard boil and peel a few eggs and put them in individual baggies and store in the fridge. As I'm running out the door, I pop a baggie in my purse and can eat at work. Sick of eggs? Try a small container of cottage or ricotta cheese sprinkled with a little bit of ground flax seed. Yum! How about little ham and cheese roll-ups, you can make the night before? I have also made little mini-quiches in mini-muffin tins and freeze a bunch of them. When you want a little quiche for Breakfast, just pop it in the microwave.

Hmmm...I am going to come at this question from a bit of a different perspective. This is a life-altering surgery which will forever affect the choices you make. This "tool" you are receiving, alone, will not do the trick. Trust me, after two years, one slice becomes 2 and 2 becomes three, easily. Do you want to go down that road again? Please use this honeymood period where you don't have hunger to start to change your eating habits. I am not saying, "no pizza ever again!" I would suggest you learn alternate ways to satisfy that craving. Learn to cook healthy alternatives, like broiled eggplant with a dollop of red sauce and perhaps some mozzarella melted down on top. There are recipes for crustless pizza also. I even heard of one recipe where they used finely ground, cooked cauilflower for a crust. In short, yes, you WILL be able to eat pizza soon enough. But if it's going to be a huge carb trigger for you, please be careful. It is too easy to eat our way right out of this surgery if we go back to our old habits. Hope that did not sound too hoity-toity, lol. I'm just trying to be honest. Good luck!

I never had the band, I was a straight-sleeve surgery patient. I LOVE my sleeve. No complications whatsoever, going on two years now. I am confident that this surgery will become the NEW gold-standard, surpassing RNY as the most favored WLS. It will take several more years of long term data and positive results to see if Sleevers keep the weight off as successfully as RNY patients do. If the long term data is positive, I believe doctors will start offerring the sleeve more than RNY, because the sleeve has less risks involved. But that is just my 2-cents.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say WW is not going to do it for you. Did WW do it for any of us pre-op? I will bet the majority of us here have tried WW at some point in our lives, lost weight and regained because many of us are food addicts! WW does not address the mental and psychological stuff that goes on in our heads when it comes to food. We went through a drastic surgery and we should have learned the proper eating techniques during our "honeymoon phase" when we were dropping pounds like crazy. Return to eating lean, dense Protein, good low-glycemic healthy veggies and perhaps some low-glycemic fruits. Start and exercise program. You have already lost 100 pounds, and you know what to do. Be honest with yourself, start a food journal and kick those nasty, bad carbs out of your life for now. YOU CAN DO THIS!

Hello there, I am a 2 year post-op. I have lost a total of 150 pounds, and have maintained my goal weight for approximately 9 months now. At two years out, I can still only eat about 3 ounces of DENSE Protein and maybe 2 ounces of veggies at one sitting. If I eat somehting like ground beef, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, or anything that is more of a "slider food," I can eat probably about 6 to 8 ounces. The secret is eating DENSE PROTEIN---but only once you are cleared for that. Two years out, I am finding if I eat the wrong things (such as Pasta or bread), I can just about eat a normal sized portion, however, dense protein hits my sotmach harder, and fills me up a lot more. Concentrate less on how much you eat and more on what you eat, and you will be fine. Good luck!!