southernsoul

I made mashed sweet potatoes with unflavored Protein powder. I would suggest adding Protein Powder to anything like mashed potatoes, which have no Protein naturally. I pureed meat a couple of times with some beef or chicken broth, which worked fine. I also ate Greek yogurt & made pudding with Protein Powder added to it.

I'm a big fan of Chobani yogurt. I love the apple cinnamon, pear, coconut, and lime flavors. One thing I do is add in about a tbsp of Jello SF instant pudding mix, usually either the cheesecake or white chocolate flavor. It changes the texture to be more like mousse. Also, Trader Joe's has pumpkin greek yogurt right now & it's delish!

I totally agree with GG. In the first 2-4 weeks postop, the body is still recovering from the trauma of surgery & is in healing mode. The 3 week "pause" (I don't like the word stall) is very, very normal & nothing to worry about.

I totally agree with GG. In the first 2-4 weeks postop, the body is still recovering from the trauma of surgery & is in healing mode. The 3 week "pause" (I don't like the word stall) is very, very normal & nothing to worry about.

I did it! 100 pounds down in 2013!!!! I am at 100.2 lost as of this morning and I am thrilled.
Best decision of 2013, hands down.

I am about to write something awful. I am slightly scared of a possible backlash, but......
After years of dieting and being hyper focused on food, I have made a conscious decision to not do that this time around.
Where I had been successful with dieting and logging my food, I do not do that now. I don't want to think about food that much again!
I don't want to name my sleeve because, again, I don't want to give "dieting" so much attention (I'm ignoring that b***ch).
I don't talk about my surgery (I ignore that guy,too)
I just am living my life, making good choices.
It is not my goal nor my intention to be an athlete, a paleo/clean/vegan/gluten free eater.
Disclaimer: this is what works for ME. You all do what's best for YOU. AND, I like reading about guys like skippy and gals like Ursula.
I guess what I am trying to say is, don't think so much about food and weight loss. Cut yourself some slack. I know you would be sorely missed, but, take a break from this forum.
As a host, I wonder if you are internalizing not only your own issues, but others issues as we'll?
Because you seem nice like that.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

I haven't made a weight related New Year's resolution in probably 20 years, but this year is different. My goals for 2014 include being under 200 lbs by my birthday in early May & hitting my initial preliminary goal weight of 180 before my anniversary in September. I'm at 232 right now, and I'm 6 months out so I expect my loss rate to start slowing down somewhat. I think losing 32/33 lbs by May is doable, as is another 20 beyond that by September.
Great thread, Rib!

I would get on the phone with the insurance company & make sure I understood exactly what the requirements are in order to be deemed "medically necessary". Is it being above a certain BMI? Are certain comorbidities seen as more serious than others? You need to understand what kind of coverage your company has chosen, because it's up to each employer to set the rules for what's covered, not the insurance companies. Also, you might want to check with your HR department, since the new calendar year will mean policy changes for a lot of people. And I agree with Beach Lover...your surgeon's office should be more helpful. Check your policy to see what other bariatric surgeons are covered & consider going to another one.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

I really appreciate those who have shared. There are a lot of good habits in here that I should be building but hadn't thought of, such as appreciating my new body, wrinkles and sags and all.
I find myself standing in front of a mirror--and my eyes go straight to the "faulty" parts of me, not the great curves I have gotten back, not my much slimmer thighs and my butt which is still round but so much smaller. Rather I see the fat rolls on my stomach, my sagging tummy, the overhang in my thighs--why oh why do we do this to ourselves?
telling ourselves we are beautiful. Another good habit to learn.

Lol, thanks!!! Can't quite believe it myself :-)))) Have now reset my target by another 7 lbs (which isn't showing on my ticker) but think a lot of that will be achieved by cosmetics.
But I am thrilled to be here in 8 months, I LOVE my sleeve, lol

This week will mark 6 months since I had VSG surgery. It’s been a strange and wonderful 6 months in a lot of ways. The biggest factor that finally got me on the WLS track was my mobility. I blew out my left knee many years ago (twice, actually) and have had several surgeries. My leg is permanently bent from arthritis, and at 320 lbs I limped very badly and my mobility was extremely limited. Eventually, my right knee began to break down & last year my orthopedic surgeon told me that we needed to plan on double knee replacement surgery for this year. I knew that the longer I could hold that off, the better it would be, so I started looking into WLS instead. My ortho surgeon told me that for every 10 lbs I lose, I’ll take 40 lbs of pressure off my knees. With that kind of ratio going on, I knew I needed to do everything I could to lose weight & keep it off. I have been active on this site since last March, and I have learned many valuable things here and made some great friends. My postop experience has been really good, and I’m very thankful that I didn’t have a lot of complications. I haven’t struggled to stick to a smart eating plan, and I haven’t had any major episodes of craving or binging on carb-heavy foods. I have occasionally indulged in sweets or crunchy salty Snacks, but the volume I take in now is very small. I feel like when I give in to those temptations now, it’s more like it should have been all along…have just a little, enjoy it tremendously, have no guilt afterward, and then pick right back up with smart food choices. I don’t feel the need to stuff my face and my portions are well within a reasonable amount. On average, I eat between 800-1000 cals per day, 80-100g of Protein, 60-80g carbs, and 30-50g of fat.

I feel like I have control over what I eat. There is no food that I define as something I “can’t” have, so maybe that’s part of why I don’t feel a longing for certain foods. I haven’t had soda yet, but I had pretty much stopped drinking soda more than a year before surgery. I've had a few sips of champagne twice, but that’s the only carbonated drink I've tried. I enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail 2-3 times a month. I used to eat refined carbs, especially potatoes and bread, at every meal….and I mean literally EVERY meal. I don’t know if I've just gotten used to not having those foods on a regular basis or if my body has gotten the sugar/carb imbalance back under control, but I don’t even really miss those things. When I have indulged, it’s been only with really excellent versions…like freshly baked bread or a few bites of Pasta made from scratch at a nice restaurant. So far, I haven’t even been tempted to have plain old sandwich bread or a hamburger bun or pasta from a box.

I try to keep in mind that things may change as I get farther out, so I need to remain open to changing my habits as needed. I exercise regularly, and I have been genuinely shocked to discover that I enjoy it. I focus on the positive things, and I don’t beat myself up for small stuff. I have way more good food days than bad food days. I have way more weeks where I get to the gym at least 3 times than weeks where I slack off. I am far more active in regular activities…I stroll around the mall, I walk around downtown, I walk more around my school campus, and I don’t avoid going places where I will have to walk. Six months ago, I could not stand or walk for more than a few minutes without pain. Today, my leg is still bent and I still limp a little, but it’s so much better than it was. At almost 90 lbs down, I have taken nearly 360 lbs of pressure off my knees. I can walk and stand for much longer, and I can enjoy activities for a lot longer before I start limping. Because I still need to be very careful of my knees, at the gym I focus on weight lifting and strength training instead of using the treadmill or elliptical. I love being able to see improvements every single week, either in the amount of weight I can lift or the number of reps I can do. My handicap hang tag expired about a week ago, and I felt good enough and confident enough to make the decision not to renew it. That was huge moment for me, and one I am so thankful to have achieved.

In general, I’m a person who doesn't feel a lot of anxiety or worry. I was a pretty happy person preop, and I’m still a pretty happy person. I never questioned or second-guessed my decision to have surgery once I was postop, because there’s really no going back. There’s only forward, and I knew it was completely up to me to make that be good and positive or filled with doubt and self-sabotage. There are a lot of places in this world where I could receive negative messages about myself…my own head does NOT need to be one of those places. I try to treat myself the same way I think I should treat others…with respect, kindness, and the benefit of the doubt. I don’t beat myself up over stumbles and I try not to measure myself against someone else. I deserve my own best efforts, and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of living that philosophy over the last 6 months. Each of us has a path to travel, and I know that my experience is just that…my own experience. For me, WLS was a great decision. My ability to participate in my own life has improved dramatically, and I'm so grateful for that. I’m excited to see what the next 6 months will bring!

I started at a 26/28 and 3X/4X back in June. I have just gotten into a size 16 jeans (but 18 is still OK, too) & an XL in tops is very comfortable. One of my issues has been not knowing how stuff is supposed to fit. In size 26/28 you dress more for camouflage than for a close fit, so the fit of some XL tops seems strange to me. I've had to ask friends, "Is it supposed to look like this?" and they think I'm crazy.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

One way that I have used Pork rinds post op is as a substitute for bread crumbs in meatloaf or meatballs. I knew that the Protein in pork rinds was mostly collagen (& therefore not absorbed), but when you crush them up they make a great low carb filler or breading for recipes that call for bread crumbs.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:
1. Exercise regularly
2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week
3. Avoid late night snacking
4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

You know how they always tell us the surgery was on our stomach, not our brains? And that the first six-nine months are the perfect times to build good habits that set the foundation for later, when your sleeve relaxes and you can eat more?
I'm curious to know what new habits you are working on to help you into a new lifestyle, or for the vets, the habits that have stood them in good stead over the months and years.
For my husband and me, here's a starting list:
1. No saying "just this once" six times a week.
2. Not bringing food into the house that I shouldn't be putting into my body.
3. Trying to move about during the day instead of sitting at my desk for 8 straight hours caught up in work.
4. Not eating after 8 pm.
5. Drinking constantly
6. Weighing daily
7. Entering food into MFP with no excuses allowed.
How about you?

I feel ya, honey. I've been going up & down the same 2 lbs for several weeks now & it's frustrating. I don't wonder so much about getting to goal, but that's mainly because I still don't have a goal number in mind. My best guess is that I have about 60 more lbs to lose, which would put me around 170. My issue is that I'm happy with where I am right now, and I think I could easily live the rest of my life at a size 16 with no problems whatsoever. You & I have talked about this before, and I think it's a damnably seductive trap for me. I'm afraid it will make me lazy or lead me to justify bad food choices.
Maybe we're just so accustomed to our "fat brains" being always obsessed with food that it's hard to get into a different mindset? I know for a fact that my naturally thin mother hardly ever thinks about food or cooking or weight or size, and that has always blown my mind.

Woo hoo!!!!! Great job, both on becoming overweight & also for not breaking your ass on said crack!

I would get on the phone with the insurance company & make sure I understood exactly what the requirements are in order to be deemed "medically necessary". Is it being above a certain BMI? Are certain comorbidities seen as more serious than others? You need to understand what kind of coverage your company has chosen, because it's up to each employer to set the rules for what's covered, not the insurance companies. Also, you might want to check with your HR department, since the new calendar year will mean policy changes for a lot of people. And I agree with Beach Lover...your surgeon's office should be more helpful. Check your policy to see what other bariatric surgeons are covered & consider going to another one.

I'm a big fan of Chobani yogurt. I love the apple cinnamon, pear, coconut, and lime flavors. One thing I do is add in about a tbsp of Jello SF instant pudding mix, usually either the cheesecake or white chocolate flavor. It changes the texture to be more like mousse. Also, Trader Joe's has pumpkin greek yogurt right now & it's delish!

Hello all it's been a while. Just wanted to check in and update on my progress. Sleeved in April and I'm feeling more fit than ever. I have so much more energy and stamina. I'm starting to like the reflection in the mirror. I'm no supermodel but I'm closer to my fitness goals than ever. Here's my most recent bikini pic. Just gotta flatten and tighten that tummy and firm up those thighs now.