gamergirl

That's fantastic! Would you consider posting before and after pics of yourself? Also all of us are of course dying to know what you did that helped you get 71 lbs off in 6 months. Tips to share?

One of the things I miss since being sleeved is a meal I'd make of nothing but "tea sandwiches". My kids LOVED it. I used to make little crustless tea sandwiches with cucumbers and cream cheese, salmon and capers, chicken salad, egg salad etc. and cut them into nice little shapes and then arrange them cutely (okay, Roger did the cute arragements, he's much more careful and precise than I am) and we'd all dig in. I haven't yet figured out how to do that in a healthy way. But I will!

Right here. Here's the love. LOVE! :wub: Welcome. As long as we are all healthy, happy, and skinny who cares how we got that way? But I think misty was posting in SUPPORT of you.

I will say that my husband and I split a 100 calorie bag once or twice a week with no ill effects. I eat it one kernel at a time and at 3 months out, it still goes thunk. But we do have to exercise portion control with it, just the same as with many other foods that are not typically sliders, such as ground beef. We can eat a lot more than 4 oz of ground beef with a little liquid, say in chili or something. So just as we measure out our chili, we ration our popcorn. We never make more than one 100 calorie bag for the two of us to share, we never use more than 1 pat of butter for the top--and then we proceed to enjoy the heck out of it. We waited a few months before having it, to allow the sleeve time to heal.

I'm glad! What with real life interfering with fun, I tend to post more recipes on the weekend. this weekend, I've posted Green Chile Pork Stew made in a crockpot, Cranberry BBQ meatballs, and Low Carb Flatout pizza.

Pictures and nutritional info at pizza for days. We used to get pizza once a week and although we got the “healthy” kind (thin crust, veggies, with half the cheese), it still wasn’t that good for us. I’ve been thinking about how to recreate this and although I’ve seen lots of cauliflower crust, meat crust, ground chicken crust etc. recipes, they seemed a bit contrived. So I tried this with Flatout bread and it actually worked out very well. The nice thing about individual serving pizzas is that I was able to make one with just pepperoni and cheese for my son at the same time. Makes 2 sleever servings, 1 serving for a non-op Ingredients 1 piece of Italian herb flatout bread (I got it at Tom Thumb but wal-mart carries it too) 2 tbsp ready-made pizza sauce (you need so little it’s hardly worth making your own I think) 10 slices pepperoni 1/8 c diced onions 1/8 c diced tomatoes 1/8 c diced mushrooms 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese You can substitute other toppings of course, but the nutritional info on the site is for the ingredients listed above Method Heat oven to 350 degrees Place flatout bread directly onto the rack. Do not put on a cookie sheet Cook for 5 minutes. It will be fairly crisp by this point. Remove from oven, spread sauce and cheese, and spread toppings Carefully put it back into the oven, and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted and the toppings appear wilted Cut into pieces and serve. I was only able to eat 1/2 of one.

As far along as you are, it gives me to hope to see that this feeling may last.

Pictures and nutritional info at: Protein, and easy. What more can you ask for? Ingredients 1/2 lb pork cut up for stewing (I’m trying to make smaller quantities, you could use a lb and double everything else below) 2 small chopped roma tomatoes 1 chopped jalapeno pepper OR Substitute 1 can of Rotel tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes and jalapeno) 1/2 c frozen pearl onions OR 1/4 c chopped fresh onion 1 small sweet potato cut into four large pieces 1 can green chile, chopped 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper (ground) 1 tsp salt Method Place all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours. Alternatively, cook in pressure cooker for 10 minutes and let the steam release on it’s own for 15 minutes.

wow, I'm loving emeals.com! What a great idea. Thanks for sharing that.

Don't you wonder how our lives might have been different if we'd been aware of these patterns before we got sleeved? I really wish we'd had the opportunity to learn these things, to reduce our reliance on carbs, to not feel so hungry all the time before that we could have stopped to listen to our bodies. If it's a choice between the sleeve and the knowledge we now have, I sometimes wonder which I'd pick. and I say this despite totally loving my sleeve.

It's interesting for me to watch all of you who are further along wrestle with the BMI chart. I'm seeing how much it drives all of us, and wondering what others ways there are for us to set our goals. I mean, some alternatives could be: you get to a certain size and then you stop. I think I might shoot for a size 8. that seems reasonable? I don't know. the size 8's look tiny to me now but that might change as I get closer to them. you get to a certain body fat percentage. I am currently aiming for 25% which is well within healthy ranges. you get to where you can eat about 1300-1500 calories a day and not put on weight and you can maintain your weight easily. That seems like a decent amount of food for women, yes? Quite "normal"? Have any of you considered setting goals based on these or similar criteria? Wondering if that is a realistic approach.

This is an ongoing learning for me. Carbs make me hungry. Even small amounts of them. The other day I was triggered from half a pear. I was ravenous the rest of the day. It doesn't seem rational because I often share a 100 calorie bag of popcorn with my husband and it doesn't trigger me. But fruit does. I'm starting to think its not just the carb content but also the sugar or potentially the GI of foods that I have to watch for. But to your point, yesterday it wasn't the carb. It was the fact that the less-filling carb replaced the very filling protein and I wandered about like a foraging wolf all afternoon. Once you have gained control over food to some extent, the loss of it is terrifying. It reminds you of the pre-op days, and I think most of us would do a lot to avoid that. So it motivates me to find and avoid bad patterns.

Thanks to you vets posting on this topic, I've been working hard to love my body as is. I'm finally at the point where although I am determined to get to goal, I'm able to see how much improved my health and body are relative to before. I look at myself daily, and tell myself that if I were to stop losing all together tomorrow, I'm still better off than where I was. My husband is so close to goal that he's mentally almost there. I'm about half way to goal, but I know that mentally, I need to get to that place of acceptance. So I like my body today. I think I look great in clothes. I think the only person who sees me naked loves me no matter what. I think my weight is no longer the most noticeable thing about me. And even if I don't feel that way, I still tell myself that everyday so that I can learn to feel it naturally.

Since I started this thread, I've had a few days where I craved something in particular. Last week I really wanted pizza which we used if have at least once a week (thin crust, veggie with half the cheese). I thought about how to do that within our guidelines and ended up making it with flatout bread. Very tasty--but it didn't fill me up like Protein does. I was hungry all day yesterday and went over my calories. It's relatively easy to decide that the pizza will be a sometimes food. In the old days, I would have wanted it again today. But I hated the hungry, munchy feeling so much, and am in NO hurry to feel that way again today. It's going to be a meat and veggie day again and I can't wait to be in control of my hunger. Nothing tastes as good as control over food. Nothing.

Well you're 91% of the way there! I'm sure you'll get there shortly, as soon as you heal from the surgery.

Congratulations! Looking good

Congratulations! Looking good

If you REALLY wanted to enable me, you'd post a pic of the cut up sandwich. You look so cute and so skinny in your vintage dress!

Well SOME of us have to write a mini thesis just to get in all our workouts. So for those SOME, I'm guessing they wouldn't stoop to count their "arm miles". The rest of us poor schmucks have to make do with whatever we can get! Is it helping with your back?

Looking good! 98lbs is a lot. Congrats!

Looking good! 98lbs is a lot. Congrats!

That's actually a very interesting point. I kept thinking of how much I had spent to be obese. Diets, tricks, clothes, different sizes in clothes, prescriptions. The surgery is much cheaper in comparison isn't it?

If you even HAVE a trainer you're already ahead of some of us others you know

Everything counts as far as I'm concerned. If I broke my legs and had to crawl to the phone, I hope my fitbit registers the crawling so I get credit for it

I had posted on this topic before with several alternative recipes etc. you might try those out? At first I drank my Protein shakes like a good girl. Then I struggled through them. Then they made me sick. By the time I was post op, I was so sick of them, I'd rather have starved. Three things saved me. 1. If you find yourself getting nauseated with them, chances are quite good that you are lactose intolerant, especially after the surgery. I take lactaid pills with my first sip and it really helps with nausea, diarrhea, gas, gurgling, cramping hell. 2. I found two shakes I liked. Yours will be different but for me it was Chike coffee protein, Syntrax mint chocolate chip, and I can also tolerate Syntrax Double Stuffed cookie. It helps to make only 4 oz, with 1 scoop of powder, half a cup of liquid, and the rest ice to make a 6 oz cup to slurp on, so keep the quantities small. 3. HIgh protein Soups. These saved me. You can't do these unless you are on full liquids, but once you're on them, and if you are sick of sweet protein shakes, please do try these. I am posting links to my blog where I have posted them. Full disclosure, I do not make money off this blog, so this is not for self-promotion. I like creating different recipes and sharing so I hope they help someone. Sorry I don't have pictures yet for these, but I will get them up there soon. Once you are through your liquids stage, also search for soft foods, or look up the ground chicken and ground beef recipes, and you may find something you like that is sleeve friendly. Here's the list of soups: 1. Egg drop soup ( I will post a proper recipe but boil chicken broth, stir in two beaten eggs when it boils, stir with a pair of chopsticks. Take it off the flame immediately, cover, and let it sit for 5 minutes to let the egg cook. Add salt, pepper, and my fav, some sesame oil for a fresh flavor). 2. Hot & sour soup 3. Shrimp "bisque" 4. Lobster bisque 5. Tortilla soup 6. Chicken and mushroom soup http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/284035-tired-of-protein-shakes-nauseated-by-them-try-this/#entry3193335