gamergirl

Well today was supposed to be a rest day but it turned out to be a restless day instead. Literally and figuratively. I could NOT sit still. So I went on two slow walks and managed to log in 2.4 miles despite the flare up. Having to force myself to not overdo it. So 24 miles now.

I'm out for now on this one. Fighting a pretty bad RA flare right now. Will start again another day.

You look phenomenal! How cool is that! I've been showing these too my husband too. Boy I'm glad I stuck around this thread. There WERE shirtless pics just as advertised!

How much total protein do you think you're getting? I'm no expert but I would recommend eating mainly protein at every meal. Your dinner of cereal or granola may need to be replaced with chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, or meat. I would also add more meat to your lunch and skip the bread, and fill up with meat and veggies instead. Perhaps you could wrap your lunch meat in lettuce? I also think maybe you are eating too few calories. It doesn't sound like enough food which will slow down your metabolism. Are you tracking your intake with something like myfitnesspal? Many of us are on there and you can see others' diaries and get some ideas as well. HTH

Blenderized soup with all the yummy left in

Yes I did that all the time. Chicken, shrimp, lobster, all got pureed and smacked up. Enjoy!

can you please share your total calories, protein gms and carbs, how much water you are drinking and whether you are eating stuff you don't think you should be?

I tried the link but it only took me to my own recipes unfortunately.

oh also, some of them were told to hit 60 gms of protein so they may be hitting that and you may be trying to get more.

hmm...i am probably not one of those that looks like I'm getting too few calories, but I do get in all my Protein. That's really my main focus for the most part. I remember thinking what you do. I would see some people's diaries on my phone and I wonder how they got the protein in. But then I look at the same people's diaries on the computer where you can see all the macronutrients, and I realize that many of them are getting in significant chunks of protein. One of my friends there puts in espresso coffee (you know who you are puresouthernsoul!) and it looks like nothing right? Cofffee?? But that's her recipe for something that has greek yogurt, coffee, and a scoop of Protein powder, so the label is a bit misleading. Wonder if some of that is happening with you? Do look at the diaries on the computer and you can see how the protein gms add up.

You know what I don’t understand? We all get that you can’t urge an alcoholic to have just one drink. We wouldn’t dream of doing that. But we routinely urge self-confessed bingers, sugar-carb addicts, grazers, and cheaters to “go ahead!” because “I do that and it doesn’t hurt me”. Well maybe YOU can, but whoever posted in a panic about it clearly thinks they can’t control it and are panicked about falling off the wagon. That’s WHY they’re posting, right?? So why do we do that? Why do we tell bingers it’s okay to overeat once in a while? And that cheating on a pre-op is okay? Or that everyone should be eating everything in moderation including junk when the person is clearly saying “I’m trying not to eat junk?” I’m not trying to be confrontational, I’m really intrigued as to why we don't see this an enabling behavior. Thoughts?

Honestly it's gotten EASIER for me. I have been eating out with clients since I was in my soft foods phase and never, not once, has anyone asked me why I am eating what I do, or why am I not eating etc. Pre-sleeve, I used to worry about what I ordered because I didn't want people to judge the quality or quantity or what I ordered, and didn't want them to look at my food and go "So THAT'S why she's fat!" Now, it's so much easier. I get a little Protein, I enjoy it, I enjoy the social aspects of it, and it's all good. No one else notices nor cares. I decided if someone said something, I was just going to say "I'm not that hungry right now". But I haven't had a chance to say that yet because no one has noticed!

happy birthday!

I wonder if it would help you to make a grocery list and ONLY buy what's on the list? It helps me to shop on the outsides of the store rather than the aisles where all the junk is, and if I don't have a list, I'm a lot more tempted by the junk. Seems to be that you are more aware of where you are or could go wrong, which is good progress, right? Hang in there and just visualize all the others who are struggling with this at this moment, and know you are not alone.

is it wrong that the last part of your sentence made me LOL? I can NOT reward myself with food. Food has to be fuel, not reward for me. I totally get where you're coming from.

This is exactly what got me started. I'm really concerned that every vet on here tells us that the hunger will return and you will want junk again and the weight will return. And then there are all these threads saying, the hunger HAS returned, I DO want junk again, the weight HAS returned. But we're not always drawing good connections between those. I also worry about telling pre-ops or new post-ops that it's okay to break rules because they could of course, DIE from breaking rules. I worry when we tell them to ignore their doctor's orders because our doctor's orders were different. Well with all due respect, first we are not doctors (most of us anyway), and second, we have no idea how our doctor's complications rates differ from their doctor's rates. Their doctor's advice could be spot on. My husband and I were sleeved by the same doctor on the same day, and had different pre-op diets! We have to believe there's a reason behind the differences. I know this is just my perspective and I'm presenting it as such, but there are days when I sign onto the forum (entirely too often every day!) and feel like I'm an alcoholic in a bar because we're all taking about cheating and eating fun stuff. All I need is to give myself permission, or for someone else to give me permission, and it will be off to the races with me unless I'm really vigilant. So I too am a bit frustrated and I've had several cups of coffee and have no excuse. Thanks for listening.

I hope the OP doesn't mind that the rest of us have completely taken over the thread and appreciates the fact that good dialog was initiated, because I want to brag, and I need to brag so that I can see the positive in what is a frustrating situation. I'm stuck at the same weight for 10 days. whine whine, bad bad, cry cry whatever. Here's the good news. My body composition has changed. I've put ON 1 lb. of lean mass! Now my very same 34 lbs of weight loss? is only 3 lbs of muscle and 31 lbs of fat! What this means is that although the scale says the same thing, I've actually lost 2 lbs of fat. yeah I think i'll take it (before anyone chastises me for math, there is some rounding going on here so I've lost .5 on the scale, and I've rounded the decimals out but the principle is still the same)

This in an interesting perspective and more in line with what I'd like to do. I don't think I want to go forever without a taste of flan or my husband's black forest cake. But I agree, maybe some line needs to be drawn and not crossed that enforces moderation. Good thought. The problem for us is we both like to cook and we are both decent cooks unfortunately I think our new line that we draw is that perhaps we only make deserts when we have company--and then we send the leftovers home with our guests. Kind of a twofer because it will force us to be social too We haven't had anyone over for dinner since we got sleeved and we used to do it all the time.

Oh I think that's a wonderful idea! I grew my own vegetables for a while--by that I mean I tried to. I couldn't even grow zucchini properly! If you are good at that sort of thing, it's a wonderful hobby, it's good exercise, it's fresh and organic, if you have kids, they love to "help". What a great idea! We cook everything from scratch in my house. I rarely use cans, spice mixes etc. and we love it. We've been talking about growing our own herbs but still haven't gotten there. Enjoy!

Very helpful! Thanks for posting.

You know I feel fortunate in this regard. I have not mourned food at all. I am so relieved that I don't need to eat large quantities just to feel full, or be hungry if I don't. I didn't have food funerals pre-op either. In fact, I started to cut down a week before the liquid diet, and then I did an additional week of it to keep my husband company. I haven't missed being able to eat. I go out to great restaurants or large gatherings where there is food, and it hasn't bothered me yet. I ate out of boredom. Typically when I'm stressed or depressed, I can't eat. Unfortunately for my body I'm typically a happy, not depressed, not stressed person who gets bored very easily so... I really do feel fortunate in that regard. But I agree with you 100% on the sugar being as addictive as heroin. I think some of us are programmed that way. And I agree with Butter and southernsoul, perhaps I was too quick to dismiss tolerance and withdrawal from sugar. Because you are right, I did eat more and more sugar as the months went by, and it did create more and more irresistible hunger. And if you'd been around me the first five days of my pre-op? You would have seen some UGLY withdrawal! My husband is determined to never eat sugar again. He knows he won't be able to stop once he starts. I'm not sure where I will be in time, but right now I have no desire to fight that demon.