natalie_christin

Lol...I don't eat bread

Girl, I am right there with you. I'm not getting enough Vitamins, minerals or protein and my hair is constantly falling out. To me that was always one of my favorite quote of "features because my hair has always been in good condition.but last year there is this whole debacle in the lady didn't listen to me about my hair and she put color on it in it Friday.… I trusted this lady but live and learn right? Right now I need to figure out how to get more protein in my diet. I'm thinking I'm going to have to do the Protein shakes but I was hoping I wasn't going to have to go that route anymore. But maybe that's the only solution.

I appreciate the input. I've been researching some exercises that I can probably do. So far all of my weight-loss is been without exercise and I wish that had not been the case but it is what it is at this point and I'm trying to get motivated… Just need to get over that hump. I saw some exercises that involved freeweights and then I know of course there are the exercise bands which I have several of. Maybe I could start in one capacity and move on to the next after I've accomplished my initial intention. I hope everyone's doing well and I sincerely appreciate the input

I appreciate the input – I really do. I have absolutely no trouble getting in my water intake. I gets probably close to 2 gallons of water a day. My diet however has its ups and downs. I do you need to be more proficient in getting my protien. And if anybody has any suggestions on this I would greatly appreciate it. I do think that that's where it's wearing me down right now because at Moose I might be getting 20 g of protein a day. I just need to figure out a routine and stick to it. Once I have a routine, there's no issues withfollowing through, I just feel like I'm not here and kind of flailing around in the deep end and not accomplishing what I need to. Any ideas or suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Blessings, Natalie

I completely understand what you're saying but I'm just surprised at the numbers in a postop situation. In my previous post I didn't know what the numbers were and just found them out. There was all kinds of different information online and I was just trying to find out what was what

Unfortunately, spouses do you have issues when somebody has bariatric surgery. Most doctors will tell you that from the get-go. Usually they require a psych eval to make sure that people are not only obviously fit to have the surgery but there's another component to them understanding what may come. They help individuals understand that those can be concerns on both sides of the street. i'm sure that since you went to Tijuana, you probably didn't have to do any of most of the preop that doctors here require. But regardless,it sounds like you and your spouse might need to go talk to a marriage counselor. It's honestly a good way for both of you to get your feelings out in a controlled situation. I went to marriage counseling with my now exhusband. I realize by saying it's an ex-husband but it sounds like it didn't work but, there were problems with him that were uncontrollable (he was bipolar and abusive) The best you can do is reassure him but like I said, I would definitely go to a marriage counselor. It's the only way to put any insecurities to rest. And the counselor can definitely help guide you guys through it. Best wishes to you both and I hope you guys find your way back together with your relationship.

I've stalled in my weight loss for months now. I'm approximately 235 – I'll go up and down a few pounds here and there. But, I thought I would try to call the dietitian frommy surgeons office to ask a couple of basic questions. She didn't want to answer anything at all. Instead she wanted me to come in for a dietitian appointment for an hour and $75. I am disabled and on a very fixed income. I don't have extra money like that. I tried to explain that to her and try to do it least get her to answer a couple of very basic questions. She really didn't want to but finally she did. According to her we don't consider calories at all in our diet. We only focus on Protein and carbs. I understand that completely that was the pre and post op diet as well. I'm really good at not eating carbs. I don't need bread at all, potatoes, rice, Pasta, whatever – I don't eat it. The one thing I do enjoy with moderation and proportions are vegetablesand the fruits but I was told we were allowed – berries only. So, I'm thinking I was doing pretty good but obviously I missing something here because I haven't lost any weight for months. So, according to the dietitian…we are supposed to have 80 g of protein a day – I'm lucky if I have 20. I like chicken and fish but only usually eat one meal a day. Sometimes I'll have Snacks here and there but they're all controlled. Outside of protein were supposed to count carbs as well – again, consistent with the pre-op diet. I assumed thatafter surgery, carbs would be a little bit more allowable – as long as you don't eat the stuff I mentioned before but, we're still only allowed 30 carbs a day even when we're trying to just maintain our diet. So there goes any small amounts of food and vegetables… LOL Is this what everyone's following? If so, I had appreciate any suggestions or ideas when it comes to being more effective with my diet.... My goal weight is 180 pounds. I'd like to get as close as I can to that... So as you can see, I still got a while to go. Hope everyone's having a good day, Natalie

I know we all have them after losing some weight… Both men and women lose weight and we're all left with the flabby arms and in my case I have flabby arms with stretch marks. I wanted to see if anybody had any suggestions when it comes to getting rid of the flabbiness (if that's even a word) and I guess toning your arms as much as possible. The only thing is, I'm disabled so I do have limitations but I would greatly appreciate any suggestions anyone might have as to how to at least decrease them outside of having plastic surgery… Which is something I just can't afford. I would honestly prefer to do it more of a natural way even if I did have the money for plastic surgery. Unfortunately, on the year postop and I haven't exercised at all. I have a lot of pain conditions and I'm just now starting to get some sort of control over it with the aid of some medications. So I 'd like to start exercising with the hope that it would help me lose some more weight. I'm just a girl that would love to wear dresses and outfits without having to add a sweater, Shawl, or jacket on top of it! I don't want to always have to wear some sort of cover-up. I tried to look up exercises on Pintrist. But it was a hard thing to search for. All the results that came up that I could find was more of a bodybuilding thing. I know that I need to exercise. If anybody has a basic/ start up exercise plan that they use or had used, I'd appreciate it as well... We all have to start somewhere. So if you have some sort of plan in place, I know it would be appreciated by me and I'm sure others would appreciate it as well. I do have some Jergens "skin firming" lotion. When I was in my early 20s, I noticed a difference with it but I haven't been using it for a long time now and don't know if it'll still work or help while I am in my early 30s... If anyone has product suggestions – I'd appreciate any info there as well. I'm give me wrong, I know that there's no miracle cure by any means but is there something out there that I can help out my skin with, I love the info. I know that their products out there that claim to aid in getting rid of stretch marks too. I don't know if that's really the case but again, is someone's had a good experience with something, I'm sure we'd all appreciate people posting it here. I realize I'm all over the map here but I just thought is anybody have suggestions, I'm sure it could be go along way to helping not only myself out but others as well. Let's face it, we probably all have some of the same questions. Hope everyone's having a good day, Natalie

I've stalled in my weight loss for months now. I'm approximately 235 – I'll go up and down a few pounds here and there. But, I thought I would try to call the dietitian frommy surgeons office to ask a couple of basic questions. She didn't want to answer anything at all. Instead she wanted me to come in for a dietitian appointment for an hour and $75. I am disabled and on a very fixed income. I don't have extra money like that. I tried to explain that to her and try to do it least get her to answer a couple of very basic questions. She really didn't want to but finally she did. According to her we don't consider calories at all in our diet. We only focus on Protein and carbs. I understand that completely that was the pre and post op diet as well. I'm really good at not eating carbs. I don't need bread at all, potatoes, rice, Pasta, whatever – I don't need it. The one thing I do enjoy with moderation and proportions are vegetablesand the fruits but I was told we were allowed – berries only. So, I'm thinking I was doing pretty good but obviously I missing something here because I haven't lost any weight for months. So,we are supposed to have 80 g of protein a day – I'm lucky if I have 20. I like chicken and fish but only usually eat one meal a day. Sometimes I'll have Snacks here and there but they're all controlled. Outside of protein were supposed to count carbs as well – again, consistent with the pre-op diet. I assumed thatafter surgery, carbs would be a little bit more allowable – as long as you don't eat the stuff I mentioned before but, we're still only allowed 30 carbs a day even when we're trying to just maintain our diet. So there goes any small amounts of food and vegetables… LOL Is this what everyone's following? If so, I had appreciate any suggestions or ideas when it comes to being more effective with my diet.... My goal weight is 180 pounds. I'd like to get as close as I can to that... So as you can see, I still got a while to go. Hope everyone's having a good day, Natalie

Thank you Bella, I'll definitely look into that. I'm just trying to do the best I can with what I have and my weight-loss is completely stalled for months. So it's really bothering me. Ideally I have about 50 more pounds to go – that'll put me at 180. I realize that that's notThe norm but to me, I was healthy and happy at that weight and I'd like to shoot for that if possible. If I can't get down to 180 then I would like to get as close as possible. I really appreciate your comments and suggestions. It all seems like an uphill battle but one way or another will make it work.

I actually do cook two separate meals for myself and my dad. I'm being very cautious about what I eat. As far as the pain goes, I have multiple chronic pain conditions and I just try to do my best with them day by day. Today I'm hurting quite a bit but I'm going to try to go take a yoga class. I realize it isn't major cardio or anything but something is better than nothing. I actually took it for the first time last week and had a really good experience. I couldn't do all of the moves because of my own limitations but,I did what I could do and I know that that's better than nothing. I called the nutritionist from where I had my surgery from and they were adamant about me making a new appointment and didn't want to answer any of my questions over the phone but I explained to her that I do not have the money to come in and see you then – it's an extra $65 to see the nutritionist and let's just say that my financial situation is very minimal on and I just don't have the money forlike that. She didn't seem to like the fact that I said I couldn't afford it but… Let's face it, I have to make sure that the electricity is still on and that the bills get paid. So I was able to get her to at least answer two basic questions and one of them was how many calories I and supposed to have a day – she said not to measure calories at all only carbs and Protein. Were supposed to have less than 30 carbs a day and we have to have at least 60 g of protein a day. I'm definitelynot in that guideline. I don't eat potatoes, rice, bread, anything of that nature but let's face it there are are carbs in Greek yogurt there's carbs in strawberries – There's carbs and vegetables and it's very hard for me not only financially but also just eating this much protein. I have a hard enough time buying groceries –that's a lot of meat to have to buy. Like others, I don't touch red meat anymore… It just doesn't work for me – so it's chicken breasts or fish or turkey and99% of the time I eat chicken breasts. The turkey and the fish are a great deal more expenses. Anyway, you guys don't need to listen to me babble about my own financial problems but I'm gonna do my best to get in those guidelines and see if it can kickstart my weight loss again. I really do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I think that this forum is a great place to find support and the support others. Let's face it, we all need it one time or another. Hope everyone's having a good weekend. Natalie

Thank you – I was just afraid it sounded pompous or something like that… We all have our issues and we all had our ups and downs and try our best to deal with them.

I hope I didn't sound bad by Nice talking about the degrees I had… I I hope that it didn't sound snobbish or anything of that nature because it wasn't intended that way by any means. It's just one of those things where logically I know what to do or what not to do but at the same time it's easier to help peoplewhen you're on the outside looking in versus being the person that's dealing with it yourself. I too would really like the opportunity to go to counseling but I'm in the same boat you are – it's just not feasible due tomy financial situation. I really appreciate it but you had to say. I think that I overwhelm myself with all these things that I know that I have to do but then in conjunction with my health and other things that I'm dealing with, I don't end up being able to do something that I wanted to do or what have you and I end up… I guess feeling bad about myself or down. I'm not one of those people that has pity parties – who knows maybe I am having one and I don't realize it but I want so much to do better and have better and it honestly scares me that I won't have certain opportunities. This honestly has more to do than just weight-loss – there's more to it but I'm just scared I guess.and that's hard for me to admit. Thank you for offering to talk additionally… This app keeps acting up for me but if I can send youAPM, I will see what I can do. I hope everyone's having a good day/weekend.

I'm sorry I haven't sent it sooner but I want everyone to know how much I appreciate their input and suggestions. I agree with you all, I do need to just take one thing at a time and concentrate on that.there's been so many things that I want to do and I just can't seem to do them. I can't seem to accomplish anything which is so very much unlike me because I am an individual that has always gone through my life accomplishing goals that I said. I guess I'm really off my game… LOL but since becoming disabled I had 27, it really set my life into a tailspin. A great deal of it stems from me not feeling worthy of things anymore and even though I want more for myself, it's very much difficult for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Obviously the divorce didn't help either. And for me this sounds completely crazy becausei've always been able to see the bright side of things. I know we all have our own fears and so for this use from time to time and I just need to figure out how to overcome it. I also appreciate the dieting suggestions.I was trying to look online and for the lack of a better word get back to basics and find a regular postop diet in the sense of how much Protein to eat and how much carbs to eat, etc.… But I can't seem to find that. It's all primarily postop and preop from surgery. So I'm trying to figure all that out as well. Again, I sincerely appreciate everyone's suggestions and the care involved. I guess I'm realizing how much I need support right now. I'm the type of person that always sucks it keeps going and deals with whatever I have to deal with and sometimes sucking it up all the time just isn't the right thing to do. For me at least… When I was younger I always laughed at the notion of "finding ones self" until my early 20s when I realized that does really exist. Now at 32 going on 33, I am most think I need to do that again because I've had so many life changes and maybe I really don't know who I am anymore; I guess I have to figure out where to focus my life now since I got sick and can't work anymore. I know this must seem like crazy psycho babble but believe it or not, I should be pretty good at this… I have a bachelors degree in social work and a Masters in psychology – I'm the one that usually helps everyone else. But I guess it's a different thing entirely to help someone else andrealizing that you need help yourself. It's hard for me to ask for help. I sincerely appreciate everyone. Is any of you guys are interested, I'd really like to talk more but… That's entirely up to you guys. Have a good day. Natalie