McButterpants

My breakfast is almost always a scrambled egg with cheese and a Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patty. When I feel like I need to mix things up a bit, I might do a Health Wise oatmeal (I chose that because of the Protein value) or I might have a Protein shake w/ some berries to add a little bulk. I will also do 1/2 of a Quest bar - I heat mine up in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. If you're able to handle an apple, 1/2 an apple with some Peanut Butter would be a good choice as well.

Your link takes us to a sign-up/sign-in page, so we cannot see what you're trying to show us without signing up for the website...

Bananas have been approved for me since the puree stage. My NUT's concern about bananas is the high glycemic value - especially really ripe bananas. BUT, I say everything in moderation. If you want a banana, eat a banana. It's not a jelly donut, right?!?!?

I'm a little sore after the last couple of days exploring San Francisco ON FOOT! We come here every year and usually take cabs or public transportation. Not this time - I've only taken the cable car twice in 9 days and no cabs. I've had two days of 16,000+ steps - back to back days. I'm a little sore today, but feel great. What a great sense of accomplishment when you get to the top of a 2-block climb and look back and say, "Yeah, I kicked that hill's a$$!" My goal was to have every day over 10,000 steps, but missed on day, I was short 1100 steps. My two days over 16,000 make up for that though. That's my justification. :-) Next week starts the real work - need to start with the weights. I've been avoiding that for some reason....

Your dynamic with your spouse could change - you relied on him for certain things and, quite frankly, he may have gotten a payoff from you being overweight.

Reverie is spot on...like always! :-) I thought about this the other day...my husband is awesome, I love him to death. BUT, now that I'm losing weight, I look at him and he's unhealthy. OK, I know, I've been "getting healthy" for 10 minutes now and I'm judging him - that's wrong. I want him to lose weight. Not because I find him unattractive, I want him to lose weight because I want him around for a long time. It bothers me when I am ready to go to the gym and he says he'll go later or do some weights at home. I think that bothers me because those were my excuses before surgery. I'm seeing me in him and I don't like it. So after I thought about this for a while, I thought back to the 17 years we've been together and not once did this man say anything about my weight. I was gaining weight like I was going for some sort of record. He never voiced a concern about my weight or the fact that I checked out of our life together for about 8 years. I was there physically, but absent emotionally. I have struggled with self esteem, but that was on me, not him. If your husband makes you feel bad about yourself, that's not right. If you feel bad about yourself because of some internal stuff you have, that's on you and you need to work on that.

Hi there. It will get better - It just takes time. I agree with a couple of the other responders - you may want to find some help, someone you can talk to. I'm 12 weeks out now and my life is back to normal. I can take bigger drinks, but cannot gulp. I have accepted that, I just keep drinking all day long so I don't feel the need to gulp. (I can drink a 17 ounce bottle of Propel Zero in about 45 minutes now and feel good afterwards.) I can eat lots of different kinds of foods - I have a sleeve of steel, so nothing has bothered me except for my Bariatric Vitamins. I haven't eaten anything that makes me sick or uncomfortable, I just eat tiny meals. It's not all sunshine and lollipops, I have good day and I have bad days. For the past several weeks my good/great days outnumber my bad days 10 to 1. For me, I wasn't going to lose weight on my own and I was so unhappy with my life. 12 short weeks later, I'm down over 50 pounds and living my life for the first time in a long time. Food no longer has that grip on me. Sometimes I miss the comfort that food gave me, but that was such an unhealthy behavior. I use food to fuel my body now - like I'm filling up the gas tank in my car. Hang in there - it will get better.

Great answers, Indigo and MichiganChic. I'm 12 weeks post op now and have returned to a fairly normal life. Let me rephrase - a new normal life for me. :-) I cannot eat like I did before - that's a good thing. It's frustrating at times, but I have come to terms with it. The other day I let myself get really hungry. I wanted to eat fast and more because I was so hungry. I just looked at my husband and said, "I am so frustrated right now." Then about 10 minutes later, it passed. I ate my tiny meal slowly and it was all better. While I can't drink Water as fast as I used it, it's OK. If I stay hydrated, I don't need big gulps of water. The thing is, your new habits and way of eating become normal. I thought I was going to have to restrict myself a lot - but really, it's not restricting, it's making good choices and those good choices are easier to make. It's good you're thinking about post-op life. This is a life changer. For me, this made my life so much better already. Best of luck to you!

I agree with gmanbat...go talk to someone. Sending you best wishes!

I find a favorite, drink it for a while, then get bored and then find another... Lately it's been unjury chocolate Splendor, 8 ounces of 1% milk, splash of sugar free Peppermint Syrup, 1 teaspoon Hershey's cocoa and some ice cubes. Whiz up in the blender...tastes like Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. Yummo

There has to be more to the story...

This is your decision - as long as your at peace with the doctor you chose, that's what matters. You can't do anything about the nay-sayers - it is what it is. Again, if you're comfortable and have the support of your husband, that's what matters. I have found a lot of people who say it's a cop out don't understand the work involved with what you're about to do. They also don't understand what it's like to be you - in the body you're not happy with, in the physical shape your not happy with, the fear of being obese the rest of your life and feeling helpless and hopeless. I, too, traveled for my surgery (Las Vegas). I came tot his forum for questions I had. I have a local bariatric doc that took me on even though she didn't do the surgery. I visited with her once prior to surgery. My local hospital has a support group that I was able to attend, but I didn't go - the timing of the meetings didn't work for me. Do you have a local hospital with a bariatric program? You'll find a wealth of information in this forum and so many people that are willing to help. You'll find tons of support here.

I was tired at first, then about day 5 I started feeling human again. Could be the caffeine withdrawal, my doc wanted me off caffeine before I started the pre-op diet. One thing that helped me was green tea. I drank a lot of it - it replaced my coffee. You're so close - keep sticking to your plan!

I laughed when I read your post - could have been written by me!!!!! I, too, have a cabinet full of supplements that I purchased after I started watching his show. I bought two bottles of raspberry ketones and were never opened. Selenium tablets. Mineral supplements because Vitamins weren't enough. I could go on, but you get the point. I stopped watching after I looked at the sticky notes on my desk listing my next purchases I wanted to make! LOL.

I'm 12 weeks now - It depends on what I take in, but it's about every 2-3 hours. My breakfast (egg w/ cheese and a turkey sausage) keeps me filled up for about 3 hours. My shake w/ fruit doesn't last as long, maybe and hour or two. One thing you have to distinguish post-op is if you're truly feeling hunger or if it's acid disguised as hunger.

I dreaded telling my parents - my mom has struggled with her weight her entire adult life and my dad is fit as can be. My mom was so supportive - she said if she had to do it all over again, she would have surgery. That surprised me. She cried because she knows I have been worried that I will follow her same path. My dad teared up and asked a lot of questions. "Are you sure it's come to this?" "What exactly are they going to do to you?" "Have you talked to your doctor?" "You love food, are you sure you're going to be able to give up the things you love?" (my answer to that was, "Dad I've eaten enough bread for a lifetime. It's time to stop." He didn't want me to go thru with it and expressed his concerns - I was deeply touched by his reaction. Today, my parents are on board 100%. My mom tells me weekly (at least) how proud of me she is. My dad asks me questions about my diet and he can see me work out at the gym. He can tell if I eat something that doesn't agree with me. He actually calls this a "necessary medical procedure" now. I laughed when he said that.

Lisa you will lose weight rather slowly, over months. My husband has lost 50 lbs., no one has noticed. I have lost 50 lbs. It came off slowly. We are dieting. We quit drinking. We quit eating full dinners when we went out a couple times. We eat no carbs, no sugar. Our diet is working. No need to lie about anything. We changed the way we eat. Works for us! Good luck!! Seriously, no one said anything to me about losing weight until I hit the 50 pounds mark - on that day, I had two people that said something. Granted it's winter and I'm wearing bulky clothes, so it's less noticeable than if it was summer. The first to comment was our financial planner, whom I haven't seen in months. He said, "You look like you've lost weight." I said, "I have and thanks for noticing and commenting. It's been hard work." That was it. Later that day the mom of one of my son's friends said, "You look great. You've lost a lot of weight." Again, I thanked her for noticing and saying something. She asked how much I've lost and I told her. That was it. Before surgery I was also worried about social dinner situations. What would I say to people who notice I'm not eating much. No one has commented on how little I eat. At times a waiter or waitress may ask if everything was OK with the meal because I didn't eat much and I say, "It was really great, my eyes were just bigger than my stomach." My brothers and their families haven't said anything about my weight loss and they didn't say anything at Christmas when I are virtually nothing at Christmas dinner. The fact is, we think about our weight a lot more than other people do. I always thought people viewed me as the Fat Girl. In reality, I viewed me as the Fat Girl - that was my identity. I realize now, my brothers think of me as their sister, not their fat sister.

Welcome, Kate & Heather! Congrats on your decisions. This is an exciting time. You will find a lot of really great information provided by some really great people on this site Best of luck to you!

My pre-op diet was 2 weeks - I was allowed 2 shakes and a lean and green meal. I lost 6.5 pounds.

Smart move on the disability if you're still not feeling well. When you say you're struggling with liquids are you struggling with Water or your Protein shakes?

I love Tarpon Springs! I was about to say, "great restaurants" but then realized it would contradict my earlier rant about my relatives obsession with eating at them. It is quaint and quirky. Think we'll go there soon, close drive for us. The restaurants are wonderful - Mr. Souvlaki's Greek Chow Mien. OK - that was pre-surgery McButterpants talking!

Yep, me too. Sometimes I get frustrated when I spend 30 minutes preparing a meal only to sit down and take a few bites and be done. Sometimes I WANT to eat more, but my tummy won't let me. It's a good thing, but, WOW it can be frustrating. A few weeks ago, I got really hungry. I waited too long between meals. I was ravenous. I wanted to eat fast and I wanted to eat more. I looked at my husband and said, "Oh my god, I am so frustrated right now!" Of course in about 10 minutes I felt better, the food was settling in my stomach. Then I thought "it's working. It's doing what it's supposed to do."

I'm at 12 weeks right now - here's a typical day for me: Breakfast - Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patty scrambled egg topped w/ shredded cheese Snack - unjury Protein shake w/ 1/4 cup berries lunch - 4 slices of lunch meat (1 1/2 to 2 ounces) wrapped w/ sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 to 1 ounce) Snack - Unjury protein shake dinner - 2-3 ounces of chicken or beef a few bites of cooked broccoli Snack - Health Wise hot chocolate

Thanks for starting the thread, Ribearty! Here are my goals for February...It's a goofy month for me as I will spend 9 days traveling in San Francisco. No gym to work out in as we rented an apartment. I have explored the city on foot like never before and am loving it!!!!! My butt and legs are tired from all the hill climbing! So here's my plan: 02/02 - 02/10 - 10,000 steps per day 02/01, 02/22-02/28 - 16 days at the gym 4 miles per day (64 miles) and 16 days lifting