planetheather

Tonight the kids have asked for breakfast, so I'm going to be making my version of huevos rancheros, grilled mushrooms, and I'm going to try a recipe for cream cheese pancakes.

Last week I was 173. Today I am at 171. Getting there!

It's been so cold (and I'm freezing all the time) that chili sounded good today. I used roast and stock that I'd made in the crock pot Tuesday and added a can of pintos and a can of Rotel tomatoes with the usual spices. I had it for lunch with a spoon of Greek yogurt and on a broiled corn tortilla with a bit of shredded cheddar for dinner. Yum!

Mine were the same way. Luckily I only had to attend 3 and got to do them by phone instead of being in a group class. I have not been back to one since 6 weeks post op and found them all of limited value. I agree with Cupcake. Take a notepad and try to come with questions that you think are relevant. Or at least so you can doodle...

Late update because my hotel didn't have a scale. Start of challenge: 183 1/10 check in: 178 1/17 check in: 177 Today: 173 5 pounds to Challenge goal!

Start of challenge: 183 1st week: 179 This week: 177

Just had a great one at airport security. In a very confidential way (and after checking there was no one around), the TSA agent (female) asked if I didn't mind telling her how much weight I had lost because I looked SO fantastic! Somehow, I really didn't mind telling her because she was so ernest and kind about it.

I'm 4 months out and my weight loss has steadily slowed each month. It is now almost entirely tied to my workouts. If I weren't exercising, I don't think I'd be losing much.

I takes me about 3 bites before I'm full still, so I can't imagine taking 30+ minutes. I'm just 4 months post op so I know that will change. I take between 10 and 20 minutes (because, seriously how long can 3 bites take to make into mush?) Having said that, I've had a couple of get-togethers with friends over the last few weeks at restaurants. It's our "Mom's Night Out" so we usually spend 3 hours gabbing. I realized how easy it would be to graze across those 3 hours, so I put the food away from me or boxed it up.

January 3: 183 January 10: 179

Laughing at this because this week I realized I have to rethink how to use the microwave. I'm so used to reheating a large bowl of (whatever) that I almost destroyed the 1/3 of a meatball I was trying to have for lunch!

Me too! I carry a tall and a short one (pre-filled with powder) on every flight. On the road I use the short one for my pre-workout Breakfast and the tall for my lunch or afternoon snack (depending on what my work day/customer interaction is like).

I travel a lot for work and my first trip post op, I was still at the liquid/soft foods phase. I carried my bags of Jay Robb Protein powders and shaker bottles and foil sleeves of tuna. Between that and being able to get a poached egg at the hotel for Breakfast, I was fine.

Got lab results (done with my general doctor) and the email told me that my CO2 was high indicating possible acidosis. "This may be a lab error but you need to recheck your lab work next week." I looked up acidosis and it looks like you get it from the Atkins diet (hello, I just got a sleeve 3 months ago) and from burning fat instead of sugar/carbs from intake (again, isn't that why I got the sleeve?). I called my surgeon and the office staff who answered had never heard of acidosis and recommended that I "just do what my other doctor says and recheck." I have no problem having my labs drawn again, I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this. Am I delusional in thinking that this would be a normal byproduct of the kind of weight loss (with the kind of diet) we have after getting a sleeve? I did check the other symptoms and I have great energy and cognitive function (well, OK cognitive function). :-)

Thanks! I am/was at risk of diabetes because I had to have 2/3 of my pancreas removed (and it was the section where most of the insulin-producing islet cells lived). My A1C since that surgery 5 years ago has been 6.8 but last week it was down to 5.1. I don't have a single symptom of acidosis (no matter the cause) and my kidney function levels were normal. Acidosis can also be caused by following a "ketogenic diet" or low calorie diet, which is what most of us are doing post-op, at least until we hit our goal weight. I was actually expecting my surgeon's office and others on the forum to say "yes, sure that's pretty common and here's what you do (or don't worry as long as the levels stay above x)." However, I see my endocrinologist Tuesday and I'll get all the labs redrawn.

I've given up sweeteners in most of my daily food. I'm allergic to Splenda, which is in almost everything. Thankfully, I can have Stevia, which is in the Protein powder that I use. That's the only place I still get a sweetener and I usually mix it 1:1 with an unflavored egg white powder to cut how sweet it is. Thank you for this discussion. My husband is not overweight but has Type2 diet-controlled diabetes and is an addict to the splenda-loaded popsicles.

My ring finger went from a 7 to a 5.5. I had no idea how fat my hands were! Just about 3.5 months post-op I finally had to go get my ring and watch resized. I was so worried about flinging them off at some point in the day. I too hate to shop and my husband has been gleeful about herding me around. I had no choice. Not only does nothing fit, most of it wouldn't stay on/up or cover important areas. I did hit a thrift store and scored some really nice tops and skirts. I always considered the consignment stores "too young" for me. Now I realize that they just don't have fat clothes and that some of the items are perfectly acceptable for a middle-aged mom. I may have to hit them later this week. I've been making do with a single pair of jeans that I replace as I drop a size and a few strategically purchased tops.

My favorite NSV to date (and this one will be hard to beat). Back in September, a few weeks pre-op, I joined a local gym to add to my home treadmill options. The step glider there kicked my tail! If I kept the pace up just at that thing's stall speed, my heart rate would go way too high. After ten minutes of trying to workout and that thing pausing all the time, I gave up and went back to the treadmill. This week, I did 65 minutes on it (on level 5 hills) and kept my heart rate dead in the middle of "cardio" workout. This is my favorite because it speaks to the real reasons behind this surgery--to get healthy. Oh yes, and my A1C dropped from a 6.8 to a 5.1.

I have some family members who have reacted this way. Number of words my sister has said about my weight loss: 0. Number of times she mentions her personal trainer and how grueling her workouts are: every half hour. That's ok. I didn't do this for any of them.

Start weight (as of this morning): 183 Goal weight for Feb. 14: 168 Thanks for the challenge!!

I am always on the lookout for a better transport method. I don't leave home without a dry mix of Protein shake in a tumbler of some kind. This is great. Thanks so much!

Yeah I can see how that would suck. Being awake at 2 am, your body probably needs fuel anyway but add jet lag to it and it's gotta be tough. Travel days are hard for me. Despite the bars and Jerky I carry around, I never feel like I had a proper "meal" and it's hard to know if I'm full or not on those days. Good on you for eating meat and cheese rather than Christmas snacks! The 2am problem was that my brain/stomach think it's noon. I track my intake on a 24 hour basis when I travel and then try to do a "soft reset" so I'm not eating too much/too little. Since my travel "days" can be anywhere from 24 to almost 48 hours long, I always take 2 shaker bottles with Protein powder pre-measured. The little one holds up 20 oz of Water and I put one scoop (24 grams) for Breakfast. I especially do this if I'm on British Air because their breakfasts are fruit smoothies and bacon sandwiches. In the large one, I put 2 scoops because I can drink on it and keep adding water--it will last me a lunch and afternoon snack time frame at least. I can only carry jerky on the outward bound flight because most countries will not allow you to bring dried meat in. However, I also carry foil pouches of tuna because every one allows it (so far).

I have seen a few people talk about planning for a late night snack. I think that's a great way to get around it. If we know we are going to snack at night, let's plan for it. Eat less for lunch or skip an afternoon snack. It makes sense to me that we'd be hungry at night if we eat at 6. By 1030 or 11 it's been a long time since we've eaten! I struggle with it for a couple of reasons. Thanks to other posts, I'm going to be picking up some OTC antacid to take in the evenings when it's 8pm and feel that empty hungry feeling. The other times I have a problem are when I've just arrived to/from a trip abroad and I'm jet lagged and awake at 2am. Pre-op me would have fed myself a high carb meal and passed out. Since this year alone I did 200K miles in 24 different countries, that habit alone would be enough to pack on some pounds on anyone so that one has HAD to go. I got home Sunday before Christmas so it was particularly bad this time since I was wide awake at 2am in a house that had a fair amount of Christmas goodies. On those occasions I got 2 slices of deli meat and wrapped it around 1/2 slice of cheese. One night I tried spicy picked okra. The best remedy seems to be to not have jet lag...

OK people are cutting onions on our forum today. First it was Mr. McButterpants' blog about his wife and now you two. I have to go wipe my face and go to the gym...

Crying over here in Texas. I'm going to just "guess" that my husband would write something that wonderful if I asked and he got around to actually writing it. You really do have a keeper. Tell him his new nickname on the Internet is "Mr. Darcy."