mon_jam74

Jennie-o taco seasoned ground turkey mixed with some fresh or canned veggies is so good, even when reheated. Sliced deli meat is also convenient.

Watch the calorie count on the chews. I was taking the Bariatric Advantage, but it added up to 100+ calories/day that I'd rather eat in the form of food. Just make sure you track those calories.

You'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out the logic. Just eat until you're satisfied. One more bite will probably make you uncomfortable and you'll definitely know you ate too much. Sounds like you're doing fine.

That's awesome!! And, yes, it's totally possible. My surgeon's office has an "In-Body" machine that tells me my body fat, Water, etc... breakdown. I'm totally focused on the body fat loss even though they (the surgeon's office staff) seem to only be concerned with the weight. I went from 38% fat to 33% in 4 weeks. I also lost 7 lbs but I can totally see the possibility of losing the fat without losing the lbs on the scale. In the last 4 weeks, my intracellular water (that's the water in the muscle) went up also. That's a good thing because your muscle needs the water to recover and build. So, you may not see the loss on the scale but you could be losing fat and gaining muscle and intracellular water. Keep it up! Exercise will transform our bodies more than only cutting calories will.

Wow! I must try this! Does it reheat well?

Calorie/protein tracking- give it a try. I know you're feeling restriction after a few ounces of food. It seems impossible that you can be eating too many calories. I had the same thought process. And, I WAS over eating. I think you're at about 5 months out, right? I was eating 800 calories or so then. I started to slack off on tracking at about 6 months and noticed the lack of weight loss at 8 months due to it. I use My Fitness Pal. It's free and very useful. And, if that still doesn't work, you'll at least have a food journal for your dietician to look at to see where you can make changes.

Being anxious is normal. It's great that you're realizing these issues regarding food now. You're probably much more prepared for this surgery than you realize!

I started losing mine about 3-4 months out but it started to regrow immediately. Now at almost 10 mos out, I have a lot of 1-2 inch hairs. They're a lot harder to deal with than losing the hair, but I'm happy to know the hair is growing back.

It's good that you're thinking about all of this now and not going into surgery blindly thinking that it will solve all of your food related issues. Most insurances require a psych eval before surgery. Did you discuss any of these issues? That's what the psych eval is for. However, I know many just see it as a "check in the box" to get to surgery approval. I highly suggest you read Geneen Roth's book "When Food is Love". It's a great read that I only read recently (I'm almost 10 mos post op). The food "addiction" will not go away with surgery. Early on, you will not physically be able to eat much but you will want to and be suffering emotionally. This can cause you to sabotage your weight loss by not following Drs orders (and finding lots of excuses to justify it). Within about 6 mos, it will be easy to stop losing weight and start gaining if you're not in the right mind set with food. So, start working on it now. As for your lack of support from family- As you read Roth's book, you might realize that the approval of others is overly important to you. You need to make the decision to have this surgery for you and not for the approval of others. If they truly care about you, they will support you regardless of what they're saying now. If you're not sure that surgery is the best for you right now, then postpone. It is truly a life changing procedure. There are opportunities for great results but it will require many changes that you must be ready for. If it helps, I don't regret the surgery. I only regret not doing it sooner.

I've been using Bariatric Advantage Calcium Chews. I've been told that I need 1500 mg calcium/day (as a woman). Anyhow, each 250mg chew is 20 calories. That adds up to 120 calories per day. I would much rather be using those calories in food! Any suggestions on lower calorie calcium citrate options?

I don't need chews so I think I'll try the citracal. Every calorie counts! Thanks! I went with Bariatric Advantage because my surgeon's office sells it. It's good to know there are options that have worked well for others.

I hit a "stall" between 7 and 9 months. I was exercising a lot and getting my protein. I wasn't tracking my calories however. So, I reverted to some of my poor eating habits- mainly, snacking and justifying it because I had worked out. I went back to tracking my calories (1200/day) and continued my exercise (boot camp class 1 hr, 5x/wk) and the weight started coming off again. This may not be the case for you, but it wouldn't hurt to think about your eating behaviors. It's so easy to revert back to those poor behaviors when it seems the critical time period post surgery (for me, the first 6 months) has passed.

This is the best post I've read on here thus far. Thank you all for your honesty! I was really worried when I hit about the 3 month post op because my food restrictions were no longer very limited. And now, almost 9 months post op, I see that food is becoming my best friend and source of comfort and entertainment all over again. I've just purchased and downloaded "When Food is Love" and am determined to gain back control over what I eat and why. I've accepted that it will always be a struggle and I will always have to be conscientious of what I eat, but I also know I need to stop seeing food as anything more than nutrition for my body.

I suggest tracking your calories. Depending on how much milk/yogurt/fruit you're using in each shake, each one can easily be 200-300 calories and high in sugar. Add the soup and carnation, you could be at 1200 calories/day. I'm just estimating with the info you've given so my math could be wrong. But, for your reference, I'm almost 9 months out and on 1200 calories max/day. At less than a month, I was taking in 400-600 calories. It's great that you're getting so much protein but the advantage of the shake powders (syntrax, etc) is that you get a lot of protein with little sugar and minimal calories.

Just downloaded new app yesterday and it keeps freezing.

I'm almost six months post op and about 65 lbs down and I couldn't be happier!!! I'm eating about 1000-1200 calories a day, 60-70 grams protein and exercising (boot camp class and running) 3-5x/week. My hair loss continues but is improving from when it started 2 months ago. If you're logging your food, are you making sure to get your protein in?

Agreed with the above posters...something about eggs just don't sit well anymore. They were my first "solid" food after weeks of liquids. They hurt my belly badly! I was truly afraid to try any other food after that. 5 months later and I haven't tried them, other than boiled, again and don't even want to.

I was able to introduce raw veggies and fruit at 12 weeks. However, bananas and cooked veggies were introduced earlier. If you're still feeling a lot of restriction, stick to protein. Even though I can now eat veggies, they aren't a big part of my diet. Once I eat my protein, I'm usually pretty satisfied. And, be careful of lettuce and the peels of fruit/veggies. Your stomach will "yell" at you when you first eat them

Is your breath bad or do you just think it's bad because you have a "filmy" feeling in your mouth? I know that until I started eating solid foods, I had a weird filmy, thick mucous feeling in my mouth. It's hard to explain, but I attributed it to not have anything crunchy/hard in my mouth for awhile. But, no one ever complained about me having bad breath. Who knows? Maybe I did Just be careful not to overdo the breath mints and gum will increase gas bubbles. Brushing, mouth rinse, and drinking your water should keep your breath pretty good.

I went on a cruise 11 weeks out. I was able to enjoy myself without the food hangover guilt because of restriction. I couldn't eat raw veggies/fruit, rice, steak. But, there was still plenty to choose from. I still lost 3lbs that week!

I looked it up and yes, 1 tsp sugar is 4 grams. I also looked up how much sugar in 1 cup of apple juice and it's 24. I believe when my surgeons nurse says "sweet 16" (and that's just my surgeon, someone else's dr might say something different), she intends it to be for an entire meal, not a drink. Also, just because you can have 16 grams of sugar per meal, doesn't mean you have to.

My nurse has said to remember "sweet 16". Sugar grams per meal should be less than 16.

I'm 18 weeks out. I run 4 miles twice/week and do a boot camp 3x/week. I started the Couch 2 5k program at 3 weeks which has helped increase my endurance. As for calories, I had been on 800/day regardless of how much I exercised (per my nurse practitioner) but I've decided to up my calories on days I exercise. My problem isn't exhaustion as much as hunger (still have restriction but could eat every 1-2 hours). My suggestion is to build your endurance. If you get exhausted after a 20 min hike, stop. But, go back out the next day and try to do 23 min. Stay consistent and persistent.

I had asked my surgeon's nurse practitioner this at my last appt and she said not to deduct my exercise. So, if 800 is your daily goal, you'll eat only 800 regardless of how much exercise you do. HOWEVER, I'm meeting with the NUT next week because that just doesn't seem right to me, especially because I sometimes burn 500-700 in an exercise session.

Great timing for me to read this thread. I am 4 months post-op and have really been struggling trying to keep my intake at 800 calories. I exercise about 5 days a week- running 4 miles or bootcamp. Boot camp burns about 500 according to boot camp instructor and running burns about 700 according to mfp and the bridge to 10k app. I've added the boot camp and increased the running in the last month and have noticed a slow down in weight loss (yeah I know I could be adding muscle, but don't we all want to see the result on the scale?). I like seeing some of you at 1000 calorie intake. I think on the days I exercise, I will increase to 1000. I've also scheduled an appt with my NUT (who I haven't seen since pre-op) because I'm trying to do what I've been told but I also feel like I'm depriving myself on the days I exercise. I think the basic nutrition guidelines we're given consider we might be doing something like 30 min cardio 3-5 times a week. With higher intensity exercise, it just seems reasonable to add more calories.